Dear friends of the Czech Centre Bucharest,
I spent more then four years in Bucharest, trying to make the Czech Centre a place, where you would like to go, enjoy the programs and learn more not only about the contemporary Czech Republic. I hope that my team and me have managed at least from time to time – the numbers of public and some reactions seems to confirm that. For sure there are things that we could not bring or offer or events that we could have done differently, but that is pretty much life. You make a choice, accepting, that with this choice you make other choices not happen. What ever we in these more then four years have done, was always very much oriented on you, our public. My team and me tryed to figure out, what could be interesting, what would be necessary to show in Romania and what from the Czech cultural offer you might like to see. Also, we never stopped trying to bring Czechs guests – artists, filmmakers etc. together with Romanians with similar professional or artistic background. I hope very much that some of these connections will be kept alive and nice projects will start on this basis.
It is up to you to decide, how much we actually succseeded to come closer to you and make us a part of your cultural life. For me personally, the work at the Czech Centre Bucharest enriched me for the rest of my life: I spent incredibely interesting and intense time here, surrounded by great, inspiring people in a challenging city and in an incredibely beautifull country. And I want to thank you for that.
The new director will be arriving in some time and for sure he will bring some fresh ideas, energy and a new way of looking at things. And new perspectives are always good, so stay with us. Until then, the team will be lead by Vit Prudil, an experienced and very culture-bound collegue, to whom I would like to thank especially. But not only him – all my collegues from the last four years deserve a big THANK YOU: Lukas, Mihaela, Ana, Veronica, Anca, Marilena, Radu und Alin. And of course, without the back up in the head office of the Czech centres and their support to our sometimes crazy ideas, nothing could have been really done. Same applies also to the Czech Embassy in Bucharest.
So, good bye, all the best for all of you and don’t forget to czech-it.ro : )
Monika Stepanova
Czech centre Bucharest
Director
