Regina Maria Theatre – co-organizer and host of a vast research project dedicated to architectural heritage for the performing arts

During 2020-2023, at the initiative of the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, the Romanian architect and specialist in historical monuments, Loredana Stasisin, undertook an extensive research effort that involved collaborating with 12 of the several dozen theaters built at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, throughout Europe – including four located in Romania – by the famous Austrian architectural office led by Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Gottfried Helmer. This effort aims at exhibitions in various reference spaces designed by the famous architects and the creation of the web platform "Theatres made by Fellner & Helmer. Subtle Reflections on local specificities and identity values".

The exhibition and web platform "Theatres made by Fellner & Helmer. Subtle Reflections on local specificities and identity values" will be launched in Oradea on November 30, 5:30 p.m., at the State Theater (King Ferdinand Square no. 4-6).

to the launch event will be attended by arch. Loredana Stasisin, the author of the project (online presence), Andrei Popov, deputy director of the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, Victoria Balint, director of the Iosif Vulcan Troupe of the Regina Maria Theatre and, as a guest, Réka Botházy-Daróczi, artistic director of the Szigligeti Troupe – Szigligeti Theatre.

Admission is free, and the exhibition can be visited in the foyer of the State Theater building until the end of December, when it will continue its tour in the other theaters in Romania signed by Fellner & Helmer, and then abroad, through the network of Austrian Cultural Forums.

The exhibition and related electronic platform – https://www.fellner-helmer.theater/ – open the doors of emblematic buildings in Graz, Vienna (Austria), Sofia (Bulgaria), Zagreb, Rijeka, Varazdin (Croatia), Budapest (Hungary), Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Oradea and Timișoara (Romania), designed by the renowned creators of buildings dedicated exclusively to the performing arts, Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Gottfried Helmer. Beyond the modern (even today, over a century later) and successful architectural recipe, imagined specifically for the cultural needs of local communities, these pieces of an original continental puzzle speak of sustainable ways of managing cultural heritage.

„"Beyond the systemic power play between decision-makers and the local community, a play articulated through monumental architecture, the project invites reflection on a historical process in which we are all involved: how can we, the people of today, transmit to future generations, in a regenerative way, all the richness of this cultural heritage that was offered to us by our predecessors with such generosity?"”, says architect and specialist in historical monuments Loredana Stasisin.

Carried out over four years (2020-2023), this research was conducted in Oradea with the support of the "Regina Maria" State Theatre, co-organizer of the exhibition in this city. The research was also made possible with the contribution of the Szigligeti Theatre.

By casting a completely original light on the relationships between communities and these architectural monuments with a very active existence in their cities, this exhibition and scientific approach aimed, from the very beginning, to encourage new generations of the public, in particular, to look at the respective buildings differently and to reflect on their potential for the future. Therefore, platform for the electronic version of the project "Theatres made by Fellner & Helmer. Subtle Reflections on local specificities and identity values" was carried out by a team of doctoral students from the Faculty of Arts and Design of the West University of Timișoara, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Camil Mihăescu. The team was composed of: Cezara Carla Pădurean, Claudia Feti, Sânziana Gheorghe, Lucian Ciorbă.

This project was carried out with the support of the Regina Maria Theatre in Oradea and the Faculty of Arts and Design of the West University of Timișoara, being specially designed for Timișoara 2023 – European Capital of Culture. The initiative is under the aegis of the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Department for International Cultural Affairs of this institution. The project is inspired by the Graz Museum and benefits from the support of the Kulturvermittlung Steiermark and the Austro-Romanian Society.

Considered the masters of buildings dedicated to the performing arts, the Austrian Ferdinand Fellner (1847-1916) and the German Hermann Gottfried Helmer (1849-1919) led one of the most successful European architectural offices of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Over 200 public buildings – theaters and more – were built according to their plans across the continent, many of which are still in use today. In Southeastern Europe, Romania has the largest number of theaters built by the two architects, located in Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Oradea and Timișoara. They are also joined by the Palace of Justice in Suceava, designed by Ferdinand Fellner.