Nordic-Romanian connections : a case study of the transnational dimensions of 'national' art

Abstract

This chapter explores points of connection between Nordic design and Romanian debates around ‘national’ art at the turn of the century. From the 1870s onwards, there is evidence of Romania looking to Nordic models at World’s Fairs for ideas about education and pa- vilion design. By the first decade of the twentieth century, discussion of Nordic initiatives for the protection, promotion and renewal of folk art featured frequently in Romanian discourses around the development of a modern language of decorative art, leading to study trips, exchanges and even isolated experiments with neo-Nordic interiors and furniture design. These points of connection show how Romanians used discussion of Nordic ini- tiatives to drive debates around their own art and attempt to circumvent the challenges of perceived ‘belatedness’ or ‘borrowing’ brought by the rapid arrival of Western art forms in the nineteenth century. It was a fruitful exchange, demonstrating how problematic centre–periphery models of art could be successfully mediated by less hierarchical, but equally important, networks of transcultural interaction.