You are on page 1of 2

Memorial of Rebirth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Memorial of Rebirth
The Memorial of Rebirth (Memorialul Renaterii in Romanian) is a memorial in Bucharest,
Romania that commemorates the struggles and victims of the Romanian Revolution of !"!, #hich
overthre# $ommunism% The memorial comple& #as inaugurated in 'ugust ())* in Revolution
+,uare, #here Romania-s $ommunist.era dictator, /icolae $eau0escu, #as publicly overthro#n in
1ecember !"!%
The memorial, designed by 'le&andru 2hildu0, features as its centrepiece a (*.metre.high marble
pillar reaching up to the sky, upon #hich a metal 3cro#n3 is placed% The pillar is surrounded by a
4)) m5 pla6a covered by marble and granite%
The memorial cost *%4 million lei (R7/ *%4 million, R78 *4 billion, appro&imately 9%* million)%
:ts initial name #as 3;ternal 2lory to the <eroes and the Romanian Revolution of 1ecember !"!3
(Glorie Etern Eroilor i Revoluiei Romne din Decembrie 1989)% The memorial-s name alludes to
Romania-s rebirth as a nation after the collapse of $ommunism%
Controversy
1espite a commonly ackno#ledged need for a memorial commemorating Romania-s !"!
revolution, the monument sparked a significant amount of controversy #hen it #as inaugurated in
())*, mainly to do #ith its design% Many artists stated that the memorial, especially its central
pillar, #as devoid of any symbolism, being too abstract, and thus didn-t ade,uately represent the
suffering and magnitude of the !"! revolution, #hich claimed around ,*)) lives%
7thers stated that they personally didn-t like the aesthetics of the design= the mayor of Bucharest,
'driean >ideanu, stated, 3:t-s a ,uestion of taste% : personally don-t like it% : don-t understand its
symbolism%3 There #as also controversy because the designer, 2hildu0, #as an applied artist,
designing ob?ects like chairs and lamps, rather than a sculptor%
The art critic Mihai 7roveanu said, 3@'le&andru 2hildu0A doesn-t have the ,ualifications to
undertake such a #ork, since he is a designer, not a sculptor3% The Memorial of Rebirth has been
described as 3a potato ske#ered on a stake3, an 3olive on a toothpick3, 3the potato of the revolution3
and 3the vector #ith the cro#n3%
The placement of the memorial #as also critici6ed and the Brbanism $ommittees of both the Crd
+ector and of Bucharest re?ected the design, but their role is officially only as consultants and the
memorial #as erected any#ay%
7#ing to its relative unpopularity, the monument is guarded round.the.clock, but despite this, on
the night of ( May ())4, it #as vandali6ed% ' stencil graffiti figure representing the fictional
revolutionary character 3>3 #as dra#n on the side facing the /ational Museum of 'rt%
References
Radu $rivat, Memorialul Renasterii D :naugurare cu >:E.uri Memorial of Rebirth D
:nauguration #ith >:Es, article in Jurnalul Naional (in Romanian)% 1ate unkno#n, accessed
) 1ec ())*%
F Memorialul RenasteriiG, ce oribilitateH (3The Monument of Rebirth D ho# horribleH3),
;ditorial, Sptmna inanciar, 'ugust ())*% 'ccessed (* +eptember ())4% (Romanian)
This lists the nicknames mentioned in the article (and ,uite a fe# more)%
2abriela 8upu, 3Regele $arol :, vecin cu IeapJ lui 2hildus3, (3$arol :, neighbor of 2hildu0-s
spike3), article in $otidianul! "in Romanian#$ undated% appear& to be no later t'an 1 Dec
())*+
3Bn bibelou deloc amabil3, 3/ot at all a likable knick.knack3, article in ;ditura Eolirom
Suplimentul de cultur C) 'pril.4 May ())* (in Romanian)%
3FKepu0a cu cartofL vandali6atJ de graff.eri3, article in 2Mndul, C May ())4
$oordinatesN OOP(4Q!%(CR/ (4P*Q*)%C!R;
$ategoriesN
Monuments and memorials in Bucharest
7utdoor sculptures in Bucharest
Memorials to victims of communism
$alea >ictoriei
This page #as last modified on * 7ctober ()C at ONO%

You might also like