A centenary map on canvas
|
|
Thirty women from Brasov, Bessarabia and other parts of Romania worked together to embroider a Centenary Map, a map of Romania and Bessarabia, featuring traditional patterns from all the areas of the country. The map, manually sewn on a large piece of canvas, was subsequently displayed to the public. The canvas consisted of applied stitches representing old folk motifs from all over Romania as well as from Bessarabia. The borders were sewn in the colours of the Romanian flag. In the centre of the map, the women embroidered the official logo of the Centenary 1918-2018.
With love for Romania
‘The Centenary Map is a project that we envisioned out of respect for our grand-grandmothers, grandmothers and mothers, who would probably sew while waiting for their husbands to come home from the war, sewing for us. We worked at it with love for Romania, so that at least one more generation can admire the Romanian traditional motifs. Thirty ladies contributed to this project. These women wished to take part in it regardless of whether they were skilled seamstresses or just started to grasp the art of sewing on this occasion,’ stated Antonela Lungu, the coordinator of the Centenary Map project.
Sewing Thursday
For a few months, every Thursday, the participants got together to sew at the Casa Junilor. They sewed the borders in turns, and works individually at the patterns representative for each county. Several women from other parts of Romania, as well as some from Republic of Moldova joined the endeavour. This Great Union Centenary project was produced by the ‘Mă implic’ Association, together with the ‘Motive tradiţionale din Țara Bârsei şi împrejurimi’ group.
Exhibitions in the Casa Junilor
The exhibitions held in the Casa Junilor: ‘Symbols and Motifs on the Romanian Traditional Blouse (Ie)’, sewn by the ‘Șezătoare la Brasov’ group; ‘The Centenary Map’, sewn by the groups ‘Șezătoare în Șchei’; ‘Motive tradiţionale 'in Țara Bârsei şi împrejurimi’; Ethnographic photography exhibition, displaying the textile heritage in the Bran-Moieciu-Fundata area, part of the cultural project ‘The Treasures of the Hope Chests at the Carpathian Gate’, implemented by the Mountain Ecology Centre and co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration.
