THE TRAVELLER’S GAZE at Romanian Cultural Centre


Monday 4 October 2010 // // // // // Culture Power Presentation

THE TRAVELLER’S GAZE

a presentation by Alex Drace-Francis
Hosted by Dr Mike Phillips OBE, British novelist, historian and curator.

Followed by Q&A session

19.00-21.00, The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre, Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EQ; Tel. 020 7486 0295, ext 108; e-mail: bookings@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk; Entry is free but booking is essential.

Over the last decade Alex Drace-Francis has been researching Romanian accounts of journeys outside the national space and in all parts of Europe. His bibliography, comprising nearly eight hundred book-length Romanian-language travel descriptions, was published in 2008 in the Bibliography of East European travel writing, 1550-2000 which he edited with Wendy Bracewell. The resulting texts are fascinating to explore.

In this talk, Drace-Francis presents this database to a wider public, featuring Romanian travellers who range from the famous to the little-known, from the self-satisfied to the angry, and from the frivolous to the philosophical.

“A change of horizon, two days on the railway, the sense of your own solitude, these are enough for life to gain colour around you rapidly, as if some private accelerator pedal has been activated, the days pass feverishly, you start relating to people, and you become master of a visual and psychological empire which you would never have discovered otherwise.” - Mihail Sebastian

Alex Drace-Francis is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Liverpool. He specializes in cultural and social history of Romania and Southeastern Europe, especially print culture, education, travel, literature and historiography. He published a book, The Making of Modern Romanian Culture (2006) and edited three volumes on East European travel writing with Wendy Bracewell (UCL). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and has held research fellowships in London and Sofia.

Organised by The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London.
www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com; www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk
Culture Power is a programme initiated by the Ratiu Foundation, consisting of a number of presentations and constructive dialogue with an invited audience.

With the support of ProFusion International Creative Consultancy.
Photo: Country-fair demonstration of stereoscopic panoramas in Romania, first half of the 20th Century. Courtesy of NOI Media Print


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The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London
Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EQ; Tel. +44 20 7486 0295; Fax: +44 20 7486 0307
E-mail: mail@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk, Web site: www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk
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