Junii from Brasov are considered a unique phenomenon because of the old customs, but especially because of the costumes they wear during feast days. Most of them are still proudly wearing those nowadays. Today there are many groups, the most representative being Uniunea Junilor din Scheii Brasovului și Brasovul Vechi (the Union of Juni from Scheii Brasovului and the Old Brasov). To promote the customs, the Union has organized the cultural project "Museum in Casa Junilor", co-financed by the Town Hall of Brasov City, in partnership with the Association "I get involved" and Secondary School Iacob Muresianu. Although the organization is not the biggest in the country, they organize important, unique events, with three types of costumes, they preserve dances that do not exist anymore, and they dance archaically, the most representative dance being "Jocul Stramosesc (the Ancestral Dance).
The horse, ready for the show
Alexandru Stanescu, PhD., the author of the album "Feast day costumes of Juni in Scheii Brasovului, Costumes of Rosiori and Albiori" is writing in his paper about the Romanian costumes of the people in Schei and about how old they are. 12 shirts and more costumes are presented in the museum, unique pieces, preserved for 400 years by the people in Schei. The most impressive piece in the museum is a life-sized horse, with the costume for the show, and trinkets among harness pieces. Next to this piece, an ashen cart was disassembled with the purpose of being introduced in the museum. Families were taken by this to Pietrele lui Solomon (Solomon?s Stones) and food for celebrations was also brought in. By its pieces, the exhibition is one of the most interesting in Brasov.
Ancestral symbols
The project of the Museum in Casa Junilor adds to the cultural offer of Brasov City by activities of capitalization of the inheritance of people in Brasov by exhibitions, conferences and workshops. Four theme exhibitions have been organized, dedicated to the symbols and themes taken over from shirts and "ii" (Romanian blouses), the festive costumes of Juni from Scheii Brasovului, the national costume in Tara Barsei and Transylvania, but also to the accessories embossed with ancestral symbols. The handicraftsmen have initiated children and adults in the secrets of traditional embroidery, in applied textile art, in weaving and spinning, but also in the manufacture of ornaments and accessories making the traditional costume complete.
The costumes of Rosiori and Albiori
Alexandru Stanescu, PhD., includes several archive photos and historical references about the origin of the costumes of the Romanian people in Schei during the last 400 years in the volume "Feast day costumes of Juni in Scheii Brașovului, Costumes of Rosiori and Albiori", launched within the project, and emphasizes the evolution of the festive costume and the national costume of the old Romanian community from Brasov.
