Romanian health resorts need people (I) - How I discovered Băile Govora

Irina Leca

 

Back when I was a kid in the ‘90s, my parents used to send me on holidays with my grandparents for a couple of weeks during the summer. For them, it was that time of the year when they went “to the baths”, so I travelled to all sorts of historical health resorts in Romania, where they met other grandparents, and I met other children. Their holiday involved all sorts of medical appointments and procedures throughout the day, while my friends and I roamed the parks and alleys, exploring this narrow little landscape that revolved entirely around healthcare and elderly people. I was around 10 when I went go with them to Olănești, Tușnad or Slănic Moldova, while my friends, cousins or schoolmates went to other places: Băile Herculane, Borsec, Amara, Călimănești, Băile Govora and so on. There was this entire universe where our families went “to the baths” that created common memories for all of us: the taste of canteen food, the stinky weird water we had to drink “because it was good for us”, the smell of clean air that we only got to recognize when we arrived from our big cities, the atmosphere in the communist hotels where we stayed, and the old buildings that looked so mysterious and beautiful. Little did we know that it was all beginning to crumble, and that what we were experiencing were the final years of a system torn by privatizations, restitutions and corruption. 

 

The main hall of the Baths Pavilion in Băile Govora

Fast forward to the present, the Romanian state has acknowledged several times that these historic resorts need to become relevant again. The long restitution trials have affected the overall atmosphere, leaving many buildings in a poor state of conservation, with owners, professionals and authorities looking for ideas and resources to restore them. But the restoration of old buildings is just a small piece of what spa resorts actually need: dedicated communities (local, regional and national) that work together with policy makers and authorities to come up with ideas for these towns, and actually carry them through. Spa resorts in Romania need a strategy to help them develop independently from state subsidies and state funded tourism. In the last decades, Romania has seen a spectacular rise in heritage-led grass-roots initiatives, with NGOs working with local authorities and owners to save industrial heritage, churches, villages or country estates, often stepping in to fill the state’s shoes when it comes to researching, protecting and funding. In recent years, historic resorts have become just as appealing, with a young new generation of professionals focusing on finding a future for several spa towns. Vatra Dornei, Băile Herculane, Slănic Moldova, and Băile Govora are just some of the places where young interdisciplinary teams develop and test ideas that have one common goal - to use local heritage as a driver for sustainable development. 

 

Then and now - the Baths Pavilion in the 1960s and 2020

I had the chance to work at Băile Govora during the summer of 2020 on a heritage project. Let me paint a picture of the place. Imagine a small town (somewhere around 2.000 inhabitants), where everyone knows each other, where you don’t really see people on the streets off season, where there are no leisure opportunities - apart from walking around and enjoying the really clean air. Young people are leaving, there are few job opportunities, lots of abandoned historic buildings (more than 50 in the city center), and everyone you meet is nostalgic about the past. Up to the late ‘90s, Govora was bustling with tourists (over 6.000 at a time during peak season, and it was always peak season, from April till September). The town had its own ambulance and emergency service, dozens of hotels and villas, and lots of facilities for the many young families that worked there. Hearing the local stories, I understood the other side of what I did not see while on vacation as a child - these were actual places where people lived and worked throughout the year. I know, some resorts are actually cities, and people live there, and this shouldn’t be a revelation when you’re all grown up. These settlements are more than groups of beautiful pieces of architecture and craftsmanship, they provide jobs, social connections, purpose. Having this in mind helped me balance my enthusiasm as an art historian and be more open to what people had to say about their little town. 

 

Plan of the historical center in Baile Govora. The buildings in red are abandoned.

Last year, I had a chance encounter with two young architects that had dedicated their studies and architecture diplomas to reviving Băile Govora. Radu and Ștefania were looking for someone who knew more about project writing and management in order to help them implement their ideas locally. I had visited the place a couple of years before and had my own ideas about what should be done. Luckily, our ideas matched and we started working together shortly after. Looking back now, we’ve managed to help local authorities contract emergency conservation works for one endangered landmark, restored a historical gazebo, raised 4.000 euros through a crowdfunding campaign, organized dozens of guided tours for locals and tourists, managed to light up the resort with the help of our artist friends, and spent hundreds of hours talking to locals. In the following posts, I’ll talk about what worked and what didn’t in terms of community engagement and participation. 

 

People gather in front of the Baths Pavilion during the guided tour

Volunteers help restore the historic gazebo

 

To be continued ...

Beyond the medieval and religious heritage of Esztergom

Tekla Balogh Bodor

In this post I would like to present five cultural locations in Esztergom that represent some of the many layers of the town.

1. Balassa Bálint Museum
The Balassa Bálint Museum has a vast collection of archaeological finds, ethnographic relics, numismatic set, and pieces of fine and applied art. The museum belongs to the Hungarian National Museum. Since 2014, the so-called Spectacle Collection is exhibited there, presenting exceptional pieces and finds from the past. (http://balassamuzeum.hu/en/)

Source: https://www.facebook.com/MNM-Balassa-Bálint-Múzeuma-1784525581798008

2. Duna Museum
Duna Museum focuses on the topic of water in every aspect. Visitors get information about the usages of the water, shipping, bath culture, history of soda water etc. Museum pedagogy is organized here, and the museum also has a library. (http://www.dunamuzeum.hu/index.php/hu/latvanytar)

3. Memorial House of Mihály Babits
Mihály Babits, the famous Hungarian poet bought a holiday home in Esztergom. From 1924, he spent the summertime here with his wife. Their guests were famous Hungarian writers and poets from the era, who left their signature on the walls of the house. Today the building is a memorial house and it operates as a museum. (http://balassamuzeum.hu/en/babitshaz-mihaly-emlekhaz/)

The wall with signatures
(source: https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babits_Mihály_Emlékház)

4. The complex of Özicseli Hadzsi Ibrahim-Djami 
The memory of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Özicseli Hadzsi Ibrahim-Djami and the surrounding buildings were bought by a foreign entrepreneur, who took financial part in the excavation and renovation of the complex. The building opened in 2007 and besides the djami there is an exhibition area, medieval bastions, and parts of the medieval wall, rose garden, coffee house and restaurant. (https://www.esztergomidzsami.hu/az-epuletegyuttes)

The Djami with the minaret (and the coffee house under the building)
The photo is taken by the author

Kaleidoscope house
Kaleidoscope house works as a local communal place for the younger generation. It unites the local artists. Since 2010, they are working on to create an active community and revive the cultural life of Esztergom. The association organize music festivals, concerts, but other artistic programs as well as regular thematic film clubs or exhibitions. (http://kaleidoszkophaz.hu/index.php/en/a-haz)

source: https://www.facebook.com/kaleidoszkophaz/photos/2403358986388082

The Importance of Transmitting Knowledge Through Oral Traditions in Ghana

 

          

                         

Oral tradition plays a very profound role in the Ghanaian society as a way of transmitting cultural values based on peoples thought, feelings or the way they live. The orality becomes the way in which stories, proverbs, histories and memories are passed on from one generation to another.

Heissig Walther, and Rüdiger Schott argued that, oral traditions plays an important role as a medium of knowledge transmission from one generation to another, especially among ethnic groups without written tradition (Heissig & Schott 1998).     

Transmitting wisdom among children especially using storytelling and proverbs can be seen a source of entertainment grounds for developing the creativity and imaginative mind, and tutoring the fundamental bases for life and lessons for living.

 The tools used in communication are not just words but sometimes the gestures and facial expression of the storyteller, songs sung, different body movements bring connection among people that convey culture and histories that unite people.

 Elizabeth Ann Wynne Gunner, and Harold Scheub asserted that, storytelling is the sensory union of ideas and images, a method through which the past is re-created in terms of the present. (Gunner and Scheub, 2020). This is because storytelling helps us communicate meanings about who we are based on our past experiences by claiming new identities for ourselves and also known as an important part of communication in history.

Storytelling is an important shared event with people sitting together, listening and even participating in accounts of past deeds and beliefs. Mbiti (1966) observed that,

Stories are to a certain extent the mirror of life; they reflect what the people do, what they think, how they live and have lived, their values, their joys and their sorrows. The stories are also a means of articulating man’s [sic] response to his [sic] environment. (p. 31)[1].

 

Most stories contain proverbs at the end which stands as a form of encouragement for one another and sometimes explains about the past and present. This type of oral tradition convey wisdom and a discovery of ideas for life.

Karabo Gerald (2016), in his blog post highlighted some examples of African Proverbs and their meanings, which states that;

Proverb: A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.

Meaning: What goes around, comes around so whatever you sow, you shall reap.

Proverb: A roaring lion kills no one.

Meaning: You cannot achieve or gain anything by mere sitting around and just talking. 

Proverb: Knowledge is like a garden: If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.

Meaning: If you don’t make efforts to acquire knowledge then you would not expect to have it and if you do not put the knowledge you have to use, you cannot expect to gain anything from it.

According to G. L. Huxley, “traditional societies use proverbs an educational function, preserving thought inherited from the past and guiding conduct in the present.” (Huxley,1981).

To conclude, it is obvious that oral tradition plays an important role in the transmission of knowledge and also acts as a tool for preserving cultural heritage and community development. Both traditions tend to win more attention as the simplest way to transfer knowledge across generations or as a way coming into agreement with people to understand the realities of our culture and society from a point of view.

 References

Gunner, Elizabeth Ann Wynne, and Harold Scheub. 2020. “African Literature | History, Writers, Books, Characteristics, Themes, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica. August 14, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/art/African-literature.

Heissig, Walther, and Rüdiger Schott, eds. 1998. “The Present-Day Importance of Oral Traditions — Their Preservation on, Publication and Indexing.” 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-83676-2_2.

By:Nana Twumasi-Ntiamoah.

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[1]John Mbiti in Simeon Edosomwan and Claudette M. Peterson, “A History of Oral and Written Storytelling in Nigeria. Accessed December 19, 2020.

Let’s Walk Oradea and Talk Buildings

  

3. Art Nouveau buildings and... keep on walking 

Oradea, Budapest, and Vienna are on the same “axis” when it comes to Art Nouveau architecture. 

 Part of the same Empire for years, (the Austro-Hungarian Empire), they had the same designers or were influenced by the same wind of change in architecture. Their common features are noticeable and create an invisible link that connects these places and their inhabitants.  

Walking the streets of these cities today, one can easily see enormous buildings, palaces or villas, carefully cut and shaped in various geometrical forms; mysterious human faces intimidating the evil spirits; nature "climbing” the walls or decorating the balconies; birds ready to fly away; heart shapes or colorful tiles shining on the sunny days. All these elements in one style.  

Moskovits Miksa Palace- mascaron (mysterious human face)

Known in Oradea mainly as Secession or Jugendstil, this architectural style changed the face of the city and keeps on fascinating generation after generation. 

Designed mainly as a baroque town, Oradea( Nagyvárad in Hungarian), changed considerably after the fire which destroyed an important part of the city center in 1836. After this incident, the buildings (mainly in the city center area) started to be erected in a classicist and later Art Nouveau style, genre adopted by Oradea mainly starting from the 20th century. Already famous in Paris or Vienna, the “coup de fouet” style conquered easily the hearts of those living on the banks of the Crişul Repede River.  

The picture below, shows the new imposing palace changing already the vibe of the square. As most of the Art Nouveau buildings in the city, the ground floor would compete in decorating the shop windows and welcome the customers, while the rest of the floors would host the owner of the building and his (extended) family. The household would live mainly in the apartments facing the main square, street, or the vibrant life of the city, while the servants will often rest in the rooms facing the courtyard. 

Oradea (Nagyvárad) beginning of the 20th century- main square 

 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/289227301095949/photos/a.729337677084907/729337797084895.

    Leaving the river behind, and walking down the main square today, spotted on the left-hand side, arose a freshly renovated building. On both facades, the Moskovits and Sons Palace displays delightful scenes from rural life. In the middle of the concrete jungle, at any time of the day, these paintings seem to come to life and encourage every passer-by to stop and enjoy for a moment the fresh smell of the crop gathering, or the sound of the flute played by the young shepherd.

Moskovits and Sons Palace- detail  

Source : https://ghidlocal.com/oradea/locatii/palatul-moskovits-adolf-si-fiii/ 

    Today, most of these buildings have shops, offices, cafes, or restaurants on the ground floor and the rest of the apartments are occupied by offices or families. 

Moskovits and Sons Palace- Vasile Alecsandri street façade

Source: The Palace of Moskovits Adolf and Sons - Oradea Heritage 

    Designed by the Vago (Weinberger) brothers, Moskovits Adolf and Sons Palace reminds me of the period I lived in Budapest, where for the first time Guttenberg Square, I was very surprised to find the same architectural print on a building which I discovered belonged to the same architects. A spot, a square, a city where I already felt at home...

The Guttenberg House in Budapest 

Source: Budapest legszebb lépcsőházai: Gutenberg-otthon - Egy nap a városban (blog.hu)

To be continued...

by Flavia MATEI

Cultural Heritage Representation at Holoseum in Tbilisi

Tinatin Baghashvili

When people travel, they usually visit some local national museums to learn more about the destination country. Recently, contemporary approaches to cultural organizations have become crucial to their existence. The digital age and the contemporary world have overcome the traditional understanding of museums. Therefore, the audience has different demands than 20-30 years ago. There are many museums in Georgia, only a few of them are privately owned, most are owned by the state. 

Holoseum Tbilisi

The privately-owned museums are great examples of how the museum sector works, supporting the creative industries and establishing a unique niche in the field. These museums offer the public new ways of being exposed to cultural heritage. These museums are more flexible to the new challenges and like to integrate digital approaches. Most of them focus more on social media than on the website, as the Georgian audience they target are mostly younger generations who are active users of social media.

As the COVID19 pandemic in 2020 has changed our lives, so it has changed the lives of all cultural organizations. The government of Georgia has announced special regulations to reduce the number of COVID19 positive population. They have issued a total lockdown order which includes closure of all public transport, shopping malls, cultural centers such as cinemas, theaters, museums, concert halls, etc.

It is significant that some of the museums in private hands have changed profile and are still in operation. This can really be called a creative and open-minded approach. One of the examples is Holoseum Museum in Tbilisi. It is a newly opened museum in early 2020, which offers visitors a redesigned cultural heritage of Georgia and the world. The space is full of digital screens, more than 100 projectors and moving 3D images. Visitors can enter the museum and move around in an unreal world where the images change and completely immerse in the art. It is a museum without frames and offers a digital show.

One of the first exhibitions was about the well-known Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani. I wrote about this artist in my very first blog when I saw the hanging oblique painting of him. At the Holoseum, one experiences Pirosmani's art in a very different and modern way. It offers visitors not hanging paintings as usual, but huge screens of digital, moving paintings. It is spectacular and worth a visit if you are ever in Tbilisi. 

Reality Show

Because of the pandemic covid19, the Holoseum museum also faced strict closure orders. However, the management came to terms with the reality and came up with a new idea of opening the museum space for open dialogs and interaction. They initiated the program "Reality Show - Guest in the former museum" and started a live stream on the Facebook channel. The topics are diverse and open for interaction. In this way, the museum opened its doors to a wider audience and also reached out to additional audiences who would be interested in specific topics on the show. In addition, a new channel was set up on Youtube where the recordings are uploaded.

To sum up, Holoseum can be one of the contemporary cultural organizations that successfully faces and copes with the pandemic challenges, initiates new ways of cultural heritage representation by integrating digitalization. This museum brings Georgian cultural heritage back to life by presenting it on digital screens or/and making live shows. Moreover, the museum does not operate only as a traditional museum, it is more participatory oriented and creates a platform for dialog. 

Socio-Economic Impacts of Baltit Fort Restoration

Maryam Shah

Dedicating my last post also to my hometown, Hunza, to familiarize my colleagues with where I come from. Today I will talk about the sudden shifts in the socio-economic structure of the Hunza region, in light of one of the first touristic destinations. Hundreds of years ago, the Northern Areas of Pakistan was run by several small independent states. Hunza and Nagar were the famous rivals, facing each other, separated by the Hunza River. The rulers of Hunza Valley Initially resided in Altit Fort, but some family conflicts led one of the rulers to shift to Baltit Fort and it was declared as the seat of power of all Hunza region.

Location 

Baltit Fort is one of the remaining examples of influences of neighboring regions on the architecture, lifestyle, and customs of the Hunza Valley. The fort’s structure was influenced by the Ladakh/ Tibetan architecture and the whole region has ethnic and cultural resemblances to the Ladakh region in India. After its restoration in 1996, it has become one of the main tourist attractions of the region. It was the first built heritage site to be restored by Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The fort’s restoration led to the restoration and rehabilitation of the surrounding settlements, streets, market places, and other public places.

Baltit Fort from the East

The Fort was converted to a museum displaying ancient artifacts, living traditions, and influences of different cultures on the architecture over centuries. It is open all year round with an entry fee and aims to be self-sustaining and provide income for its employees, tour guides, and maintenance repairs.  
The way to Baltit Fort is through a steep street that passes through the old residential settlements which have been restored during the fort's restoration. It is a long and steep way with approx. 45 mins uphill to from the start to the end destination, the Fort. Increasing tourist influx brought with them the opportunity for the locals to set up their souvenir shops and eatery places. Almost every family has set up their small business along the way and benefit from thousands of visitors passing through every day. Traditional jewelry, handicrafts, caps, dry fruits, apricot, and walnut oil are the most popular souvenirs from the area. The area is famous as ‘Karimabad Bazaar’ in all of Hunza, and taking advantage of this, people have converted their own houses into guest houses for tourists claiming to provide them a unique experience of living in the area. The restoration and conversion of Baltit fort brought with it employment opportunities for the locals, directly and indirectly, but this has had its effect on the social life of the people as well. 

Karimabad Bazaar Street

The locals who used to work in their farms and orchards to make a living and sustain themselves with locally produced vegetables and fruits are now focused on converting their houses into guest houses, renting their farmlands to camping sites, and focusing on selling locally produced oils and dry fruit with high prices to the tourists. The outlook towards living a healthy life has changed, people have started focusing on comfort through economic stability. The street which leads the way to the fort used to be a social space for the elders and women of the community, and a play area for the children. People used to go out the street with a sense of comfort that comes by being around their people and socializing. Now with the tourists passing through the street all day long, stopping for rest or to buy souvenirs along the way, has caused the locals of the area to take a step back. They do not feel comfortable and the street’s character from a social space has turned into just a passage drastically. Many a time’s issues among the residents and tourists are noted concerning privacy in the closely-knit houses in the settlement.

Entrance to Baltit Fort

All in all, the restoration of Baltit Fort has changed the lifestyle of the locals, brought with it comfort and economic opportunities and the people are starting to experience new ventures in businesses and marketing. The people have shifted from working in farms in the difficult terrain to sitting in their shops or running hotels, and are living a comfortable life. Excessive tourism has brought with its economy and comfort but at the cost of privacy and comfortable communal living.