Cultural Practices
Popular culture
Before the collapse of communism in 1989 music, cinema, and popular culture in general constituted not only means of artistic expression but also ways to exercise freedom and evade censorship in Romania. Local music and cinema productions were dominated by propaganda works and people turned to Western productions which were forbidden in Romania. Music and news broadcast by stations such as Radio Free Europe and Voice of America and films sold on the black market originating from Western countries provided people with information about the rest of the world. Romanian rock bands such as Phoenix used their lyrics and music in subversive ways.
During the postcommunist period, popular culture has acquired liberal dimensions. A new generation of artists, musicians, and filmmakers have populated the cultural scene. Globalization played a major role in the emergence of a plethora of new TV stations, news publications, and social media, offering various vehicles for the circulation of cultural products internationally. Two major tendencies have dominated the Romanian cultural landscape during the last three decades: independent cultural creations, individually produced or supported by various foundations and the Romanian Ministry of Culture, and mass-produced mainstream works sustained by a growing entertainment industry and consumer-centered market economy. Numerous entrepreneurial initiatives have also added new venues for cultural display and performance.
Music
Before the 1989 revolution, music in Romania served as a cultural escape from the everyday communist routine and as a connecting bridge with the outside world. People listened to American jazz and rock performers as well as pop artists from the Western countries.
During postcommunism, a new generation of Romanian music artists have engaged with diverse styles and genres that have entirely changed the Romanian musical stage. One of the most prolific areas that has experienced the greatest global music influence, pop music, has seen an increasing number of emerging artists such as Smiley, Ada Milea, Paula Seling (pop and jazz), Delia, Loredana (pop and neo-ethno), O-Zone (Moldovan band), and Taraful Haiducilor (Romani music). Several rock bands that existed before 1989, such as Iris and Holograf, have remained popular among young audiences while newer bands, such as Vama Veche, Cargo, Negura Bunget, Vita de Vie (alternative rock), Bere gratis (pop rock), Paraziții (rap), and Zdob si Zdub ( moldovan neo-ethno), have populated the Romanian music landscape. Neo-ethno, an entirely new pop music sub-category, takes inspiration from Romanian traditional music and reuses its rhythms, motifs, and instruments in an innovative way. Neo-ethnic and rap, a socially and politically engaged genre, represent two opposite trends that reflect the main current cultural and social divisions in the Romanian society, tradition and social reform.
The success and appeal, among Romanian youth, of music festivals of various genres that address diverse audiences come to validate the need for a diverse cultural identity and, at the same time, a desire for openness toward transnational trends. Among some of the most popular festivals in Romania one can count: the Electric Castle Festival, held at the Banffy castle, showcasing electronic, alternative, and underground music, the Neversea Festival in Constanta, by the Black Sea, the Gărâna Jazz Festival, held in the Carpathian mountains, the Untold Festival in Cluj-Napoca, an electronic music festival, and the George Enescu Festival, an international competition of classical music.
Cinema
The post-December 1989 transformational period in Romania has experienced a renaissance in the field of cinema with new masterpieces by filmmakers such as Cristian Mungiu, Cristi Puiu, or diasporic Romanian authors such as Ruxandra Zenide and Radu Jude, among others, many of whom have been awarded prizes at international film festivals such as the Sarajevo Film Festival, the Cannes film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival. The cinema landscape has also seen the emergence of the Romanian New Wave, a film movement that has framed a new film vision and aesthetics, in constant dialogue with the current social changes.
During this period, new film festivals that compete for international audiences have been born. Among them, the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), held every summer in the heart of Transylvania, in Cluj-Napoca, known for its open-air screenings, has increased in size over the years by bringing more and more spectators and showcasing contemporary cinematographic works from all over the world, along with music concerts, film and art workshops, and educational activities.
Festivals
Arts and community festivals have played an important role in popularizing art and making it more accessible to larger audiences. Several of them, taking place in multicultural areas of Romania, are often bilingual (Romanian and English) or multilingual (Hungarian or German, in addition) and gather diverse local crowds as well as international audiences.
Hungarian Cultural Days of Cluj, a festival that brings together tradition and modernity in a multicultural setting, is a free-entrance event that displays cultural artifacts as well as culinary stands, sport competitions, and community conversations around current topics such as environmental awareness, LGBTQ rights in Romania, ethnic minorities rights, and social work.
The Sighisoara Medieval Festival attracts youth as well as more mature audiences in a setting that reminds visitors of old times. The fortress of Sighisoara is part of the old city center, the place of birth of Vlad Tepes. A unique architectural structure, the citadel has been preserved during centuries and is still inhabited. Started by a group of young artists who gave live street performances twenty-five years ago, the festival has grown into a three-day long display of art, craft, music, dance, and theater.
Sports
Sports played a major role in entertaining the public during communism in Romania, as a hobby and as a social activity. Limited to a few hours of TV programs per day, Romanians ingeniously used makeshift antennas to intercept sports channels from neighboring countries (Bulgaria, Hungary) that were broadcasting world cup championship games.
Facing the present challenge of equaling talented former soccer stars such as Gheorghe Hagi and Adrian Mutu, current soccer players have succeeded in bringing crowds to stadiums to watch live games. In spite of increasing opportunities offered by personal electronic devices, young people still gather with friends to watch together their favorite soccer teams play. They also enjoy outdoor community screenings of tennis matches with participants such as Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, held in city center plazas during international tennis tournaments. The emerging e-sports and video games have also grown in popularity among Romanian youth during the last three decades.