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In an interview in 2007 Wally Olins states about Romania’s image that it takes willpower for a government to work together, the need of someone in the government to be responsible of this branding. As Wally Olins describe it: “The public sector must work with the private sector.
Besides this culture and sport have to be engage in a long-term consistent program. But I do not see anyone with the will to do it, but maybe I'm wrong. The authorities need to speak with people who have done so, who understand the process and know what to do”.9
The national context presents the first set of challenges and the government, the one that should coordinate the public diplomacy for the country, is confronted not only with the national context but also with the challenges posed by the European context in which the country finds itself.
5.3 Example of Connectivity
One example is the connectivity between the two challenges is the managerial situation of the Romanian Cultural Institute responsible for the promotion of Romanian Culture abroad.
The Romanian Cultural Institute, a public body founded in 2003, is tasked with raising the profile of Romanian culture around the world. In order to achieve this, it spreads information and spearheads cultural projects involving Romanian artists and writers. Furthermore, the Romanian Cultural Institute acts as means through which foreign audiences can experience the products of Romanian culture.
Cultural exports from Romania are, for the most part, facilitated by the institute’s 16 foreign branches, located in Berlin, Brussels, Budapest (with a subsidiary in Szeged), Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw. These are tasked with organizing high-visibility cultural events adapted to suit the tastes of foreign audiences, while at the same time ensuring that a balance be maintained between their uniqueness and an international appeal.
9 Cosmin Popan, “Wally Olins Interview: Romania Becomes a Brand Without Its Knowledge,” 9AM News Publication, 2007, accessed April 9, 2013,
http://www.9am.ro/stiri-revista-presei/Business/55107/Interviu-Wally-Olins-Romania-devine-brand-fara-stirea-ei.html
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The Romanian Cultural Institute has developed extremely close ties with Romanian minorities in neighboring countries as well as with the Romanian diaspora. It aims to facilitate their efforts to preserve their own cultural identity while living abroad.
The first reform of the Institute came in 2005 under the leadership of Horea- Roman Patapievici until 2012 when the majority of the leadership of the Romanian Cultural Institute abroad resign as a protest of the governments change in legislation, budget and directives regarding what can be promoted as Romanian culture abroad.
In 2005 a multidimensional approach has been decided as a viable way in promoting Romanian culture. The main objective has been introducing the Romanian cultural market to foreign markets by using not propaganda with cultural values or “official culture” but a direct cultural cooperation. By the year of 2008 ICR had become a real model of cultural diplomacy and cultural policy based on direct cooperation.10
Andrei Marga came to the helm of the Romanian Cultural Institute in the midst of 2012′s political crisis. The Senate had wrested the Romanian Cultural Institute from presidential auspices and brought it under Senate control and the previous head of the institution had resigned in protest over political interference and budget cuts. Romanian writer Horia Roman Patapievici and the rest of the leadership of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) resigned at the beginning of August 2012 in response to the announcement of severe budget cuts for the institution.
Artists say changing the statute and the mission of the ICR risks turning the body into something that defends national interest rather than cultural values and fear that it could be used as a political tool.
Thousands of artists in Europe and in the United States, including Nobel Literature prize winners Tomas Transtroemer and Herta Mueller, Cannes film darling directors like Cristian
10 Romanian Cultural Institute, “2011 Activity Report,” p. 11, accessed November 6, 2012, http://www.icr.ro/bucuresti/rapoarte-de-activitate/raport-de-activitate-2011-1.html
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Mungiu, plus curators of the New York Museum of Modern Art sent letters of protest to the center-left government. 11
After Patapievici’s resignation, Marga was nominated by the National Liberal Party (PNL), member of the Social Liberal Union (USL). At the time, the opposition, the Democratic Liberal Party members (PDL) were against the vote, as it meant voting in the dark, without talking to the candidate.
In June 2013 Marga resigned from Romanian Cultural Institute and Romania’s governing coalition, the Social Liberal Union (USL), has proposed a new president for the country’s Cultural Institute (ICR). The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture, Georgică Severin, announced that diplomat Lilian Zamfiroiu has been proposed to lead the Romanian Cultural Institute.12
The national identity challenge when looking at the case of the government, translates as a heavy bureaucratic structure that is more concern with political rivalry that proper funding thus affecting the overall functioning of the institution created to promote the cultural dimension of the country abroad.
The uncertainty in the managerial position not only is causing an image problem for the Cultural Center in the eyes of foreign publics but also poses changes in what is being promoted thus affecting the cultural content of the discourse presented to the foreign publics.
Internal managerial changes of a Cultural Institute one would think do not pose a threat to the overall cultural promotion that it is focused on. But once it becomes news story in the news media of the country one is trying to implement its public diplomacy then internal changes become visible to the foreign public.
11AFP News, “Leave Cultural Body Alone, Artists Tell Romania's Senate,” Yahoo News, August 7, 2012, accessed May 10, 2013,
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/leave-cultural-body-alone-artists-tell-romanias-senate-164932101.html
12 Romania Insider Publication, “Romanian Government Proposes New President for the Cultural Institute,”
Romanian Insider, June 25, 2013, accessed June 25, 2013,
http://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-government-proposes-new-president-for-the-cultural-institute/102491/
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The most visible news story about the managerial changes and how political implications contributed to changes even in the content that is designed to promote Romanian culture abroad was in relation to the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. The New York Times is the leading American newspaper to report on this situation in the article “Festival Recast by Politics at Home”13 published in November 27, 2012 that appeared in the print and electronic version of the newspaper.
The Cultural Institute managerial team in New York resigned in protest to the changes made by the government at home and set up an organization in order to continue the annual tradition of organizing in New York a film festival dedicated to Romanian New Wave Cinema.
The redesigned and independent 2012 Making Waves Festival took place November 29-December 5 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and could be considered the best festival edition to date. Over 3000 spectators attended the 26 screenings and special events, joined by 16 festival guests. Over 300 people supported Making Waves, making the festival the first large Romanian event to have been produced through crowd funding.
Making Waves 2013, that will take place at the beginning of December, will continue the leading partnership with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, bringing new releases, talented artists, hot debates, consistent retrospectives, rare classics from Romania to the heart of New York City. This edition will also continue the special program on the shifts that affect the arts and culture in Central and Eastern Europe, having the Czech Republic and Slovakia as guest countries.
For the first time we will also travel the festival programming outside of New York City, to the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY.14
13 Larry Rohter, “Festival Recast by Politics at Home,” New York Times, November 28, 2012, accessed November 3, 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/movies/shake-up-in-romania-changes-a-film-festival-in-new-york.html?pagewanted=all
14 Romanian Film Initiative, “Making Waves 2013,” accessed June 12, 2013,
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1715064836/making-waves-2013-romanian-film-fest-continues-and
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This had a ripple effect also on the image of the other Romanian Cultural Institutes in Europe where their activities also suffered from the managerial changes but nevertheless continue with their task of promoting Romanian culture.
This example not only shows challenges of an institution that is meant to promote culture abroad but how a turnout of events managed to bring again the focus on promoting Romanian culture to the American audience by using means considered untraditional from a diplomatic point of view.
The managerial change in a public institution responsible for cultural promotion abroad that made news story also contains an element of information about the people that are chosen for these positions. In the Romanian diplomatic body there is not a clear path on how one can become part of the team responsible for public diplomacy starting from the educational background needed to the practical experience. This is a problem that other countries encounter as well and in a pursuit of having a better take on public diplomacy special governmental bodies are created to fulfill this task.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the public and cultural diplomacy of Romania and the Romanian Cultural Institute is the one responsible for the promotion of Romanian culture. They have separate budgets and offices abroad. Also dissemination of touristic information materials abroad is done by another ministry, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration.
Having different ministries working independently without coordination means sending out different information without regard to what other parties are presenting and also not paying attention to the time when the information is send.
This only adds to the difficulties posed by the internal and external context in which the country must find a way to enhance its credibility in Europe.
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6 Chapter V – Context of Romania’s Public Diplomacy
6.1 Romania’s Image in the European Union After 2007 and the Directions of