Voices from the Wall

Exhibition & Talk I Dacians and Romanians in Britain

Wed 22 May | Romanian Cultural Institute

It is wonderful to welcome so many British friends and members of our community to the Romanian Cultural Institute in London for the opening of our creative exhibition, “Voices from the Wall: Dacians & 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, an 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 archaeologist Tony Wilmott, who led key excavation 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 next be displayed. 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 lifelong 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 the Wall. Dacians and Romanians in Britain” was first opened in Carlisle and then in Manchester. You can view it at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London until May 31.

This is the first itinerant exhibition of its kind in the UK, developed by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, and underpinned by a solid online campaign that has reached over two million people to date.

Photography by Alex Coman