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| ©Gabriel Motica from Libotin |
We talk about globalisation, we talk about international citizens and we talk about living in a virtual age. We move faster and faster towards a more densely wired future where everyone blends in to any cultural and geographical context. While this is obviously a step forward and there are countless advantages to a physically and spiritually borderless world, we risk loosing ourselves in the process.
Adapting to a new country doesn't mean forgetting your own roots. Becoming a global citizen shouldn't entail repressing your individuality. And growing into a new culture doesn't mean suppressing your cultural identity.
Preserving cultural identity and the heritage related to it in a sustainable way that honours the past and is realistic to the changes brought by the future is something I am extremely passionate about. There are too many stories of young people loosing touch with their heritage, of stories from the past not being told or - even worse - not being heard in this mad rush that we call the 21st century.
Speaking from experience, from drawing on my rich and under-valorised Romanian heritage, there are so many time-honoured traditions that risk oblivion these days. My country is on track to loosing 15% of its population in the next 20 years due to mass migration and inevitably the next generation will grow up without the Christmas carols we sang to our neighbours, or the summer camps where we made Horezu ceramic pots or seeing shepherds with their flock coming down the mountainside each autumn.
More than experiences like the ones I mentioned above, we are loosing our crafts and the keepers of these deeply ritualistic traditions. Their work and livelihood is endangered by the lure of the big factories with machines that replace delicate hands and keen eyes with serialised products and higher profit. This is the exact challenge faced by the strong and determined community of those who want to protect the IE, the traditional embroidered peasant blouse. I've spoken about my love for this beautiful and spiritual item many times in the past, so I won't go into the sentimentals here, but this time I'm writing from the different perspective that studying cultural management has given me. More than ever I feel personally responsible for doing whatever I can do help a piece of intangible cultural heritage reach the rightful status of a protected cultural brand and for making Romanians and foreigners alike aware of the story of the Romanian blouse.
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| My blouse and myself 'through the ages' - from 14 (bottom right) to 20 (top right) |
As I mentioned before, this cannot and is not a one man job. The La Blouse Roumaine community is a borderless community that brings together nationals with the diaspora over their shared heritage. It creates a sense of belonging and of a home-away-from-home, a sense that is also given by simply wearing the blouse itself. Creating this community was no small feat, and Andreea has put her heart and soul into it, but there's a long way to go until their goal is met. They are currently working on developing a sustainable framework for safeguarding and promoting the Romanian blouse as a piece of intangible cultural heritage, which includes creating urban and rural cultural centers and hubs to support this initiative. The human capital and human investment is completely there, what the project needs is a push towards reaching the strong online presence that will make a case from a legal and social point of view.
This is how you can help:
╳ by liking their facebook page
╳ by supporting the authentic craftsmanship and only buy sustainably-made blouses
╳ by donating on their website
╳ by sharing your own story and protecting your cultural heritage
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