18 June 2018

The Romanian Centenary Garden


A few days ago (14 June) I visited Belgrave Square in London to see the ‘Great Union Garden’ established outside the Romanian Cultural Institute (RCI), though ‘garden’ is perhaps a slight exaggeration as it is effectively a large planter located on the opposite corner to the Institute’s splendid building.  It is part of a programme put on by the Institute to commemorate the formation of a united Romania in 1918.  The square’s garden is not open to the public, but the Romanian garden lies outside the fence and is therefore accessible.

The planter has been designed roughly in the shape of Romania, ‘stylised’ in the words of the RCI (though you would need a tall ladder or a drone to get the full effect).  The space within contains flowers from all parts of Romania, laid out to mimic their distribution in the country itself.  An adjacent information panel describes the purpose of the project.



The intention is the creation of ‘a botanical metaphor’ of the various provinces that constituted Romania in 1918: Banat, Crișana, Maramureș, Transylvania, Bucovina, Moldova, Bessarabia, Dobruja, Muntenia and Oltenia.  The seeds, while being of species found in Romania, were cultivated in the UK, itself a nice metaphor for friendly relations between the two countries.

The planter is on a busy road, so it is lovely to see plants anyway, but it is a splendid way to publicise a significant date in Romania’s history.  The RCI refer to the garden as an ‘installation’ and their website indicates it will be removed this month, so anyone interested would be best advised to check before visiting it, in case it has been dismantled.

The RCI can be seen in the distance


In addition to the garden, to commemorate the centenary the RCI put on a series of events, including exhibitions, a talk, and a book launch.  The book, which was launched last month, is The Transylvania Florilegium.  Comprising two large volumes, it was inspired by Prince Charles, who thought that some plant species might be vulnerable to changing agricultural practices and suggested a visual record be made both to show the diversity of the region’s flora and to highlight the urgent need to protect the environment.

A selection of 40 of the book’s 124 paintings was put on show in the RCI along with photographs of Bucharest parks, but alas I missed the exhibition by a couple of days.  Still, I was happy to see the Great Union Garden and felt a little bit of the Romanian countryside had been successfully transferred to London’s dusty streets.