The 'CulturMedia' Culture and Press Trade Union National Federation will launch on January 15 - National Culture Day and Mihai Eminescu Day - a two-week series of protest actions across the country.
"Year after year, January 15 is an occasion for speeches, ceremonies and sterile declarations. Exactly what national poet Eminescu denounced: the gap between words and deeds. Eminescu was not the poet of festivism, but the uncomfortable voice exposing imposture, mediocrity and contempt from the authorities, including toward culture. Today he is symbolically invoked but essentially betrayed by those who should honor him through decisions for cultural institutions and the people who serve them," the federation's executive office said in a statement.
The federation criticized ceremonial rhetoric around culture while pointing to structural neglect, low salaries "unworthy" of the profession's social role, staff shortages and chronic underfunding that threaten institutions, as well as a merely formal social dialogue.
Daily actions will include picketing outside the Ministry of Culture and symbolic protests inside museums, libraries, theaters and cultural centers nationwide.
Protesters will display their demands through messages inspired by Eminescu's poetic and journalistic writings and will wear white armbands, symbolizing "the silence imposed on culture, the marginalization of those who serve it and the refusal of decision-makers to assume responsibility," the trade union federation said.
"Culture is not decorative set, it is not a ceremonial backdrop, it is not a budgetary annex. Culture is the infrastructure of national identity, and the people who sustain it must be treated accordingly," emphasizes the CulturMedia Federation.
Comentează