In 2023, culture and history have crossed physical and temporal boundaries to take the story of Timișoara and the people who weave the mosaics of the soul of the city on the Bega abroad to the heart of the United Kingdom.

From 9-12 September 2023, the following took place in London Spotlight Heritage International Festival of Digital Culture - XR Demonstrations, organised by the University of Politehnica Timișoara, the Timisoara 2023 European Capital of Culture Association and the National Museum of Banat with the support and backing of the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Romanian Cultural Institute London, in collaboration with Artsdepot London. The event was a cultural and digital bridge between the two countries and was part of the Open House Festival, a programme held in heritage buildings in London.

A Successful Festival with 450 Participants, Virtual Travellers in Timisoara

The festival managed to bring together an impressive 450 participants throughout its duration. Of these, 350 were visitors from the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, who attended the Open House Festival, and at Artsdepot we enjoyed the presence of another 100 people eager to learn the stories of Timișoara.

Using virtual reality, the festival offered an immersive experience where participants from London explored Timisoara, delving into the city's stories and discovering heritage buildings and city landmarks scanned in 3D. They had the opportunity to become virtual tourists by entering the world of the city on the Bega through virtual reality, to easily visit heritage buildings and city landmarks, or to handle national heritage objects from the National Museum of Banat. The digital applications used by the festival participants, from children to seniors, tourists or diplomats, were made by students and professors from Politehnica University Timișoara. Moreover, at Artsdepot, Dr. Diana Andone, the project coordinator, presented in detail the digital cultural actions carried out between 2019 and 2023 by Spotlight Heritage Timișoara.

Representatives of the European Capitals of Culture

The three European Cultural Capitals this year being Timisoara, Elefsina and Veszprém, a joint event presenting the three cities was held on 13 September 2023, hosted by the Romanian Embassy in London and organised in collaboration with the Greek Embassy and the Hungarian Embassy. It was the last in the series of joint events organised this year by the three embassies to promote the European Capitals of Culture in London.

The event brought together representatives of the diplomatic corps, British officials, cultural and academic representatives, who had the opportunity to discover the three cities through augmented and virtual reality technologies. Special guests also included Cllr Preety Hudd, Mayor of the London Borough of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

At the opening of the event the ambassadors of the three countries spoke - Romanian Ambassador Laura Popescu promoted Timisoara, Greek Ambassador Yannis Tsaousis spoke about Elefsina and Hungarian Ambassador Ferenc Kumin presented Veszprém.

Timisoara was present through the Spotlight Heritage project and represented by Conf.dr.eng. Florin Dragan Rector UPT), Prof.dr.eng. Radu Vasiu (President of the UPT Senate), Claudiu Ilas (Director of the MNaB Museum), Prof. Dr. Ovidiu Megan (Executive Director of the ATCEE Timisoara 2023 Association), Dr. Diana Andone (UPT Director and Coordinator of the Spotlight Heritage project), UPT students who developed the digital applications.

The digital components of the project are accessible online at https://spotlight-timisoara.eu/ and via mobile apps that can be downloaded from Android and Apple stores or by searching "Spotlight Heritage Timisoara".

• App link for Android users: https://is.gd/SjiIgv
• App link for iOS users: https://is.gd/y6JxeV

Event information is also available on: HERE.

The event is part of the Spotlight Heritage Timisoara digital cultural initiative, part of the Timisoara 2023 European Capital of Culture Cultural Programme. Cultural project co-funded by the Municipality of Timisoara through the Project Centre, Timis County Council, Ministry of Culture. In London, the project is presented at the initiative of the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom and the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, Artsdepot London.