Art has long been an essential part of the personality of Romania and is perhaps best represented in the traditional arts and crafts of the Romanian peasantry. For decades the humble artisan, sculptor, architect, and artist has taken inspiration from the rich history of Romania. Want to learn more about Romanian art words? Keep reading below!
Romanian Art Words
Visitors to Romania can visit the numerous galleries dotted around the country to enjoy modern art, the works of contemporary artists, and Romania’s celebrated art history. If you are thinking of taking in a museum, perusing some paintings, and appreciating the aesthetic, then it is well worth getting a few Romanian artistic words under your belt. Thankfully, with a few exceptions, Romanian words that refer to the arts are similar to their counterparts in English. Let’s take a quick look at a few words that will help turn you into a Romanian art critic.
Romanian Art
Now that we are armed with an understanding of the basic words, let’s take a closer look at a few of the arts and crafts one can enjoy in the landscape of Romanian artistic production.
Romanian Pottery – Ceramică
Traditional ceramics continue to be popular throughout the country. Romanian potters favor the aesthetic of the kick-wheel and simple tools when creating their pottery. As well as the usual wares, artisans are keen on creating and using bold-colored decorations and glazes in their work formed in the shapes of people, animals, and plants. There are currently around thirty ceramic centers spread throughout Romania, each with its own authentic style.
Romanian Textiles – Textile
By far, the most popular of Romanian arts and crafts is weaving. In fact, many of the traditional households in villages across the country will still have a loom. Romanian women learned to produce textiles from an early age and will continue to create embroidered cloth well into their later years. Cotton and wool are the most common raw materials used to create clothing, tablecloths, wall hangings, rugs, bedspreads, and furniture throws.
Distinctive Regionally Inspired Textiles
Traditional folk costumes donned in Romania to celebrate special occasions, holidays, and festivals are embroidered with patterns adhering too strictly defined regional patterns. Romanians will be able to tell which region a person comes from by the embroidered pattern on the costumes they are wearing. For example, in the south of the country, costumes will commonly be decorated with gold, silver, yellow, brown, and red threads to celebrate a connection to the Ottoman Empire.
In the northeast, the favored colors are orange and blue, and in the northwest, the color is green. A person growing up below the Carpathian Mountains will dress in a costume embroidered with terracotta-colored thread. Those connected to the Transylvania region will be adorned in bold black and white motifs in celebration of the area’s Saxon heritage.
Romanian Painted Eggs – Ouă Vopsite
If you are visiting Romania around Easter you are likely to find tens of thousands of gorgeously decorated eggs being produced by women and children. The hollow shells are painted in bright colors as a celebration of rebirth. Painting eggs give the villagers the opportunity to gather together for gossip and a catch-up. As with textiles, the designs on the eggs can be linked to the region in which they are being painted. The intricately painted eggs can be picked up by tourists in markets and souvenir shops throughout Romania.
Romanian Blown-Glass – Sticla Suflata
The art of blowing glass in Romania dates back to Roman times. The work of contemporary glass-blowing artists is celebrated around the globe, and it is in the northeast of the country where artisans are to be found creating fabulous hand-blown, hand-shaped, and hand-molded sculptures.
Romanian Rugs – Covoare
It is likely that the art of Romanian rugmaking dates back to the Ottoman Empire. The traditional colors and patterns are created by using vegetable-dyed yarns, and as with other textiles, the patterns created are inextricably linked to the region in which the rugs are woven. Rugs from Moldavia tend to focus on rows of delicate branches that pay homage to the tree of life. Rugs woven in Oltenia will be embroidered with images of birds, trees, and flowers. Weavers growing up in Maramures are likely to incorporate more geometric patterns and shapes to reflect the influence of the Turks.
Romanian Leather Masks – Măști Din Piele
Commonly worn to welcome in the New Year, leather masks are made from cow, goat, and sheep hides and decorated with straw, beans, feathers, pom poms, and pieces of fabric. In imitation of animals, some will even have horns added.
Where To Seek Out Romanian Art
Those seeking out ceramics should head to Horezu and pay a visit to the Contemporary Folk Art Gallery. Smaller museums and galleries tend to house specific exhibitions catering to diverse subjects, including architecture, folk arts, twentieth-century art, contemporary art, paintings, sculptures, photography, and Romanian culture.
Larger museums have bigger spaces to house permanent exhibitions by contemporary Romanian artists as well as visiting exhibitions from around the world. A few of the most popular museums include the Bruckenthal Museum in Sibiu, Bucharest’s Museum of the Romanian Peasant, the Village Museum, the Art Collections Museum, and Romania’s National Museum of Art.
Try Out The Ling App
So, if you are thinking of visiting Romania and taking in a bit of its culture, why not arm yourself with a few Romanian art words or phrases, and become an art critic? You can also broaden your grip on the Romanian language by downloading the Ling App at Play Store and App Store. The Ling App provides a unique way to learn more than 60 languages, including dedicated writing, reading, speaking, and listening lessons. Download it today!