The Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography, a public cultural institution functioning under the authority of the Cluj County Council, invites you on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at 6:30 p.m., to the launch of two books by HG Father Macarie Drăgoi, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Northern Europe. The event will take place in the Reduta Hall of the Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography, 21, Memorandum street.

The first work, entitled “Musical folklore from the Țibleș Valleys - vol. 1, Occasional songs”, appeared under the auspices of the “Transylvanian Studies Centre of the Romanian Academy” and represents a collaboration between HG Father Macarie Drăgoi and the ethno-musicologist Lucia-Augusta Iștoc, marking an important contribution to the documentation and hoarding of the folkloric musical heritage of His Grace’s native area. The result of several decades of research materialized in an impressive volume, over four thousand pieces that were handed over to the “Folklore Archive of the Romanian Academy” Institute (IAFAR) in Cluj, the work does not only record “folklore pieces”, but reproduces, in the author’s words “pieces of soul gifted to us by our forefathers: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.”

In the second work, entitled “Why do I feel lonely in an age of communication? Heavenly joy, human solitude”, printed at Felicitas Publishing House of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Northern Europe, HG Father Macarie observes how, in the context of contemporary society marked by significant technological advances and an exponential increase in the means of communication, the feeling of isolation and loneliness becomes paradoxically acute. This contradiction between the original purpose of communication technologies - to unite people - and the emerging reality, in which people feel more separated than ever, provokes a series of reflections on how Christians, as members of the Church of Christ, can relate to and respond to the challenge of loneliness in a hyper-connected age.

The volumes will be presented by HG Father Andrei Andreicuț, Metropolitan of Cluj, Maramureș and Sălaj, Prof. Dr. Ioan Bolovan, Correspondent Member of the Romanian Academy, and Prof. Dr. Ioan Bocșa, from “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca. The event’s host and moderator of the will be Mr. Tudor Sălăgean, manager of the Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography.

The event will be enriched by the participation of the Romanian Traditional Music Ensemble “Icons”, from “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy, as well as the Folk ensembles “Țibleșul” from Spermezeu, “Glanetașul” from Agrieș-Târlișua and “Roua Țibleșului” from Căianu Mic. Also, the folk rhapsodes from the Țibleșului Valleys, led by the families Purja from Agrieș and Horoba from Molișet, will share from horthe wealth of the horas inherited from their ancestors.

The entry is free.