by Vera Enache, photo: Mihai Bălăceanu
Vera Enache: What makes the BABEL Festival different from other similar festivals in the country or abroad?
Liviu Cheloiu: Our festival is different because it has a concept. We try to bring all the arts together — the entire idea is built around this artistic blend. You might notice that with each edition, we add something more, and something more, because this artistic universe is vast and hard to fully cover. We’ve developed a Film section, and we’re thinking of launching a Babel Sport section next year… but sport in the context of art — we’re not hosting the European Championship in Târgoviște (laughs), although we’ll probably have two stadiums by next year.
We aim to bring in anything that represents art, and connect it all. For example, we organize a book launch tied directly to the festival’s theme, or a photo or visual art exhibition, again tightly linked to the theme. We also have a research and networking section through conferences, where we leave space for new, innovative ideas. We form friendships and sign memorandums with similar institutions — I’m talking about other festivals here. I’ve been to many festivals, but I’ve never found the same kind of atmosphere that we have here. Maybe it’s because we’re a small city and everyone stays close. You’ve got four or five venues, two hotels, one restaurant where everyone eats, one festival club — and so everyone ends up together. I don’t think something like this could happen in Seoul — one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. I believe it ranks second or third, with around 26 million people. You move from one city to another without even realizing it. In such a place, I don’t think you can have that kind of artistic emulation in the streets, or the kind of friendships and relationships that are built here over 7–10 days.
V.E.: How do the citizens of Târgoviște respond to the festival’s call, edition after edition?
L.C.: Târgoviște’s people are ready. They’re waiting to be offered artistic experiences, and we need to make sure we have events for every taste. BABEL doesn’t aim at a specific demographic, like “ages 20 to 40” or “intellectual audiences only.” We want to embrace everyone.
V.E.: Does the BABEL Festival serve as a potential tourism driver for the city?
L.C.: Absolutely. We’ve seen it happen. Let’s not forget that the Tony Bulandra Theatre brings in audiences from neighboring cities even during the regular season — from Ploiești, Pitești, and towns throughout Dâmbovița County: Moreni, Găești, Pucioasa, Titu. And very often, we see audiences from Bucharest. I’ve met many of them at the theatre’s front desk saying they come for the weekend: they arrive Friday, book two nights, and watch all three performances we put on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They’re careful in selecting their weekend, depending on the type of shows. I met a group that was coming back to see the same performance for the fourth time — which is heartening.
V.E.: Are there such returning groups at the festival?
L.C.: Yes. And the city’s infrastructure is starting to keep up — several new boutique hotels have opened, though they may not be the most affordable. We believe we should get involved in this area too — we’re thinking about offering packages with accommodation included. We should talk to hotel owners and suggest they offer special rates during the festival, while the theatre offers discounted tickets. It could be a barter system.
V.E.: Has the BABEL Festival succeeded in becoming part of a larger festival network? I’m referring here to the memorandum signed in 2017 with South Korea, with AMASIA.
L.C.: The BABEL Festival, and implicitly the Tony Bulandra Theatre, are founders of such a network. We came up with the idea of creating a larger festival that brings together several festivals — five from Asia and five from Europe. Mr. Mc Ranin can give you more details on that. Beyond that, we’ve had many co-productions: We had one with Portugal, two with South Korea, and we’re preparing a Romanian–Moldovan–Korean co-production. And next year, there’s an even bigger surprise — a major international co-production. We’re already part of a network with the National Theatre of Debrecen, Hungary. We’re also connected now to the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, Poland. Every time we invite a company, we try to take it a step further. The BABEL Festival is defined by consistency and innovation.
V.E.: Are there any unusual genres of performance at BABEL?
L.C.: Yes. A good example would be the Korean productions. I’ll also mention a Russian company founded by director Dimitri Aryupin, who staged Woyzeck here before the pandemic. He was creating a type of theatre that’s hard to categorize. It was based on movement, the stage images fragmented by strobe lights. His shows surprised audiences with the way the actors would shift from one place to another — everything happened extremely fast, in the blink of an eye. Probably the effect was amplified by the play of light and rhythm.
