Hundreds of people from Timișoara and not only relived the atmosphere of the old Cetate neighborhood, during the Hybrid Vernissage "Spotlight Heritage Timișoara. The Cetate neighborhood - A world in the mirror".

The Spotlight Heritage Timișoara exhibitions, demonstrations and digital applications dedicated to the Cetate neighborhood were launched on Tuesday, July 5, during the Spotlight Heritage: Cetate Neighborhood – A world in the mirror Opening. The event took place in a hybrid format, both in the Attic of the Maria Theresia Bastion, and LIVE, on the Zoom, Facebook and YouTube platforms, with live interventions from emblematic points in the Cetate neighborhood.

A physical and virtual tour for the historical and literary exploration of the Cetate neighborhood, doubled by the illustration of the allegory of the sense of smell by capitalizing on the urban myth about Timișoara as the city of roses, two live interventions from emblematic locations of the street exhibition and live demonstrations with the online, mobile and augmented reality dedicated to the Cetate neighborhood. Moreover, the participants had the opportunity to enjoy the many possibilities that the digital world offers us and tested the video installation in the obscura room for the first time, exploring the culture and heritage of the old Cetate neighborhood in special visual sensations.

The hosts of the event were Mr. Claudiu Ilaș – director of the National Museum of Banat, As.prof.eng. Florin Drăgan – the rector of the Timișoara Politehnica University and Dr.eng. Diana Andone – the director of the UPT e-Learning Center. 

During the opening, the exhibition "Spotlight Heritage. Cetate neighborhood - A world in the mirror" was launched to the public. Opened at the Maria Theresia Bastion between July 5 and August 31, 2022, we also have the street exhibition with informative panels from the 18 emblematic locations of the Cetate neighborhood, but also online, mobile and augmented and virtual reality applications through where the public can find the old and new stories of Timișoara online and maybe even "travel" to the old Cetate neighborhood, with the help of virtual reality.

Spotlight Heritage Timișoara / Patrimoniul sub reflectoare is a digital cultural initiative of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, carried out in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, part of the Cultural Program Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture. Cultural project co-financed by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Project Center, represented by Teodora Borghoff and Cosmina Goagea, members of the curatorial team and the Timiș County Council. 

Foray into the world of the old Cetate neighborhood

The participants were able to discover the exhibition at the Maria Theresia Bastion, physically and virtually, exploring the history and literature of the Cetate neighborhood, alongside the allegory of the olfactory sense, which capitalizes on the urban myth about Timișoara as the city of roses, created in the second half of the 19th century by the activity of the gardners dynasties. They were able to step into a modern transposition of Timişoara traditions, through the period images that reproduce the activity of the Mühle family, one sequence of the exhibition being dedicated to flowers and another to scientific experiments, correlated with the allegory of smell. Marius Cornea, museographer at the National Museum of Banat, presented the exhibition at the Maria Theresia Bastion to the participants, giving them details and historical stories about the Cetate neighborhood and the story about the rose perfume, which was followed by the experiment carried out by the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering from UPT on Odor Analysis for Rose Petals.

Moreover, the participants tested the video installation in the obscura room for the first time, exploring the culture and heritage of the old Cetate neighborhood in special visual sensations, including 3D animations with old images, images of heritage objects in 3D, air shot images, but also details from the buildings in the Cetate neighborhood, combined with extracts from the poems and literature dedicated to Timișoara.

Live interventions from the street exhibition

Prof. arch. dr. Cristian Blidariu - dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Politehnica University of Timișoara and Ciprian Glăvan, museographer at the National Museum of Banat, welcomed the participants with a live intervention in front of the Romanian National Opera in Timișoara and the Rectorate of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, and Zoran Markov - the National Museum of Banat, together with associate arch. dr. Cristian Blidariu, intervened live in front of the Serbian Orthodox Episcopate in Piața Unirii, Timișoara - they provided the participants details about the history and architecture of Timișoara buildings and monuments, right next to the Spotlight Heritage Timișoara information panels placed in the locations.

A world in a mirror

A remarkable intervention in the event was that of Prof. dr. Smaranda Vultur – coordinator of the Oral History and Cultural Anthropology Group, collaborator of this edition and the one who contributed to the creation of the memories from Timisoara's oral history, through the stories of the inhabitants of the old Cetate neighborhood, selected from the interviews conducted by the Group she coordinated. This provided the participants details about the Group's Archive of Oral History and Cultural Anthropology, as well as the interviews that carried out over 40 years of research, but also about the meaning of the title of the exhibition – A world in the mirror.

The life of the Cetate neighborhood in Timișoara was illustrated through the selection of literary texts collected by assistant professor Roxana Rogobete, stories that share lesser-known details about buildings and monuments from Timisoara's heritage.

This year, we enjoyed the original poems under the auspices of Miss Timișoara, created for Spotlight Heritage Timișoara, by the well-known Timișoara poet Robert Șerban, who declared "I fell in love with Miss Timișoara at the age of 17, at first sight, when I came here for a literary camp, at the Green Forest. Three years later, I decided to come back and we stayed together. Ever since, both of us have changed, and my crush has turned into love. At times, love turns into poetry."

Web page featuring online stories from the past and the present

The online and mobile components are in continuous development, the web page spotlight-timisoara.eu/ – with the old and new stories dedicated to the Cetate neighborhood was discovered by the public on a state-of-the-art device - the interactive table exhibited at the Theresia Bastion, presented by Dr. eng. Silviu Vert.

Technology-enhanced experiences in the Cetate neighborhood

At the opening, the first stories contained in the Spotlight Heritage Timișoara mobile and augmented reality applications were launched, updated with the sections dedicated to the Cetate neighborhood this year - and having multiple functionalities that identify the 18 locations in the neighborhood, presented in several ways: text with information about the location and the memories of the former inhabitants - of various ethnicities and occupations - written in text form, an image gallery - both current and old, video clips and 360-degree images of each location, so that anyone can can create the feeling of being inside the building or in front of the building. In addition, once a user of Spotlight Heritage Timișoara mobile and augmented reality applications is near the Cetate neighborhood and in front of a building, the augmented reality (AR) function recognizes the building and provides information about it. By pointing the phone's camera at that building, anyone will be able to see the old facade of the building superimposed on the current one.

Involvement in the community 

This year too, as part of the project, experts from the Polytechnic University Timișoara, the National Museum of Banat and the Oral History and Cultural Anthropology Group will offer guided tours, in the neighborhood, as well as virtual ones, of the exhibitions and Spotlight Heritage Timișoara applications, to pupils and students from Timișoara’s educational institutions. 

Moreover, this year happenings with digital installations, dance performances and street theater will be organized in Timișoara, in different locations, and digital exhibitions with XR and digital stories abroad.

Watch the recording of the event here

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Spotlight Heritage Timișoara / Patrimoniul sub reflectoare is a digital cultural initiative of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, realized in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, part of the Cultural Programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture. Cultural project co-financed by the Center for Projects of the Municipality of Timișoara, Timiș County Council.