The Winners of RRI’s Contest “A Contemporary of Brancusi: Milita Petrascu”

Dear listeners, RRI invited you to take part in a new prize-winning competition, until July 15th 2014.

Eugen Cojocariu, 31.07.2014, 11:36

The quiz, entitled “A Contemporary of Brancusi: Milita Petrascu,” focused on celebrated Romanian artists, the famous sculptor Constantin Brancusi and one of his students, the well-known Milita Petrascu. We have received as many as 199 correct answers, which is an impressive figure considering the short duration of the quiz, only one month. Thank you for your participation!

As you may already known the Grand Prize is a 7-day (6-night) full-board stay for one RRI listener, in the last half of August 2014, in Gorj County, the home place of sculpture giant Brancusi. The winner will have a chance to see Brancusi’s works in Targu Jiu, the artist’s home, as well as a variety of other cultural, tourist and historical attractions in the area.

The competition was organized jointly with the “Constantin Brancusi” Municipal Cultural Centre in Targu Jiu, the Targu Jiu Town Hall and the Gorj County Council. And, to encourage as many of you as possible you to take part in this quiz, the organizer decided to cover the cost of your airplane ticket to Bucharest!

The answers to the questions were included in our broadcasts, as well as on RRI’s Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ profiles. Before announcing the winners, let’s take a look back at the questions you were invited to answer:

– Where was Milita Petrascu born? The correct answer was: Milita Petrascu was born in late 1892 in Chisinau, currently the capital city of the Republic of Moldova.

– When did Milita Petrascu start working in Brancusi’s workshop in Paris? The answer was 1919.

– What artistic movement in Romania did Milita Petrascu join in the 1920s? The correct answer was the Romanian inter-war avant-garde movement (including groups like “Contimporanul,” “Grupul nostru,” and “Criterion”)

– What famous works by Constantin Brancusi can be seen in Targu Jiu? The answer was: the “Avenue of Heroes” sculpture compound, devoted to the Romanian soldiers who lost their lives in WWI and made up of The Gate of Kiss, the Endless Column, the Table of Silence and the Stool Alley, positioned on a 1,275-m long west-east axis. Completing the compound is the St. Peter and Paul Church.

And now, let’s see who the winners are. The 15 honourable mentions went to the following listeners or internet users: Abdelilah Izou, from Morocco, Abdelilah Boubchir, from Algeria, Zhi Yanjiao and Wang Li from China, Javier Hipólito Costa, Argentina, Christian Canoen, from France, Ramsurn Lohmus from Mauritius, a listener of the French Service, and the following listeners of the English Service: Debaki Biswas, S. B. Sharma and Deepa Chakrabarty from India, Brian Beker, from the USA, Jahangir Alam Manto from Bangladesh, Asghar Shah from Pakistan, Stephen Wara from Cameroon, and Jaroslaw Jedrzeczak from Poland.

Debaki Biswas, from India, wrote: “I have been deeply moved by Constantine Brancusis monumental work and about the access to metaphysical concepts – Time, Space and the Axis-Mundi through it. I am also really spellbound to learn that this real lover of Fine arts did not love fame nor did he ever seek it. This is quite an uncommon quality in this materialist world. He was an austere man who was deeply engrossed with his arts only. One of his renowned students Milita Petrascu became an accomplished portraitist and created portraits and busts of Romanian celebrities including George Enescu on whom a contest was recently organized by RRI in which I have won a prize. These extraordinary characters of human lives have attracted and inspired me to take part in this Competition, as I want to visit their homes, their studios and see their great creations with my own eyes.”

RRI offered 15 3rd prizes, as follows: Michael Lindner from Germania, Romanian-born Vasile Constantinescu from Canada, Alexandr Abramov from Russia, Olexandr Kozlenko from Ukraine, Abdelkarim Ahmad Ali Al-Mabrouk from Libya, Sami Ahmad Mosad from Egypt, Shan Jinhai and Yu Hongyan from China, Adrevall Lima Gomez from Brazil, Gilles Gautier from France, Sanusi Isah Dankaba and Ayeni Jeremiah Adedayo from Nigeria, who wrote to the English Service, Radhakrishna Pillai, India, Ferhat Bezazel from Algeria and Eddy Vansteelant from Belgium, who also listened to the English Service of RRI.

Ayeni Jeremiah Adedayo, from Nigeria, explained: “What prompted me to take part in this prize winning quiz is because Art is a diverse range of human activities and the products of its activities. Art really tells the rich history of a particular place and we express our thoughts and view through Art, with famous Artists like Milita Petrascu and Constantin Brancusi that have contributed to rich history of Romania, it will give me the opportunity to see the various art works that have be done by Romania Artist. I listened to RRI on short wave, because it gives me the access to know more about Romania culture and Europe at large. RRI also gives up to date information on social, economic, education and sport news. I always wake to listen to RRI. Listening to RRI has been part of me for many years.”

We move on to the 10 2nd prizes, which went to the following: Volker Willschrey from Germany, Marco Di Leo from Italy, Alexandru Petrescu from Spain, Nikolai Matveev from Russia, Natalia Zabolotna from Ukraine, Boudoukha Mohamed, Algeria, Xue Fei from China, Enric Ballester Burcet, from Spain, Jacques Giraud from France, and Henk Poortvliet from the Netherlands.

And here are now the 7 winners of the 1st prizes offered by RRI: Ralf Urbanczyk from Germany, Miguel Ángel Calderón from Argentina, Mohamed El-Sayed Abdel-Rahim from Egypt, Chu Changrong from China, Jean-Michel Aubier from France, Adrian Micaleff from Malta, who wrote in to the English Service, and Matthew Loughlin from the UK. The latter explained, “I was prompted to enter this competition once I heard it as it offers a chance to visit your country and learn more about the culture there. I listen to RRI for this reason, as it offers an excellent insight into a country that I had previously known very little about.”

RRI also offered 5 special prizes, to the following listeners and internet users: Amady Faye from Senegal, Li Chunguo from China, Miguel Ramón Bauset from Spain, Adita Prithika from India, and Karel Koláček from the Czech Republic, who listened to RRI’s German Service. Here is what our listener from India, Adita Prithika, wrote: “I was 15 when I first heard RRI on my short wave radio and as I had mentioned in my last email, I was really fascinated to learn that Radio Romania is one of the very few European broadcasters available on shortwave in India. I used to listen to RRI every morning, while the other stations usually had their broadcasts in the evenings, and that really set RRI apart. Back then, I had studied World History as a part of my school curriculum and whenever I located places on the European map, I learnt to mark other places, mostly in the South Eastern Europe with respect to Romania and Bucharest and other places in Romania. Relating to Romanian landscapes was easier as we had always read a lot of Romanian folklore just like we learnt Indian folklore. Winning this contest will be a dream come true for young and new listeners like me.”

Congratulations, and many thanks to all those who took part in our contest! And now, the moment you all have been waiting for. The winner of the Grand Prize, a six-night full board stay in Gorj County, the birthplace of Brancusi, is Jean-Marc Olry, from France! Here is what Jean-Marc wrote about his participation in RRI’s quiz: “I am particularly interested in contemporary art, and especially in Brancusi’s works. This quiz was an excellent opportunity for me to discover Milita Petrascu and the town of Targu Jiu. I discovered RRI because I was trying to learn a little bit of Romanian. At present I listen to this station almost daily, because the shows are interesting and diverse, and the French Service staff are very thoughtful.”

The prizes and honourable mentions will be sent to you by post, and we kindly ask you to confirm their receipt, in a letter, fax or email. Thanks again for taking part in the quiz, and we hope you’ll continue to listen to our programmes!