Upon examination of the figures coming out of this year’s cultural programme in, the events appear to have been successful. Timisoara seems to be on its way to becoming a prominent cultural hub in Romania. But the question remains: will it maintain this momentum after 2023? On this backdrop, Business Review delves into the city’s local heritage and its future cultural prospects.

The grand opening of Timisoara Capital of Culture drew a crowd of over 60,000 people, while the Victor Brauner exhibition was enjoyed by more than 12,000 visitors. The “Pepiniera – 1306 Plants for Timisoara,” a temporary installation featuring a modular metal structure that allowed the public to explore different uses of public space, had over 100,000 visitors in the Opera Square. Furthermore, over 45,000 exhibition tickets for Constantin Brancusi’s work have been reserved since the launch in October 2023. But there is more than that.

Taking a look at the numbers

Timisoara Capital of Culture (TM2023) secured more than EUR 44 million in funding, with a significant contribution of EUR 40 million from the Timisoara City Hall, the Timis County Council, and the Culture Ministry, supplemented by an additional EUR 4 million from corporate sponsorships. However, not all of the projects will be completed within the current year; some will continue into the coming years. These initiatives encompass the transformation of cinemas, the former water tower, and an array of other cultural assets, including the creation of a new water museum, all made accessible for the local community. Furthermore, both the County Council and the City Hall have introduced a participatory budgeting system, allowing citizens and organisations to actively engage in shaping Timisoara’s future, including through cultural projects.

Two significant projects were already funded and set to be carried out during TM2023. One of them was backed by the City Hall and involved the revival of art cinemas in Timisoara, namely Cinema Victoria and Cinema Timis, worth over EUR 6 million together. The second project, amounting to over EUR 2 million, was a substantial investment in security, temperature control, and display enhancements for the National Museum of Art, provided by the County Council. Additionally, a series of other cultural infrastructure projects are on the horizon for the near future.

The Timis County Council overview

In a comprehensive interview with Business Review, Alin Nica, the president of the Timis County Council, provided an in-depth perspective on the inner workings and intricacies of the TM2023 initiative. “Timisoara is extravagant, lively, always a few steps ahead in terms of vision, lifestyle, and thinking, and we wanted all these qualities to be concentrated in a diverse but high-quality cultural programme with a significant impact on the local community, as well as reverberations at the national and European levels. This means large-scale events and programmes with a high artistic standard,” explained Nica, who has previously served as a cultural specialist at the EU commission, having been responsible for the European Capitals of Culture.

The County Council participated with almost 25% of the total funding for the Timisoara European Capital of Culture project, including the financing for its six cultural institutions, each actively involved in TM2023. For 2023 only, the amount commissioned reached EUR 5 million.

Alin Nica also talked about the importance of tourism, with Timisoara and Timis county currently not even among the top 10 tourism destinations. “When we talk about the cultural heritage of the European Capital of Culture for the post-period, we are discussing three components. There is the hard component, which refers to the concrete legacy of our cultural infrastructure. We also have the soft component, which includes events we can replicate and continue to organise after 2023 and what remains in cultural institutions in terms of experience, expertise, or relationships with similar institutions. The third component is the impact that the European Capital of Culture has, and will have, on the local economy, as we want to turn culture and tourism into driving forces for local development in the future and diversify the local economy, making Timisoara and Timis county some of the top tourist destinations in the country,” noted the president of the County Council.

The City Hall overview

Asked by Business Review to provide an overview of the investment in cultural infrastructure, vice-mayor Ruben Latcau, who oversees the city’s investments, stated that they had allocated more than RON 350 million to this objective. This substantial investment aligns with their commitment as the European Capital of Culture for the year 2023, but the sum was allocated for the 2021-2025 period. “The top priorities are the objectives set out in Timisoara’s winning candidacy dossier. The most important goal of these investments for the Municipality of Timisoara is to ensure that the spaces returned to the community will constantly host activities and events for the people of Timisoara and tourists,” Latcau explained.

For the Timisoara 2023 Cultural Programme, the Municipality allocated approximately RON 75 million in 2022-2023 through the Timisoara Municipality Projects Centre and local public cultural institutions: the Banatul Timisoara Philharmonic, the Timisoara City Cultural Centre, the Csiky Gergely Hungarian Theatre, and the German Theatre. During this period, over 260 cultural projects and creative scholarships were funded as part of the Timisoara 2023 Cultural Programme, following the evaluation of over 900 funding applications.

Notably, the revitalisation of the former cinemas in Timisoara is particularly valuable, both for TM2023, but also for the communities where they are located. Alongside the execution of renovation works, a comprehensive strategy has been devised for their reintegration into the city’s cultural landscape.

Cinema Victoria in the Elisabetin district was the first of the city’s traditional cinemas to be rehabilitated by the Timisoara Municipality. It features a multifunctional hall with 192 seats, a retractable screen, a Barco 2k digital projector, and a Dolby Surround sound system. Its programme focuses on Romanian and European cinema, as well as productions from independent theatres. The stage also hosts performances, concerts, and various other community events.

The first year of operation at Cinema Victoria saw 38,000 spectators, with almost 20% of them being children, attending over 600 public and private events, including 50 screenings followed by audience meetings with directors and actors, 18 festivals, 8 theatre performances, as well as concerts, debates, and many more. Cinema Victoria was completed in April 2022 and is managed by the Timisoara Municipality Projects Centre.

Cinema Timis, located in the city centre, is the largest of Timisoara’s traditional cinemas. It reopened on October 13, 2023, after a complete renovation that transformed it into the most modern multifunctional space for movies, concerts, and cultural events in the heart of Timisoara. The renovated building includes the main hall for film screenings, concerts, and other events with a capacity of 529 seats, equipped with a fixed 2D/3D cinema screen, a Barco 4k digital projector, a Dolby Surround 7.1 cinema sound system, and an auxiliary sound system for events. In the basement, there is a multifunctional 160-sqm room that can accommodate up to 120 people, equipped with a retractable screen, a professional sound system, and modular furniture. Three smaller rooms featuring interactive screens and modular furniture can host courses, workshops, and other events with a limited number of participants. Cinema Timis also has an entrance hall and a generous foyer of over 100 square metres, as well as a street-facing cafe area and a bar area in the basement. Cinema Timis was completed in September 2023 and is managed by the Timisoara Municipality Projects Centre.

In the near future, the network of former cinemas in Timisoara being returned to the community will be completed by Cinema Dacia in the neighbourhood of the same name, Cinema Studio in the city centre, and Cinema Freidorf in the neighbourhood of the same name, with a completion horizon no later than the first half of 2024. Cinema Dacia, with a multifunctional hall of 380 seats, will have a strong educational dimension through film screenings for students, documentaries, educational concerts, opera screenings, museum tours, puppet theatre, and Ted Talks-style conferences, creative mornings. Cinema Studio will be an arthouse cinema featuring the latest independent films from the national offering, film festivals, masterclass events, workshops, and an open-air film garden on the roof of the building, with 80 additional seats. The Freidorf Cultural and Educational Centre will be a cultural and social centre with film screenings for the general public, as well as documentaries, performances, and workshops for circus, dance, music, and forum theatre. The Freidorf Cultural and Educational Centre will also offer day centre services for integrated assistance, including information and psychosocial counselling, family counselling, vocational counselling, occupational therapy, education and socialisation, support groups, and basic medical services.

The MultipleXity – Corneliu Miklosi Public Transport Museum is part of the MultipleXity Centre for Art, Technology, and Experimentation and hosts exhibitions, art installations, performances, and debates. The structure consists of metal and brick construction covering 2,148 square metres and includes five adjacent rooms. The museum’s courtyard features the former dispatcher tower, standing at a height of 59 metres, and a semicircular single-story building with a glazed façade towards the courtyard, covering 138 square metres. The urban space in the courtyard has been enriched by rearranged green spaces with extensive plantings of low and medium-height perennial vegetation and mature trees that ensure healthy growth.

Urban furniture elements have also been installed. On the southern side, the former tram repair workshops, with an area of over 13,000 square metres, provide exhibition spaces, multimedia spaces, and creative spaces. Additionally, the MultipleXity will integrate the activities of the Corneliu Miklosi Memorial House. The exterior spaces for MultipleXity were completed in February 2023 and are managed by the Timisoara Municipality Projects Centre.

The Kuncz Cultural and Educational Centre in the neighbourhood of the same name is a social centre aimed at combating social marginalisation. The concept is that of a multifunctional centre with socio-educational, recreational, and cultural activities for children in the neighbourhood and beyond. It includes spaces for recreation and relaxation, classrooms for artistic courses, a sports hall, study support rooms, and a dining hall. The Kuncz Cultural and Educational Centre was completed in September 2023 and will soon be open to the community under the coordination of the Timisoara Municipality Social Assistance Directorate.

The Bastion Galleries are part of the Maria Theresia Bastion, a component of the old Timisoara Fortress, built between 1730-1735, initially named the Ravelin Supply Depot and later renamed as a tribute to Queen Maria Theresia around 1744-1745. The spaces of the three galleries in Timisoara have significant character and a rich history and have been carefully rehabilitated. The Bastion Galleries were completed in December 2022 and are managed by the Timisoara Municipality Projects Centre.

In addition to the major investment objectives assumed by the Timisoara Municipality, there are also a number of other unconventional spaces that have been returned to the community through culture, under the coordination of the Timisoara Municipality Projects Centre. The Stefania Palace, also known as the “House with Monkeys” or the Totisz House, was built in 1908 in the Secession style by entrepreneur Josef Kremmer senior, based on plans by architect Székely László. Today, it provides an unconventional space of approximately 286 square metres.

Gallery 5 is another unconventional space, and its construction is mentioned on Timisoara’s maps from 1723 when it operated as the ‘Two Golden Keys Inn.’ In 1752, the building was owned by Stephan Clallinovich. From 1828 to 1859, the building on Vasile Alecsandri Street served as the War Commissariat.

This article was produced through funding from Energie! Creation Grants, awarded by the Municipality of Timișoara, through the Project Center / Centrul de Proiecte, within the Power Station component of the national cultural program “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023.” The material does not necessarily represent the position of the Project Center of the Municipality of Timișoara, and it is not responsible for its content or how it may be used. The article is part of a series which got published in Business Review’s November 2023 issue.

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