The Faculty of Visual Arts and Design at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iași, together with the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Art (ICMA), announces the performance of a performative recital after George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2 (piano transcription), performed by the artist Laura Turtă-Timofte, on 5 November 2025, 15:00–16:00, in “Eduard Caudella” Hall, Casa Balș, UNAGE Iași. The event forms part of the artistic project George Enescu Royal University of Arts, carried out by visual artist Andrei Timofte and curated by Cristian Nae.

George Enescu Royal University of Arts is an institutional fiction conceived by Andrei Timofte that investigates the fascination of a segment of Romanian society with monarchy. The title alludes to similar institutions in Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and crystallizes an image of aristocratic elegance, majesty, and imperial grandeur, while also evoking local nostalgia for a past deemed glorious – namely that of Iași, formerly the capital of the Principality of Moldavia.

The conceptual framework includes a musical performance by Laura Turtă-Timofte that rewrites the Romanian Rhapsody – George Enescu’s best-known work – to highlight the multi-ethnic and multicultural dimension of the two symphonic miniatures inspired by urban and rural folklore. In the piano transcription, the artist deconstructs the musical material and, implicitly, demystifies the monumentalization of Enescu as a cultural figure, consolidated in Romania’s cultural history through reductionist interpretations of the kind applied to the work of Constantin Brâncuși. Through this gesture, the performance proposes a reasoned re-reading of Enescu’s oeuvre and invites a reconsideration of its international character, as well as its European resonances, which may serve as points for reflection on how we relate to national history.

The project does not formulate a direct critique of the university as an institution, but opens a space for inquiry into public expectations regarding its role in the construction of national identity. The musical reinterpretation affirms an institutional perspective grounded in tolerance and openness to diversity. At the same time, it configures a cultural space that enables the harmonious coexistence of ethnic minorities, underscoring the modernism of Enescu’s music – a central element in Andrei Timofte’s vision, rejecting the false opposition between tradition and progress, recurrent in contemporary cultural discourse.

The performance takes place as part of the project History Happens Today: A Contemporary Reinterpretation of Painting from Iași in the Collection of the Nicolae Gane Museum, organized by the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design and co-funded by the Municipality of Iași. Project Director: Professor Cristian Nae.