Exhibition & Talk I Dacians and Romanians in Britain
Wonderful to welcome at Romanian Cultural Institute in London so many British friends and members of our own community for the opening of our creative exhibition “Voices from Wall. Dacians and Romanians in Britain”. The exhibition celebrates the centuries long cultural links between Romania and the UK as it uncovers the extraordinary contribution made by the Dacians - ancestors of Romanians - to Hadrian’s Wall, emblematic historical monument of Britain. We place this exhibition in the context of the current Romanian community in the UK, one of the largest in the country.
We were delighted to have with us distinguished archeologist Tony Wilmott, who led key excavations work at Hadrian’s Wall, writer Ioana Morpurgo, who was commissioned to write a story in response to this project and historian Cristina Paiusan from the National History Museum in Bucharest, where the exhibition will go next. The evening concluded with a short film dedicated to this project, produced by Christian Havrincea.
The concept of this exhibition belongs to writer and historian Bronwen Riley, who is also the curator. Bronwen has two life-long passions – classical studies and Romania. It was while working as head of guidebooks for English Heritage that she first learned of the Dacians' link to Hadrian’s Wall and, intrigued by their lives and experiences so far away from home, as much as those of the Romanians who were coming to live in the UK, she conceived the idea for this project.
“Voices from Wall. Dacians and Romanians in Britain” was first opened in Carlisle and then Manchester. You can see it at Romanian Cultural Institute in London until the 31 May.
This is the first itinerant exhibition of this kind in the UK, developed by Romanian Cultural Institute in London, underpinned by a solid online campaign, which to date has reached over two million people.
Photography Alex Coman
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