'Brancusi Hour. The Hour of Worldliness' is the unusual initiative of a doctor from Targu Jiu, who wants to turn this idea into a project through which, 'just as the planet goes dark for Earth Hour, an entire world could light up through awareness.'

Photo: (C) OANA POPESCU / AGERPRES

Simona Coleasa, originally from Olt County, moved to Targu Jiu around 14 years ago, where she works as an allergist at the County Emergency Hospital.

Photo: (C) OANA POPESCU / AGERPRES

'This idea came to me while I was invited to an academic setting, at the ‘Constantin Brancusi' University, which proudly bears the sculptor's name, and where I always go with great pleasure when invited to speak on various topics. This time it was about the 150th anniversary of the great master's birth and, on 19 February, there was a symposium at the university where I spoke about Brancusi as a country brand. In fact, the idea came from there, because the notion of a brand was more about drawing attention to how we can make him more visible in schools and worldwide, through exhibitions, meetings and debates. That is when this idea came to me, why shouldn't there also be a Brancusi Hour? If we all dedicate an hour to the Earth, (...) why shouldn't there also be a Brancusi Hour?,' Simona Coleasa told AGERPRES.

People from several universities were invited to the event, including Corneliu Birtok Baneasa, the initiator of the international exhibition InventCor, which took place between 2 and 4 April in Deva. On this occasion, Simona Coleasa received two distinctions: the Keynote Speaker diploma and the special IIA award granted by a company from India for supporting the 'Brancusi Hour' initiative, as well as the gold medal and the Best Medical Category Award granted by InventCor following international judging for the initiative 'Medical Tourism in Brancusi's Homeland.'

Photo: (C) OANA POPESCU / AGERPRES

More than 500 scientific papers, research projects and inventions from 40 countries were presented at this year's edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions InventCor.

'The InventCor exhibition brings together ideas and experts from all areas. There I spoke about 16:00 as the chosen hour and the day being the birthday of the great master, an hour in which the whole world somehow returns to simplicity, because, above all, this is what Brancusi should remain for us - a child who believed in his goal, who left home at such a young age, but followed his path to reach so far. I chose 16:00 because the Endless Column has 16 octahedral modules. I would be glad if this initiative started at a local level. Of course, I cannot be alone in this whole endeavour, I need equally committed ambassadors. I also have a plan, if things go as I hope, it could become a project, a national project. I am thinking of sending official informational emails to cultural institutions, to the Ministry of Culture. I also see Brancusi promoted differently, through the idea of medical tourism,' she added.

Photo: (C) OANA POPESCU / AGERPRES

The doctor believes that, in a world where 'we are divided, culture can bring us together, Brancusi can bring us together.'

'I was not born on these Brancusian lands and I say this precisely to show that you do not have to be from here to grasp his greatness, to listen to his work, to feel elevation by remaining silent and sensing, illuminating and venerating him in this vast world and telling his story to history, returning him to the world as its own, doing for him what he set out to do with his mind as a child who left home at nine and reached the heights of world recognition. I conceived the Brancusi Hour as an hour of silence, contemplation, but also of awareness of authenticity and of living, for one hour a day, all in unison, all in the rhythm of the chisel, all with an infinite gaze, speaking together his name, his infinity, his global cultural greatness. It is impossible to sit next to any of his works and not feel stronger,' she said.

Photo: Simona Coleaşă personal archive

According to allergist Simona Coleasa, her proposal 'redefines the way Constantin Brancusi's work is received, transforming individual contemplation into a synchronised global experience.'

'In an age of fragmentation, the initiative emphasises the symbolic dimension and the ability to generate deep connections through silence and essentialisation, inviting a collective rediscovery of the infinity within us,' she added.
Photo:  Simona Coleaşă personal archive

On 19 February, 150 years since the birth of the sculptor Constantin Brancusi were celebrated, with 2026 having been declared the Brancusi Year. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Popescu; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)