Friday, February 19th 2010, the opening of the new headquarters of the Cultural Center of the Republic of Hungary took place, on Gina Patrichi street, at number 8. The festive opening was hosted by Bretter Zoltan, the director of the institution, together with Kelemen Hunor, the Minister of Culture and National Patrimony, Hiller Istvan, the Minister of Education and Culture from Hungary and poet Mircea Dinescu.

Following the inauguration of the exhibition made by Mediawave Festival from Hungary, we could listen to the concert of guitar players Tátrai Tibor (accompanied by his colleagues from the Tátrai Trend band), Gyárfás István and A.G. Weinberger. The concert also felt like an exhibition – those who couldn’t find a place in the room were looking for a few moments in the cramped hall in order to continue the discussions with people present at the reception. The music succeeded in creating an ideal environment for all people present: a mix between fusion-jazz, full of verve and energy and blues expressiveness. The audience was easily aware of the atmosphere created, applauding the musicians for a long time, especially the guitar player A.G.Weinberger.

This is the statement of Bretter Zoltan, the director of the Hungarian Cultural Center regarding the new headquarters and future projects:

„The new headquarters is wonderful, it is a very beautiful house in Neobrancovean style, built in 1936 and we like it because it brings in the Bucharest atmosphere, not only from olden times, but Bucharest, in general. And if you ask me about the projects, it is really important to let you know that we want to be an institution of Bucharest, we want to integrate as well as possible in the cultural, musical, theater life from here. The biggest project would be to have an open air theater in the center of Bucharest, as well as an open air cinema, and our usual and unusual programmes will keep running”.

On the role of the Hungarian Cultural Center at Bucharest - Minister Kelemen Hunor:

„It is very good that the Cultural Center of the Republic of Hungary has new headquarters and from this point of view, this colourful spot in capital’s cultural life will be richer, more beautiful. I am convinced this center will be a home for contemporary cultural creation and Romanian-Hungarian dialogue on cultural values. The mutual knowledge is very important and I have noticed during the years that this dialogue goes much better in the field of culture than in politics, for example. It is a possibility to know each other and to better understand each other and this role of the Hungarian Cultural Institute is very important, as it is the role of the Romanian Cultural Institute at Budapest. In the new context, where Hungary as well as Romania are members of the European Union, we have to look for a new cooperation perspective, a richer and more intense cooperation. From this point of view I am glad that today, on February 2010, we managed to offer – indeed, based on reciprocity - a place, a house, a building which is very appropriate for the Cultural Center of the Republic of Hungary”.