23 YEARS IN THE SERVICE OF ROMANIAN HERITAGE AND COMMUNITIES
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July 2024
After a year of intense efforts, the George Enescu House in Mihăileni has overcome the most difficult phase. The biological report prepared by Mrs. Ionela Melinte, a biologist, certifies that the works to eliminate the Merulius lacrymans fungus were correctly approached and that the house is now biologically sanitized. The interventions were carried out carefully and with small steps in order not to risk spreading the contamination, but also to prevent major damage to the structural frame. We thank our donors and sponsors, without whom these works would not have been possible: Egger Group, Dedeman, EchitArt, Elsaco.
In spite of the maintenance and landscaping works with drains, soakaways, vertical systematization and ventilation of the underground spaces, the humidity in the cellar persists. Because this excessive humidity cannot be controlled naturally, we are in talks with BioDry to use high-performance mechanical dehumidification solutions.
Work is currently concentrating on re-finishing to make the house welcoming and ready for activities. Interior and exterior plaster, stoves and floors are being redone. The work also partially affected the electrical wiring. While the lighting has been conserved since the start of the work, the entire socket network has been dismantled in order to be able to carry out work on the foundations, plinth and floors. This now needs to be redone.
The estimated cost for all these activities to complete and reopen the house is around 25 000 Euro.
Since it was introduced to the public and educational projects have gradually started to take place in or in connection with the George Enescu House in Mihăileni, it has proved to be a real catalyst. More than just a heritage object, it is what generates strong links for local communities on the left bank of the upper Siret, a revived local identity, a renewed interest in the stories of place and the cultural landscape of the river, open access to culture and music education, sound study and traditional crafts.
In parallel with these efforts to restore and maintain the Enescu House, the George Enescu Academy of Music and Sound Studies in Mihăileni was established, functioning as a center of excellence in the study of classical music. Children from the Moldavian region have been attracted to the Academy, giving them the chance to get a quality education in a cultural environment that combines memorial and music education.
Every summer, hands-on experiential and creative education workshops are organized in which children from Mihăleni take part, this year the heritage education component is called „The Heritage Kit and Caravan – Houses and Communities Working Together” and is being carried out with monthly activities, kits and workshops in five communities where Pro Patrimonio has restoration interventions.
Pro Patrimonio’s involvement over the years has been done without State involvement, through private donations, cultural projects and volunteering. Once the consolidation and restoration work on the building is completed, the use of the house will be directed towards education and research, with a preponderance in the field of music and in the interest of future generations.
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O ciupercă dăunătoare afectează lemnul Casei George Enescu din Mihăileni. Intervenţii de urgenţă.
Concerte pe Siret. Concert final Masterclass, 22 august 2023. Călinești, Sala din Deal.
Concerte pe Siret, ediția a III-a
Eliminarea umezelii la Casa George Enescu. Şantier sub observaţie.
June 2024
For ten years now, Pro Patrimonio houses and places have been actively and constantly opening up to nearby youth communities through programmes of exploration and creative use of local resources, through direct reference to the heritage object. The houses have been, in turn, photographic subjects, „characters” in animated films made by the children, disguised as models, games, story points on cultural trails in the village and the city, the subject and index of a very wide and varied range of creative and practical activities. They have become the context for meeting and forming communities, an opportunity to relate to a model from the past to help us shape a better future.
Enough has gathered around this process that we decided it was time to add to the basic ideas – heritage house and children exploring through play – a visual identity that will accompany the kits and caravans in the field from now on. All these years, „Education for Heritage” has proved to be an identity programme of the Pro Patrimonio Foundation, as a role model, which has crept persistently into all the projects carried out. It needed a brand and we are glad that this has happened now that the programme is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
We thank the Creionetica team for accompanying us graphically with understanding and empathy throughout the project „Heritage Kit and Caravan – Houses and Communities Working Together”.
Also, as part of this project, we also included a product designed by the Education for Heritage Programme Coordinator, architect Andreea Machidon. It is the „Exploration Map of Câmpulung Muscel, Berechet Map”. It is now available in the „Useful” section of the Pro Patrimonio Foundation website. The Berechet Map was created during the organization of the festival celebrating the cultural and natural heritage of Câmpulung Muscel – „3 Doors, 3 Countries” – and used on many occasions by the children community of the city. It invites locals and visitors alike to take a leisurely stroll and works up the appetite for getting to know the place and the people who have lived there.
„Heritage Kit and Caravan – Houses and Communities Working Together” is a project realized by Pro Patrimonio Foundation, supported by the Romanian Order of Architects Stamp Tax and co-financed by AFCN, with the support of UiPath Foundation.
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Kit şi Caravană de Patrimoniu. Pregătiri.
Kit şi Caravană de Patrimoniu – Case și Comunități care Conlucrează
May 2024
In these first months of work for the heritage education project for this year, work is going on under the surface to produce the materials with which trainers and children will explore the Enescu House in Mihăileni,Botoșani county; Country House Viscri 18, Viscri,Brasov county; Golescu Villa, Câmpulung Muscel Town, Argeș county; Neamțu Mansion, Olari village,Olt county; the Church of Urși,Vâlcea county and another surprise house. Ideas and ways to spark children’s imagination emerge from team discussions.
We wonder, for example, what people, sounds or stories have clothed the heritage buildings chosen for the six kits for children? Aristocratic families, bankers and important politicians of their times passed by Golescu Villa in Câmpulung Muscel, the Neamțu Mansion in Olari or the P.P. Carp Mansion in Țibănești. We shall find out how the Saxons arrived in Viscri, how the Church of Urși is still inhabited by angelic figures and which musical personalities have been with George Enescu at the Memorial House in Mihăileni.
At the same time, we ask ourselves about our roots and try to build our own family tree.
Our friends are our extended family and we try to use the monthly meetings to shape and define as best and creatively as possible the community of work and play that will form around the kits and the Heritage Caravan, starting in August this summer.
Our Caravan defines and weaves together the network of historic homes and communities in which the Foundation works. In the caravan, some of the core team and a team of experienced volunteers set out for a total of about 20 days in the fall to five destinations of exploration and play spread out in places steeped in history.
Each host home and garden opens to an audience comprising mainly of children for two days with exhibits, specific workshops, prize contests, culinary tastings, and movie night.
“Heritage Kit and Caravan – Houses and Communities Working Together” is a project realized by Pro Patrimonio Foundation, supported by the Romanian Order of Architects Stamp Tax and co-financed by AFCN, with the support of UiPath Foundation.
For a year and a half, from the beginning of 2024 until June 2025, the Heritage Education program has been enriched with more workstations and offers 125 children from rural areas and beyond the opportunity to learn directly through experimentation and creativity about the heritage of architecture, local memory and identity, nature, buildings, relationships between people and cultural values.
The project entitled “Heritage Kit and Caravan – Houses and Communities Working Together” has two components that have proven over years to be very important: remote interventions through heritage kits and on-site interventions through workshops, camps and community days within the heritage caravan.
25 children from 5 communities in different counties (Botoșani, Brașov, Argeș, Vâlcea and Olt) will form mixed working groups with a local coordinator, they will meet twice a month for six months to work together on the stories of six emblematic heritage buildings in Romania (with at least one example from their own neighborhood). The stories received in the pack will be complemented by numerous practical challenges that question and challenge the groups of children to rethink life in the community, the nearby natural setting and the individual spaces they use in relation to examples of good practice received and then constructed by themselves.
The first six examples of kits tell the stories of: the Enescu House in Mihăileni, Botoșani county; Viscri 18 peasant house, Viscri, Brasov county; the Golescu Villa, town of Câmpulung Muscel, Argeș county; Neamțu Manor, Olari village, Olt county; Urși Church, Vâlcea county and a surprise house.
Each kit pack dedicated to one of the six places contains: an interactive exploration booklet of the house, a slice of the large map puzzle of Romania, a pop-up construction and the house itself that lights up.
The caravan is designed for direct interaction. It brings together project coordinators and trained trainers for two successive camp sessions and community days in all five Pro Patrimonio communities. Workshops, cultural, sporting and culinary competitions, exhibitions and film evenings will invite both children involved in the program and curious and eager family members to participate.
The kits, camps and community days aim to be an engaging cultural product, demonstrating that the collaborative heritage stories of architects, designers, historians and environmental specialists can work together in an understandable educational package and generate ideas and solutions for creative development and the enhancement of quality life for individuals and groups, using existing cultural resources in innovative ways.
The camps and community days at the end of the project give us the opportunity to generate a sense of belonging to a community and instill the idea that the power to change lies in one’s own hands.
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Over the last ten years, through its trans-annual and interdisciplinary “Education for Heritage” program, the Pro Patrimonio Foundation has been promoting education of and for heritage wherever the Foundation physically intervenes.
The over 40 workshops initiated by Pro Patrimonio in these years are mainly aimed at children aged 7-14 years old, in vulnerable situations in the communities where the foundation carries out projects for the rescue, conservation and rehabilitation of architectural heritage (Golescu Villa in Câmpulung, Neamțu Manor in Olari, Perticari-Davila Manor in Argeș, George Enescu House in Mihăileni, etc.).
The activities are organized annually in the form of practical workshops and aim to educate and teach directly, through experimentation and creativity, about architectural heritage, local memory and identity, nature, buildings, relationships between people and cultural values. Projects such as “3 Doors, 3 Countries Festival” (2018), “The Heritage Caravan” (2019), “Enescu House Days” (2020), “School of Landscape, Art and Sound” (2021), “My Village Story” (2022), the “Heritage in a Package “ kit series and numerous one-off actions in the sites where we work, have shaped and consolidated over time a functional working strategy.
“Heritage Kit and Caravan – Houses and Communities Working Together” is a project realized by Pro Patrimonio Foundation, supported by the Romanian Order of Architects Stamp Tax and co-financed by AFCN.
March 18, 2024
The partnership initiated five years ago between Pro Patrimonio Foundation and UiPath Foundation continues throughout 2024 in the communities of children around the George Enescu House in Mihăileni and Neamțu Manor in Olari – historical monuments from Botoșani and Olt counties.
Over the past ten years Pro Patrimonio Foundation has been promoting education of and for heritage, through its trans-annual and interdisciplinary “Education for Heritage” program wherever the Foundation physically intervenes. The more over 40 workshops initiated by Pro Patrimonio these past years are mainly aimed at children in the 7-14 age group, in vulnerable situations in the communities where the foundation carries out its projects for the rescue, conservation and rehabilitation of architectural heritage (Golescu Villa in Câmpulung, Neamțu Manor in Olari, Perticari-Davila Manor in Argeș, George Enescu House in Mihăileni, etc.).
The activities are organized annually in the form of practical workshops and aim to educate and teach directly, through experimentation and creativity, about architectural heritage, local memory and identity, nature, buildings, relationships between people and cultural values. “Enescu House Festive Days” (2020), “School of Landscape, Art and Sound” (2021), “The Story of My Village” (2022) and the “Heritage in a Pack” kit series are examples of projects and activities that have taken place in previous years at Enescu House and Neamțu Manor and have involved not only local children and young people but also the local community.
This year, the heritage education component is called “Heritage Kit and Caravan – Homes and Communities Working Together “ and is being carried out with monthly activities, kits and workshops in five communities where Pro Patrimonio is undergoing restoration interventions.
The partnership initiated five years ago with the UiPath Foundation’s support programes was thus natural, benefiting from the expertise of local needs identified so that the intervention could have the desired effect.
Started with 20 children near the George Enescu House in Mihăileni, Botoșani in January 2020, UiPath Foundation’s flagship intervention – “Leap towards the Future” – has grown each year and reached its 5th year of collaboration with Pro Patrimonio Foundation to provide educational support for 40 children and their families. A year later the program was replicated in the socially disadvantaged communities around the Neamțu Manor in Olari, Olt, a monument also under the care of Pro Patrimonio Foundation. Here, from 2021, through this collaboration it was possible to provide support for 20 children, now reaching 30 beneficiaries. The tangible support is continuous, constant throughout the year, annually. Through this educational program, children from socially vulnerable families – aged between 11 and 16 – receive an integrated package of support, with the aim of reducing the risk of dropping out of school and helping them to reach their full potential.
The intervention requires a long-term approach that takes into account the child’s whole ecosystem. Through the program, children benefit from weekly tutoring lessons for Romanian language and literature, Mathematics or English to strengthen their school knowledge. In addition, they benefit from various educational activities, monthly scholarships, tablets with internet access and educational apps, medical and psychological support. Families also receive regular packages of food, school supplies, clothing, shoe ware and books.
Every child in the program participates in “Inspirational Speakers”, “Conversation Club” and U&I Summer Camp, just a few examples of other landmark activities that broaden children’s horizons about their career paths, encourage them to practice English through interactive activities, and provide the framework for the development of many skills, including effective communication, teamwork, managing emotions, digital skills and financial literacy.
Foto: Cătălin Georgescu
In line with Pro Patrimonio’s objectives and mission – in this collaborative project for the George Enescu House – a dedicated project entitled “Music Academy for Children” was established in 2020 . It gave the opportunity to a group of children from the towns of Mihăileni and Vârful Câmpului in Botoșani to educate themselves in the spirit of music. The program facilitates children and young people from the area to develop their musical skills, study an instrument, participate in local competitions and meet established artists who give recitals at “Concerts on the Siret River”. The aim of the weekly courses is not necessarily performance, but the formation of a musical culture and personal development through music. A new generation of children from Mihăileni will join the program in May this year.
To support young people studying piano, in 2022, through the collaboration between Pro Patrimonio and teacher Diana Bratan, the manual “Introduction to the ABC of Music. A guide for teachers and parents”. The publication introduced, clearly and concisely, through graphic illustrations, indispensable notions for a solid musical foundation. Printed copies were distributed free of charge to interested teachers and young people, and the digital version is still available online in the Pro Patrimonio Foundation’s Useful Resources Library.
In February 2024, Pro Patrimonio provided consultancy to a local community. It is the Zarifopol Manor in the village of Cârligi, Bacău county, in a state of abandonment and vandalization due to a long process of retrocession. The villagers want it not to disappear and to be used again, to bring new life and energy into the community. This was the site of the village school during the communist period and the descendants of the family that claimed the property wanted to keep the educational and cultural activities in the manor. Unfortunately legal issues are still unresolved, so the manor is deteriorating. A local initiative group has decided to take the necessary steps for conservation until disputes are resolved, which will then allow its revitalization. Otherwise it will ruin beyond salvage.
From 6-8 November the British Council’s Circular Catalysts programme travelled to London. The Romanian Cultural Institute in London hosted the exhibition, meetings, discussions, presentations and workshops during this phase of the project.
Vernisajul din 6 noiembrie a adunat o comunitate extinsă de oameni interesați, expaţi dar nu numai. Aceștia au fost întâmpinați de discursurile organizatorilor și a oamenilor direct implicați în proiect: Andrew Glass (director British Council România), Aura Woodward (director ICR Londra), Marlene Herberth (Kraftmade). O ceremonie a ceaiului coordonată de Marlene Herberth – „ How to Get Through the Day ” și o sesiune mult așteptată de networking cu toți actorii acestui proiect – pentru prima oară împreună – au întregit acest eveniment.
Pro Patrimonio has been part of this project from the beginning (in March 2023), organising workshops, presentations and sections of the general exhibition.
The opening on 6 November brought together a large community of interested people, expats and others. They were welcomed by speeches from the organisers and those directly involved in the project. A tea ceremony and a long-awaited networking session with all the actors of this project – together for the first time – completed the event.
Afterwards, the exhibition framework facilitated free discussions between the professionals directly involved in the project – designers, craftsmen, makers, artists – organisers and guests. An open table for dialogue was organised, during which different scenarios for the continuation of the project were discussed.
The last evening was dedicated to a botanical print workshop designed and implemented by Andreea Machidon along with British designer Anoushka Cole. Andreea and Anoushka’s textile printing techniques took the audience on a fascinating visual and tactile journey.
Photo credits: ICR Londra
Other events within the project:
Circular Catalysts ajunge la Londra
Circular Catalysts la HEI Timişoara
Ateliere de Explorări şi Imprimări Botanice
Circular Catalysts- reziliență și dezvoltare durabilă locală prin design și meșteșug
Rezidenţă Circular Catalysts la Vila Golescu
Jurnal de rezidenţă Circular Catalysts
Expoziţia Pro Patrimonio din cadrul Circular Catalysts. Romanian Design Week 2023
In November, the Forgotten Textures – Historical Plastering project team, supported by restorer Ana Chiricuță, carried out some tests on the facade of a building on Mătăsari Street, Bucharest, with the owners’ consent. Using the results of the analysis of the façade mortar, an attempt was made to reproduce the plaster to fill in the missing areas. The plaster samples were analysed in two different laboratories and resulted in different compositions. Both lime-only and lime-cement mixture compositions were tested. The proportion of aggregates could not be reproduced identically, as the laboratory result indicated an unnaturally high proportion, which the binder does not have the capacity to bind.
In November, the Forgotten Textures – Historical Plastering project team, supported by restorer Ana Chiricuță, carried out some tests on the facade of a building on Mătăsari Street, Bucharest, with the owners’ consent. Using the results of the analysis of the façade mortar, an attempt was made to reproduce the plaster to fill in the missing areas. The plaster samples were analysed in two different laboratories and resulted in different compositions. Both lime-only and lime-cement mixture compositions were tested. The proportion of aggregates could not be reproduced identically, as the laboratory result indicated an unnaturally high proportion, which the binder does not have the capacity to bind.
“Forgotten Texts – Historical Plastering. Research and practical studies for repair and maintenance” Project in phase II carried out by Pro Patrimonio Foundation and supported by the Romanian Order of Architects from the Architecture Stamp Tax and PSC Group.
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December 2023
We are currently working intensively on a protective superstructure for the wooden church in Șirineasa, Vâlcea county. With the support of the Fondation de France and the Storck House Foundation, we are going to succeed in protecting the building before the onset of winter. The structure is necessary both to preserve the whole building and to allow us to carry out repair work on the roof and the wicker vaulting next year.
Despite the critical times it is going through, the Enescu House in Mihăileni proves its vitality through the strong links it creates and carries forward. The local community has come to our aid in various ways. These people have been part of the educational projects we have been running in the community for four years now, as well as the three editions of Concerts on the Siret river. The house-symbol has already been reclaimed in the local identity and they don’t want to lose it.
Following the biological attack that the wooden structure of the house suffered (infestation with the Merulius lacryman fungus) the work to save the house has returned and is progressing against the clock to avoid winter.
Survey researches to detect the presence of the fungus deep within the outer walls have been carried out with the constant assistance of biologist Ionela Melinte. The house structure was supported with metal posts to allow interventions on the walls. Undercuts were made where necessary. The external drains were completed and the systemization works were completed by creating a slope and stone platform in the northern area.
All infested wood was burned so as not to carry the pest to other places, and unattached wood material was treated preventively with Bochemit solution.
The fungus identified in the cracks of apparently healthy wood
As a solution adapted to the place and the construction site, samples were made with a press for the bricks in the ground, the resulting bricks to be used for repairs.
An interview given by architect Șerban Sturdza, president of the Pro Patrimonio Foundation and architect Sergiu Popa, the local site coordinator, for Mr. Gabriel Basarabescu on Radio Romania Actualități’s After Walls show puts the spotlight on all this unceasing struggle and effort that gives meaning to our work.
We gratefully thank the local donors who have chosen to direct money to this general effort; the Local Council of the Municipality of Mihaileni, Botoșani county and Mr. Mayor Laurențiu Bărbăcariu as well as the two companies – without whose substantial financial help this would not have been possible – EGGER Group and Dedeman.
We need the money to buy time for the Enescu House!
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O ciupercă dăunătoare afectează lemnul Casei George Enescu din Mihăileni. Intervenţii de urgenţă
Eliminarea umezelii la Casa George Enescu. Şantier sub observaţie.
