Search the register of rural heritage still in existence

Invited by the magazine "Arhitectura", I try to recount the compressed history of searches and encounters with the rural heritage of the Mountains and with the people of the unique, perhaps forgotten, places of the Apuseni Mountains.

I had taken part in the 15th Entretiens du Patrimoine in March 2007, organized by the French Ministry of Culture, on the theme "Patrimoines de l'Europe, patrimoine européen?", and Romania had already been welcomed into the European Union.

An IPSOS survey conducted in five EU countries, including only one from the former communist camp - Hungary - confirmed by extrapolation what we knew from the Romanian press about the way in which the Romanian population and administration perceive and treat national heritage.

Together with passionate Romanian architects, filmmakers, PhD students from Paris, we founded the association "Rencontres du Patrimoine Europe-Roumanie" - RPER-Fr, with the RPER-Ro branch (president: Dr. archaeologist Ioana Bogdan Cataniciu). In May 2008 we organized the Symposium "Patrimoine roumain - Patrimoine européen", under the high patronage of the Romanian Academy, and the Documentary Film Festival on the heritage of Rosia Montana, which took place in the Salon d'Or of the Palais de Béhague (Romanian Embassy in Paris), respectively at the Cinematographe l'Arlequin.

Specialists, academics and researchers in the fields of archaeology, architecture, chemistry, economics, including the president of the Romanian Academy, Professor Dr. Ionel Haiduc, Professor Dr. Horia Ciugudean, Dr. Ioana Bogdan Cătăniciu, prof. dr. Afrodita Iorgulescu, Ștefan Mănciulescu(architect en chef of historical monuments in France), lectured in the presence of the French personalities taking part, including the president of the "Association des Journalistes du Patrimoine" (AJP), Michel Schulman.

This was the "melting pot" of the concept of the "Summer University of Restoration of Monuments and Sites", a generic program under the high patronage of the Romanian Academy.

There followed three editions of the Summer University: "On the Roman roads in the Mounts Country" 2009, 2010, 2011, during which the trainees benefited from practical initiations of pre-searching the Roman roads, following the Josephine (Austrian) maps under the guidance of the archaeologist conf. dr. Horia Ciugudean, and multidisciplinary initiations through the enthusiastic participation, to be mentioned, at least, of prof. Dr. Sabin A. Luca, Prof. Dr. Vintilă Mihăilescu, Prof. Dr. Ioan Piso, Prof. Dr. Gheorghe Lazarovici, Prof. Dr. Florin Fodorean, Prof. Dr. Alexandru Herlea, Prof. Dr. Nicolae Cianga, Prof. Dr. Mihai Opreanu and, last but not least, Dr. Christoph Machat - member of the ICOMOS International Board of Directors.

RPER, soon qualified member of ICOMOS (International Committee on Monuments and Sites), Europa Nostra, AJP, became the promoter of the philosophy "ICOMOS Declaration - Saving the Spirit of Place" Quebec, October 4, 2008.

Our peregrinations through the Mounts' Country have enlightened us on the deep rupture between the preoccupations of the administrations, confronted with multiple basic problems (roads, sewerage, water supply, etc...) and the still existing riches of the rural heritage.

The only locality in which our enquiries were echoed was BUCIUM, through its mayor, Eng. Cornel Napău.

Therefore, the partnership with the town hall was realized, which initially referred to the "Restoration of the Old School Bucium", a white pearl - built by an Italian architect before 1900, originally destined for demolition, standing between black pearls - wooden houses protected from humidity with burnt machine oil.

The concept of the Bucium Summer University project, July 17-27, 2011, was extended to "Bucium Rural Heritage", enjoying the encouragement of UAR (Union of Romanian Architects), the French Embassy in Romania, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the National Heritage Institute and the Universities "Lucian Blaga", "Ion Mincu" and "Spiru Haret".

Restoring rural heritage in situ and reconceptualizing its life are, in France, the long-standing mission of "La Fondation du Patrimoine"(www.fondationpatrimoine.org), which is completely lacking in Romania. Backed by subsidies from the French Ministry of Culture and a "battery" of real patronage, it conveys the message: "To resign ourselves to following, or even accelerating, such a trend (i.e. the destruction of rural heritage) would be to close our eyes to the serious risk of cultural disappearance, at a time when many of our fellow citizens are in search of landmarks and identity".

We know the situation of the vernacular architecture of Romanian villages, which has suffered serious mutilations, where traditional houses in unclassified areas, apart from those saved in rural heritage museums or remarkable transmutation projects, have often been used as firewood, as raw material for parquet flooring, necessary for restorations in the West. Others have crumbled into ruin.

The reason for these irreversible losses, we believe, lies in the lack of a European perspective on cultural heritage, reflected in the gaps in the legislation protecting national heritage, as well as in the absence of a program to subsidize restoration.

The proposed approach aims to reduce/face a historical discrepancy of 67 years (45 years of totalitarian regime and 22 years of democracy) between the perception and the way heritage in general and rural heritage in particular (unclassified) has been treated between the West and Eastern Europe, a discrepancy ignored by most European forums/programs that aim to build a dialogue - in reality difficult to achieve in the current context.

For anyone interested in the mysteries of the beauty of rural heritage, Grigore Ionescu's warning - 'The works of popular architecture - from the house, the church to the smallest constructions necessary for the household and peasant life - as well as furniture and all the art objects related to the home and the country life, were made of fragile and perishable materials: wood, earth, brick, reed, cloth, etc..., and thus, by their nature, have a relatively short lifespan' - sends shivers down the spine.

Grigore Ionescu also assures us and documents that: '... we can speak of continuity, of a national folk art that has preserved its traditional characteristic features throughout the ages'.

This mystery of the preservation of traditional features guided our research in 30 villages, scattered and scattered, in the commune of Bucium, where we found 80 objects of profane heritage (houses, workshops, mills, bread ovens, furniture...) and sacred heritage (churches, shrines), of which 12 were the subject of complete studies.

From the Simion House, to which I was also able to complete the IMF - M Analytical File, where the details of the carver's craftsmanship with the marking of the orders of the beams is edifying, and the hand-forged ironwork bears witness to its age, to the Bembea House, a cula, I inventoried a fan of themes of different inspirations and resources, which claim the right to life.

A sally of sheds, maintained in perfect originality, convince us of the resilience of the saving autarchy...

We encountered a population (among those who live permanently in Bucium or who are not away in search of work elsewhere) ready to support our approach, which is implausible for them.

When talking about the locals, it is worth quoting from written documents dating back to the end of the 16th century, evoked by Ioana Cristache-Panait: 'whoever knows the Buciumans... knows that in any national cause... their blood is required of them, they take pride in being among the first'.

What remains open is the way to negotiate with the time that exhausts the souls of the locals and the heritage, with the administration that must understand the importance of saving the heritage and the concept of European funds...

The current compromise related to rural heritage consists, we believe, in the "Repertorization" in mediatized volumes, a repertorization that can become a model to be practiced in all communes, with one primordial condition: the Universities of Architecture to massively structure their programs and practice in favor of this belated mission... of course, with the voluntary help of those who are available...

Photo: RPER