 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
||
Ion and Elisabeth Ratiu established THE RATIU FOUNDATION UK in London, in 1979. The main objective of the Foundation is to promote and support projects which further education and research in the culture and history of Romania and its people. Projects, undertaken in Romania, are encouraged on different subjects, such as patrimony, civil society, democracy, civilisation and environment protection. Grants are of variable size. The current Trustees are Elisabeth Ratiu, Indrei Ratiu, Ioana Ratiu, Nicolae Ratiu, and Ileana Troiano-Tilea.
Ion Ratiu (6 June 1917 - 17 January 2000), distinguished Romanian diplomat, entrepreneur, publisher, writer and humanitarian, was an outspoken critic of the communist regime in Romania during the 1947-1989 period. He devoted his life to the fight for democracy in Romania and its integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The Ratiu Scholarships are awarded to Romanian students to study a wide range of subjects in the UK. The scholarships enable talented graduates and young professionals to become familiar with the UK and gain skills, which they can adapt and apply in Romania. The Ratiu Foundation currently provides up to 35 new scholarships each year for MA and PhD students, who wish to continue or deepen their research in UK Institutions of Higher Education. In addition, the Ratiu Foundation awards grants for short time studies for summer schools and other academic projects. The Ratiu Foundation has to date supported Romanian students in a range of subjects including architecture, music, theatre, business, theology, philosophy, town planning, political studies, law, art, design, fashion design, archaeology, and ethnomusicology.
Application Procedure: Write to the Trustees of the Foundation for the attention of Mr Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman. Application forms can be downloaded from www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com
PROJECTS
The Foundation supports a wide range of projects including theatrical and musical productions and tours, translations to and from Romanian, book publishing, CDs and CD-ROMs publishing, prizes (European Poetry Literary Translation Prize, The Annual Political Cartoon Competition from Ploiesti), cartoon exhibition (The Great Challenge), photo and painting exhibitions, Romanian Guide books etc.
The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation (awarded every other year) is organised by Poetry Society and sponsored by Ratiu Foundation. The prize is £1,500 and the competition is open to collections of poetry translated from a European language into English. The next prize will be awarded in 2007. The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation was set up to acknowledge Corneliu M Popescu, who had translated the work of one of Romania’s leading poets, Mihai Eminescu, into English. The 2005 competition was launched on 17 January 2005 commemorating five years from Ion Ratiu’s death, who founded this prize in 80’s. More details at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/comp/popesc05.htm
In 1990 The Ratiu Foundation provided a substantial gift to Georgetown University, endowing the Ion Ratiu Chair in Romanian Studies, the first chair of this type in the world. To expand knowledge of modern Romanian history, politics, and culture, The Foundation also established the Ion Ratiu Library, an important repository for scholarly materials on Romania and Eastern Europe. (more details on http://ceres.georgetown.edu/library/).
In recent years, The Ratiu Foundation UK has been able to make a substantial contribution to the Romanian theatre and film present vitality and future viability by providing support to the following projects:
- The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, a festival which presents shows by Romanian and foreign companies and also organizes lectures and workshops for artists, managers, and young people. The Ratiu Foundation UK has funded a program for children – ‘education through theatre’. In the 2007 ‘Sibiu – A European Cultural Capital’ programme, the Foundation shall support several projects in collaboration with the Sibiu International Theatre Festival. („Underground – theatre for the new generation”, „Fortresses – theatre for the community”).
- The DramAcum programme was initiated in Bucharest by Andreea Valean together with a group of young playwrights and theatre directors. This programme encourages young authors in the Romanian language to write and to realize their ideas. It also encourages the translation of foreign plays into Romanian and Romanian plays into other languages. The Ratiu Foundation UK grants support to this programme.
- The Ratiu Foundation UK supports the UNITER “Artists for Artists” programme. This project is about solidarity with older, retired artists who have difficulties in earning a living. All proceeds from the shows organised within this programme will be given to the charity, Theatre Solidarity Fund.
- The work of Romanian playwright Matei Visniec has been represented in London by the performance ‘The Body Of A Woman As A Battlefield’, staged at the Young Vic Theatre, in November 2000. The Ratiu Foundation UK supported the performance of Visniec’s work. The Foundation also supported the production of two more plays by Matei Visniec for the Edinburgh Festival in 2005 and 2006 (‘The Story Of The Panda Bears Told By A Saxophonist Who Has A Girlfriend In Frankfurt’ by Rouge28 Theatre and ‘How To Explain The History Of Communism To Mental Patients’ by Open Fist Theatre, directed by the American director of Romanian origin, Florinel Fatulescu).
- The Ratiu Foundation UK helped four young Romanian playwrights and theatre directors, Andreea Valean, Theodora Herghelegiu, Gianina Carbunariu and Veronica Ion, to benefit from the The Royal Court Young Writers Programme in London. The Foundation also supported young playwright Stefan Peca to participate in the Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 after his residency at The Royal Court.
- Anthology of Contemporary Theatre: ‘Balkan Plots’ has been published in London with the Ratiu Foundation’s help. The volume incorporates new plays from Central and Eastern Europe, some of which are written by Romanian authors: ‘The body of a Woman as a Battlefield’ by Matei Visniec and ‘When I want to Whistle, I Whistle’ by Andreea Valean.
- In the frame of The Romanian Film Club and The Romanian Film Festival, both initiated by the Romanian Cultural Centre in London, The Ratiu Foundation supported in 2003, 2004 and 2006, meetings between the London film public and stars of Romanian cinema, such as Victor Rebengiuc, Ion Caramitru, Lucian Pintilie. Among the guests there were also the young film directors Cristian Mungiu, Napoleon Helmis, Corneliu Porumboiu, critics and producers Alex Leo Serban, Mihai Chirilov, Oana Rasuceanu, Madalina Rosca, Alexandru Munteanu and Alina Salcudeanu, CNC representative. The Ratiu Foundation supported ‘Lucian Pintilie’ Retrospective in October 2004 and ‘Young Romanian Directors Festival’ in February 2006. These projects were established in collaboration with Romanian Cultural Centre in London, National Centre of Cinematography – Bucharest and Curzon Cinema in London.
- The Ratiu Foundation supported the making of the documentary ‘The Heart of the Tornado’. This is a documentary film about Paul Neagu (1938-2004), the well-known Romanian sculptor established in Britain in the ’70s. The film made by Laurentiu and Agnieszka Garofeanu presents an amazing character, one of the most influential and sometimes controversial creators in contemporary Romanian and international art.
Other projects:
- Support to The Romanian Cultural Centre in London (www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk);
- Support of the international organisation Pro Patrimonio (www.propatrimonio.org);
- Support for Relief Fund for Romania (www.relieffundforromania.co.uk);
- Support for annual ‘Ion Ratiu Democracy Lecture’, in cooperation with Georgetown University & Woodrow Wilson Center (September; Washington DC);
- Support for the Romanian Crafts Foundation, Bucharest;
- Grants to various Romanian churches;
- Preservation of wooden churches in Maramures;
- Support for the Library of Faculty of Journalism from ‘Lucian Blaga’ University, Sibiu;
- Organising the visit to Romania of a group of UK curators and journalists interested in Romanian contemporary visual arts. This project, established in collaboration with Visiting Arts in London, took place in October 2005.
Among the numerous projects supported by the Ratiu Foundation in Turda and its surrounding area, there are:
- TurdaFest: the only agricultural festival in Romania (takes place yearly, at the beginning of autumn; it aims to develop agriculture and tourism in the areas surrounding Turda; www.turdafest.org);
- the annual seminar “Choose for your own sake“ (to help preventing and fighting human trafficking);
- The Interactive Democracy Museum (within the ‘Ratiu Family House’, Turda);
- The Tourist Information Centre, Turda;
- The Volunteers Centre (with one hundred-and-fifty pupils and students from the Turda/Cluj area registered as volunteers);
- Dr Ioan Raţiu Kindergarten inTurda;
- ‘Community Action Factory, Turda’ (includes various programmes of art therapy taking place in one of the oldest industrial buildings in Romania, the Beer Factory built in 1853).
The Ratiu Foundation in the United Kingdom supports and collaborates with the RATIU FOUNDATION ROMANIA, Bucharest and the RATIU CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY, Turda (http://www.ratiucenter.org)
Contacts:
Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman
Ramona Mitrica, Director
RATIU FOUNDATION UK
Address: 8th floor, 54 - 62 Regent Street, London W1B 5RE, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7439 4052; Fax: + 44 (0)20 7437 5908
E-mail: mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com ; Web site: www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com
RATIU FOUNDATION ROMANIA, BUCHAREST
RATIU FOUNDATION ROMANIA was established in Bucharest, in 1993, by Elisabeth Ratiu, with the initial name of Ratiu Foundation-Romanian Leukaemia Aid for Children and Young People. The initial aim of the Foundation was to up-date assistance for children affected by leukaemia. This was realized by creating within the Oncology Section of Fundeni Hospital a bone-marrow transplant section, a centre for play therapy, and a network of information and instruction for parents and legal guardians for the continuation of treatment after leaving the hospital.
Starting with 1996, Ratiu Foundation Romania has participated in the closure of the Centre for Disabled Children in Negru Voda, Constanta County, by transferring the children into accommodation of modular type, in Techirghiol. Specialists of the Foundation are responsible for training the personnel assisting in these transfers.
In Bucharest’s Sector 4, Ratiu Foundation Romania opened a Community Centre for the assistance of children suffering from family violence, children and teenagers at risk of abandoning the school system, abused children, or those that present the risk of underage delinquency. The Foundation has also created, in Bucharest’s Sector 4, a club for senior citizens for the assistance of elderly people with special needs.
The motto of the Ratiu Foundation Romania is “Help for those in need”.
Contacts:
Dinu Tenovici, Executive Director
FUNDATIA RATIU ROMANIA
Address: Bvd. Unirii nr. 10, Bl. 7B, Sc. B, Et. 2, Ap. 29, Sector 4, Bucuresti, Romania
Tel: + 40 (0) 21 335 16 91; Fax: + 40 (0) 21 337 26 08; E-mail: ratiu@dnt.ro
THE RATIU CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY (RCD)
Based on the vision of the life-long campaigner for democracy, Ion Ratiu (1917-2000), the mission of The Ratiu Center for Democracy is to promote participative democracy by informing, researching, learning, and applying democratic values and behaviours locally, nationally, and internationally.
The programs and activities of The Ratiu Center link practitioners, academics, and students of all ages in active, non-partisan discovery of the values and behaviours of democratic leadership and citizenship for the 21st century.
Launched in July 2004, The Ratiu Center for Democracy is supported by faculty members of Babes-Bolyai University, the Dr. Ioan Ratiu Vocational Campus, and the Europe to Europe Foundation. It is funded by the Ratiu Foundation UK.
Contacts:
Indrei Raţiu
THE RATIU CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY
CENTRUL RATIU PENTRU DEMOCRATIE
Piata 1 Decembrie 1918, nr. 1, Turda, Romania; Tel/Fax: + 40 (0)264 306 350
Piata Unirii, nr. 11, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Tel: + 40 (0)264 598 391
Web site:
www.ratiucenter.org
 |