Cultural identity for the modern age

©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.

Of the summer solstice, the romanian blouse and Sanziene

Romanian visual narrative

Romanian Blouse Day

It's really heartwarming and tearjerking when small initiatives find their echo in a wider community. And this is why I have loved and followed 'La Blouse Roumaine', the mastermind behind making the traditional Romanian blouse a staple of national identity and pride, in an era when we're being told that we should dismiss the past and only look to the future.

Bucharest exhibition: The untold story of the romanian blouse

Where: at the Galateca exhibition space, on the side of the University Library in Revolution square
check their website for more details here - http://galateca.ro/en/expozitie-curenta.html

When: until the 25th of August 2013

How much: it's free!

You might be familiar with my previous article about the history of the Romanian blouse -here- and so you'll know some things about this important part of my heritage.
Well, the lovely and proactive people from La Blouse Roumaine have teamed up with the Horniman Museum in London, the Romanian Village Museum in Bucharest and the Mircea Dinescu Cultural Foundation to create this temporary exhibition, meant to raise awareness and educate on one simple matter : the Romanian blouse.
Actually, it's more than that. Through the showing of traditional patterns, century old photographs and exquisite old blouses, it makes you understand not only its origins but also how it influenced our society and came to play such a significant role in my nation's history.

I'm literally going to quote some of the information on display because it's so clearly explained I need not do anything to it.
'On the Night of the Fairies (traditional celebration where the Romanian blouse played a vital part), single girls dressed in their blouses, reiterating an ancient cult as part of a ritual, commence the Dragaicei dance. This dance which was considered magic dictates order in a world dominated by chaos. The entering of this circle means an imminent initiation.
In Romania as in many other etno-cultural places, the 'hora' (round dance) has been performed for at least 5000 years as was testified by the discovery of such a ritual in the Cucuteni culture. The six women dancing are meant to represent the link between the cult of the mother goddess and the cult of the sun. This is where the Night of the Fairies originated from as the single celebration to bring tribute to both the Sun and the Moon.'

'The Romanian blouse isn't a mere item of clothing, but a way of living. It's geometric embellishments tell of the making of the world.'

'The Romanian blouse is all the more important for the elderly, who carefully prepare the one they will be buried in, saying that only by wearing their blouse they'll be recognised by their family and accepted into the afterlife.'

'The tribal motifs painted on vases, tattooed on the neolithic woman's body or inscribed on cult statuettes have found their way into the weaving of the Romanian blouse where they have resided for eternity.'

'Protection from evil, magic, communication. Nothing is without meaning and nothing is purely decorative. The movement from the metaphysical plane to the aesthetic one is based on coding. The geometric compositions therefore represent a language of their own, awaiting for their message to be unchained: ram horns stand for protection of the household, rosettes for the sun, wolf fangs for the sheltering of life, the diamond for unity in the family and the list goes on.'

I'm not sure if this exhibition is meant to have the same effect on everyone but the soft traditional music playing in the background and the blouses entwined as if they were doing the dance itself gave me chills. I'd want to say I'd love to be able to wear so much poetry everyday but it's also a lot of hard work. A Romanian blouse is for life and it records, much as our passports do nowadays, all the important information about us : societal status, relationship status, age, area or provenance and gender. Quite honestly, exhibitions like these make you more aware of your heritage and I really think Romanians in general should reconnect with the customs that made us who we are today.

P.S : the rest of the exhibition space is arranged as a store where you can find cool items made by Romanian designers and contributors, from art to hang on your walls to mugs, books and t-shirts.

Romanian blouse day

Slight overload of posts today but such a date could not be left uncommented on.

Today is Romanian blouse day and the patriot in me clearly arose. I'm not one for national days necessarily and rarely keep to traditions (unless it revolves around my name-saint-days when I get small presents) but I thought this initiative of celebrating the best of Romanian heritage suited me down to an I.

 I say 'I' because this blouse is traditionally called an 'ie' and it has only been recently that it surfaced on the Internet as an awareness campaign. Through the efforts of organisations such as 'LaBlouseRoumaine' and magazines such as TheOne that this quintessential element of Romanian dress was propelled to the attention of the wide public.

I guess we tend to take it for granted. I would assume most Romanian people -mainly women- own some sort of variation or take on this traditional blouse but would we have held it in high esteem before this campaign?

Interestingly, it seems that an item that one would have thought to be either mundane or perhaps obliterated by new fashions creeps into the fabric of our society every 2 seasons or so. You might have seen it too: designed by Tom Ford and worn by Adele in Vogue, taking centre stage in Yves Saint Laurent's 1981 fashion show or maybe as part of Isabel Marant's 2012 collection?

This is just to name a few as it seems that over the years, the Romanian blouse served as artistic inspiration to many a brilliant minds. Speaking of which, it would be shameful of me to omit Henry Matisse's expressionist painting bluntly entitled 'La Blouse Roumaine'. The colour scheme of this painting I think accurately reflects the candour of the Romanian woman, proudly wearing her 'ie'. We might ask, why not call it portrait of a Romanian girl? But then again, look at the sheer volume taken up by the garment itself. The contrasting white on the ochre-red not only establishes the blouse as the focal point but also as a separate entity in itself. 

To understand this, being an outsider of all-things Romanian, you'll need some background information. The term itself of 'ie' has been in use since the 6th century in a small, rural area of Romania. It started off as the daily clothes that peasants would wear on the fields. Slowly but surely, the coarse flex and hemp fabrics were traded in for the softer cotton or the even more expensive silk. It then on became a symbol of social status. The simple cross embroidery on the chest spread and flourished into gorgeous geometric prints and floral details, complete with coloured beads. The traditional colours were black and red but nowadays they can be found in almost all coloristic variations.

The social aspect of the Romanian blouse is also interesting. The meticulous process usually took up to 5 weeks and it brought together generations and generations of women. The elder would sow them for their younger daughters and would ornate them in bright colors to symbolise youth, happiness and being single - I guess it also made it easier for men to spot which one's what. It would have been worn daily but the most beautifully worked ones would be paraded at family celebrations and important events. It used to be the case that women would dress in full traditional dress at weddings some 60 years ago as my grandmother's photographs stand proof but the Western world was the shiny bead to our nation's magpie.

In this day and age, when cheap, fast and meaningless fashions fly off our hangers with every new seasons, I turn to my Romanian blouse for comfort. It's been there to witness the making of a people and by now I would think it as the definition of Romanian culture. The pride we take in all that we do, the hard work, the celebrations, the disappointments...it can take it all. But it needs us now more than ever and I think it's in my duty as a Romanian person to help raise awareness and make people, including ourselves, appreciate our unique cultural heritage.

Queen Maria of Romania 1875-1939

Smaranda Braescu 1897 - 1948, flight pioneer

Today, I wore mine to school. Yes, I took my 180 years old blouse out of its tissue paper and wore it like I meant business. And I did considering I even cycled to school this morning. I just felt slightly fuzzy at the thought that my great-great-grandma wore this -perhaps even made it...what would she say if she saw it now, in the 21st century?

Feeling very proud here ^.^