The French Institute in Romania has contributed to increasing the collaboration between the two countries, said on Thursday evening the director of the institution Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi, in a speech at the launch of the exhibition and the book Illustrated pages from the 100-year history of the French Institute of Romania, signed by Maria Surducan and Anna Benczedi.

„We look at our heritage and see all the strength that a centenary institution exudes and we also feel all the responsibility in this respect,” said the director of the French Institute.

The pictures, accompanied by short texts – which present the Institute’s history in Romania, from its founding to the difficult period of the Second World War and the return to bilateral relations after the conflagration – are displayed on the institution’s fence.

The curator of the exhibition, Cristina Stoenescu, underlined the complementarity of text and image and mentioned that several archives were consulted for the choice of moments to be illustrated.

„Through the booklet we aimed to build a humane history and a moving history, and our job as illustrators was to provide images that complement, without translating the text. (…) It’s a very interesting story and despite the fact that it’s a story of the little history, you will see the connections between Bucharest, the rest of the country and the rest of the world through the prism of Franco-Romanian relations,” said Maria Surducan.

In her turn, Anna Benczedi expressed her excitement at being able to see the building of the French Institute in Bucharest, which she drew from photographs.

AGERPRES