Culture is not a revenue consumer, culture produces added value, it is what enriches our soul, minister of culture Raluca Turcan said, Tuesday evening at the official opening of the fifth edition of the National Contemporary Art Salon (SNAC 2023).

"It is a privilege for me to end a rather difficult day with an event through which we all, shoulder to shoulder, in solidarity, manage to convey a message that I would like to remain more and more engraved in people's minds, but especially in the minds of the authorities, namely, culture is not a revenue consumer, culture produces added value, culture is what enriches our soul. And I wish that, every time there is talk of spending cuts, there would be a spontaneous attitude on the part of decision-makers to put culture aside. Because it's almost ridiculous that in difficult times it seems that the first thing people look at when it comes to cutting revenue is the cultural sector," said the minister of culture.

Raluca Turcan, who presented a series of decorations awarded by President Klaus Iohannis to four established artists, said she was "very impressed" by the theme chosen for the opening of the Salon - "Survivals".

"You seemed to know that this opening and this event would come at a time when we have really spent so much energy in recent days to survive culturally, when in fact all this energy should be gathered to develop, to make culture vibrate. These decorations that I also had the honour to present to you on behalf of the president of Romania honour me, because you have taken authentic cultural value abroad and, at the same time, you have inspired generations," said the minister.

Turcan voiced her hope that, following her term as minister, "culture would be open and would stimulate the new generation".

"Because in vain one strives to actually invest in tangible things in an administration, local or central, if the new generation does not know how to take care of and value what is being built during this period; then, in practice, our efforts risk being in vain. At the same time, I would like all this positive vibrancy that we feel around the visual arts to be interwoven with the vibrancy of other arts of authentic culture and together to imprint a message that everyone understands, namely that in Romania culture is valued, and culture is cherished and culture is what provides the most solid form of community development. We have seen it laid at the foundations of cities such as Sibiu, Timisoara, Cluj Napoca. And I would really like to see development through culture at the level of local authorities, as we have seen development through culture at the level of the whole country", said Raluca Turcan.

During the event, which took place at the S.E.N.A.T. Gallery at the Combinatul Fondului Plastic, medals were awarded to the following artists: Stefan Pelmus - Order of Merit, in the rank of Knight; Petru Lucaci - Order of Cultural Merit, in the rank of Commander; Silviu Oravitan - Order of Cultural Merit, in the rank of Officer; Nita Dodo - Order of Cultural Merit, in the rank of Knight.

At the same time, the Visual Artists' Union (UAP) awarded a series of distinctions to artists participating in the salon.

UAP president Petru Lucaci, underlined the need to organize the SNAC on the principles of the interwar salons, including by supporting the acquisition by Romanian museums of the works of contemporary artists. Lucaci announced the Union's intention to transform the event into an international one, aimed at making Romanian contemporary art known worldwide.

SNAC, which takes place in several galleries in Bucharest from 15 October to 15 November, under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, brings together artists from all the branches of the Union of Fine Artists of Romania, being a mirror of current Romanian visual art, manifested in various techniques and expressions.

AGERPRES National News Agency is one of the media partners of Romania's Visual Artists' Union. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Popescu, editor: Antonia Nita; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)