– translated by Sebastian Ispas –

How do we define a festival-city? Does that imply more than a city hosting a festival? Specialists say there are many differences between the two, especially concerning the city’s identity, the impact on its community and the energy a festival can generate in a city. What will the future of the creative sector be in the context of scientific progress and economic, political, and social change? What role do buildings fulfil in expressing the identity of the community? These are some of the topics to be discussed on the Therme Forum: Theatre & Architecture platform within FITS 2021 (Sibiu International Theatre Festival 2021).

Since 2018, this platform has integrated designers, managers, and major artists in order to discuss the evolution of the theatrical arts, the way in which architecture and the new technologies influence the artistic act, but also, more broadly speaking, the necessity of investing in culture. All the meetings are part of a wider dialogue geared towards the community, which aims to build a new performance centre illustrative of the city of Sibiu.

Three renowned architects invited this year to the Forum speak about the importance of architecture in the construction stage of a new building, but also about civic responsibility:

Joshua Ramus, founder and principal of REX, USA

“The test of success isn’t about the accolades that the architecture will receive, but about the accolades that the architecture supports the creators of what happens in the building to receive. If in five years the resident theatre companies create work and that work is of the community and bleeds into the community and also takes that community and represents it around the world, that’s a far more important evaluator of success then getting any version of this project on the cover of the architecture magazines.”

Amanda Levete, director of A_LA, UK

“I think the most important thing for a city is to be massively ambitious and massively confident of the impact and the effect that a large public cultural project can have on the city and to understand the potential for a cultural building to literally project beyond the confines of the site. And that requires lateral thinking and real understanding of the city context and of the communities that you are designing for. And most important, you have to articulate your vision in as a clear a way as possible, so that anybody who is responding to that brief can really get inside the skin of the city and make a proposal that’s going to make a massive difference.”

Kai-Uwe Bergman, partner of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), USA

“There is of course a commitment to the performers and to those who visit and partake in these institutions, the ones who support the art, the patrons, but there is a larger civic ownership of creating a healthy environment, where the arts and civic life also plays a part. That’s why I think festivals like the Sibiu International Festival takes something that is perhaps sometimes confined within buildings and really puts it out onto the streets and makes everyone interact with it if they’re passing through the plaza or see something happening in the smallest of the places as well as in the grandest. This civic ownership is interesting for me.”

Sustainable projects, with quantifiable effects in the life of the community

Alongside FITS, Therme Group is the main partner of this debate platform. Elena Morariu, manager of the Therme Forum programme, relates more about the importance of this dialogue platform, but also about the involvement of the Therme Group company within this vast project: “Each year, Therme Forum challenges participants to identify the best architectural, urbanistic and cultural management solutions. We start from examples in the past and take into account good practices and new trends from all around the world. As a mediator and promoter in the field of arts and contemporary city culture, Therme Group has joined this project of national importance from the start, making use of the connections, bridges, structures and relationships created in the past few years on a global level through its commitment to cultural production and through its strategic partnerships with esteemed institutions such as the British Council, Serpetine Gallery, Design Miami, Manchester International Festival or FITS. Therefore, a project like the one in Sibiu, of such a scale and with such munificent perspectives for the community, is perfectly aligned with the philosophy of the Therme Group brand, for which culture is an essential part of society. Through platforms such as Therme Forum, Therme Group encourages the transfer of knowledge necessary in order to pan out sustainable projects, with quantifiable effects in the life of the community”.

Therme Forum 2021 will take place exclusively online and will be available to watch on www.sibfest.ro, between 27–29 August. There will be three days of multilateral dialogues with world-class architects, designers, artists and cultural managers. Among the guest are names such as: Tisa Ho (Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Hong Kong), Cecilia Alemani (Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art and the Artistic Director of the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022), Amanda Levete (Director of AL_A), Robert Read (CEO of National Concert Hall, Dublin), Joshua Ramus (Founder and principal of REX), Yvonne Tham (CEO, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Singapore), Svanhildur Konráðsdóttir (Director at Harpa Concert Hall & Conference Centre Iceland), John Alschuler (Chair of the Board for HR&A), Anthony Sargent (International Cultural Advisor), Smriti Rajgarhia (Director of Serendipity Arts Foundation & Festival, India), Christopher Dupe (Associate Director, Cultural Assets at Diriyah Gate Development Authority Saudi Arabia) and Paola Prestini (Composer, Co-Founder, & Artistic Director of National Sawdust USA).

(article published in the special edition of Capital Cultural magazine, No. 27)