Night of Museums 2019 attracts more than 1 mln visitors in Romania

The 15th edition of the Night of Museums event in Romania attracted more than 1 million visitors nationwide. The event took place on May 18 and came with a varied offer of exhibitions in various museums, interventions and artistic experiences, projections, dance shows, plays and concerts.

More than 50 museums and unconventional spaces in Bucharest kept their doors open to visitors for the Night of Museums 2019, while in the rest of the country their number exceeded 150. There were several new spaces in Bucharest that joined this year’s edition of the event, such as the Museum of Recent Art (MaRe), the Museum of Romanian Records, the Museum of Living Paintings – offered by Qreator, and the smallest mobile museum - organized by the National Chamber Choir "Marin Constantin".

However, this year’s edition of the Night of Museums was also marked by a series of protests aimed at drawing an alarm signal about the lack of funding in the cultural sector, according to a press release.

“The ministries of finance and culture have decided that there is no need for culture and that its funding is not a priority. 30% of the legitimate budget of AFCN (e.n. the National Cultural Fund Administration) was cut and thus 70 projects have lost funding since the last call for projects, although theoretically they were winning projects. The museums are among the “beneficiaries” of this abuse of the two ministries,” Dragos Neamu, Night of Museums manager, said.

“We demand 100% culture for all, as it was written on the 10,000 programs and stickers distributed or offered at the Night of Museums. People need culture, they need museums. We proved it at the Night of Museums, when smaller cities and towns in the country are blooming. […] What we, the museums and our friends, manage to do together, demonstrates how culture changes lives and brings out the best in people. For all this, we ask the government of the country to invest in culture, invest in museums, invest in the independent cultural sector,” Neamu added.

In Romania, the Night of Museums is organized by the National Network of Museums in Romania. This year’s edition was held on May 18.

(Photo source: the organizers)