What is ‘Bucharest Inside the Beltway’ (BiB)?
BiB BREAKDOWN:
BUCHAREST = capital of Romania, EU nation, Eastern Europe
INSIDE THE BELTWAY = an American idiom that means "in the halls of power and out of touch with most citizens" - referring specifically to Washington DC, where BiB was born.
BUCHAREST INSIDE THE BELTWAY = By bringing the cosmopolitan, diverse, layered and artistically progressive Romanian capital Bucharest "Inside the Beltway" through ART we are shattering an existing divide in the American capital and beyond.
MISSION
Bucharest Inside the Beltway is Denver's new culture and arts platform. Cristina A. Bejan and Rucsandra Pop were inspired by the cultural world of Bucharest where professional and amateur artists work collaboratively to create meaningful cultural experiences for the local and international communities.
Through BiB, Bejan and Pop hope to bring that spirit of diversity and collaboration in service of culture and art to Denver. The collective aims to celebrate performance, writing, translation, visual art, music, film, education and expression in all languages.
BiB is an apolitical entity with one uniting political belief: FREEDOM. The 1989 fall of the brutal communist dictatorship in Romania paved the way for democracy. The lone Latin Eastern European nation joined the European Union in 2007 and elected her first minority president in 2014. Of course we are living similar historic struggles in the United States. BiB is keenly aware of the fight for freedom in the US, in Romania and everywhere and in this particular cause we, BiB artists, are united and uncompromising.
The Bucharest arts scene is one of the best in Europe. How is this possible? There is less regulation on the arts. And the government fiscally supports the arts. Romanian art might feel wild to the visitor, maybe daring, unconventional and free-spirited. And this is precisely the energy that we intend to bring from Bucharest to the Beltway. And we believe that many Denver artists also have that spirit and have not yet had the opportunity, platform or security to explore, create and be heard.
BiB believes firmly in the power of art for social justice and the real possibility that culture can spark positive social change in society. In Washington DC, we collaborated with the DC Coalition for Theatre and Social Justice and became certified in Augusto Boal’s technique of “Theatre of the Oppressed.”
With this shared belief among our artists, BiB has been able to promote a local charity with every play we have produced: specifically Literacy Lab DC with "DISTRICTLAND" (Capital Fringe 2015), NAMI DC with “Finally Quiet In My Head” (DC Black Theatre Festival 2014) and RAINN with "Lady Godiva" (Mead Theatre Lab Program, Source Theatre 2016).
Within our first two years of existence inside the Beltway, we produced and promoted hit shows in the Capital Fringe Festival and DC Black Theatre Festival, performed twice in the Page to Stage Festival at the Kennedy Center, provided the theatrical entertainment for the inaugural Alianța Gala at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and were featured in the Washington and Huffington Post … all while keeping a solid cultural foot on the ground in risk-taking and progressive Bucharest. And now our artistic collaborations in Denver have begun. Since BiB's move to Colorado, we have had professional collaborations with the Romanian Cultural Institute of New York, Wheatridge Theatre Company, and Theatre 29 Denver, and our work has been featured in the Denver Westword and Broadway World.
HISTORY
When studying at the University of Bucharest on a Fulbright scholarship Cristina A. Bejan met Rucsandra Pop, who was organizing a literary festival in a hip new cafe in Bucharest's historic Geology Museum. Pop invited Bejan to contribute a live-reading of her play "Colombo Calling - a play from Sri Lanka" which featured actors from across Bucharest's eclectic and diverse theatre world, including the world famous Maia Morgenstern. Then Pop won a Fulbright to study at the University of Indiana. These two playwrights and poets have been scheming about just such an international and local culture and arts collective since their initial collaboration in 2008. Initially the name of the cross-cultural arts exchange was “Platforma” with an original logo design acclaimed Romanian visual artist Dan Perjovschi. Then Cristina A. Bejan directed Lucian Blaga’s Zalmoxis at the Romanian Embassy to the United States and Georgetown University’s Devine Studio Theatre in 2011. Bejan and Pop met in person for the first time since 2008 when Bejan presented at a conference in 2012 at the University of Indiana when Pop was a Fulbrighter. When Pop read Bejan her entire “America Poem” during a spontaneous break from her daily stroll to campus, the two poets and playwrights knew they had make their trans-cultural, international and local artistic vision happen for real. And in 2014 Bucharest Inside the Beltway was born in Washington DC. BiB was officially launched at the Romanian Embassy to the United States June 2014 and then launched in Romania at Carol 53 October of 2014. BiB moved to Denver, Colorado in June 2019 and officially launched at the foot of the Rocky Mountains with its virtual RADIANCE ~ New Play Showcase in December 2021. 2024 is BiB's 10 year birthday - celebrate BiB is promoting The Alex Fund. BiB is currently run by Cristina A. Bejan (Executive Director, Denver, CO) and Adela Sinclair (Cultural Producer, New York City).
BUCHAREST = capital of Romania, EU nation, Eastern Europe
INSIDE THE BELTWAY = an American idiom that means "in the halls of power and out of touch with most citizens" - referring specifically to Washington DC, where BiB was born.
BUCHAREST INSIDE THE BELTWAY = By bringing the cosmopolitan, diverse, layered and artistically progressive Romanian capital Bucharest "Inside the Beltway" through ART we are shattering an existing divide in the American capital and beyond.
MISSION
Bucharest Inside the Beltway is Denver's new culture and arts platform. Cristina A. Bejan and Rucsandra Pop were inspired by the cultural world of Bucharest where professional and amateur artists work collaboratively to create meaningful cultural experiences for the local and international communities.
Through BiB, Bejan and Pop hope to bring that spirit of diversity and collaboration in service of culture and art to Denver. The collective aims to celebrate performance, writing, translation, visual art, music, film, education and expression in all languages.
BiB is an apolitical entity with one uniting political belief: FREEDOM. The 1989 fall of the brutal communist dictatorship in Romania paved the way for democracy. The lone Latin Eastern European nation joined the European Union in 2007 and elected her first minority president in 2014. Of course we are living similar historic struggles in the United States. BiB is keenly aware of the fight for freedom in the US, in Romania and everywhere and in this particular cause we, BiB artists, are united and uncompromising.
The Bucharest arts scene is one of the best in Europe. How is this possible? There is less regulation on the arts. And the government fiscally supports the arts. Romanian art might feel wild to the visitor, maybe daring, unconventional and free-spirited. And this is precisely the energy that we intend to bring from Bucharest to the Beltway. And we believe that many Denver artists also have that spirit and have not yet had the opportunity, platform or security to explore, create and be heard.
BiB believes firmly in the power of art for social justice and the real possibility that culture can spark positive social change in society. In Washington DC, we collaborated with the DC Coalition for Theatre and Social Justice and became certified in Augusto Boal’s technique of “Theatre of the Oppressed.”
With this shared belief among our artists, BiB has been able to promote a local charity with every play we have produced: specifically Literacy Lab DC with "DISTRICTLAND" (Capital Fringe 2015), NAMI DC with “Finally Quiet In My Head” (DC Black Theatre Festival 2014) and RAINN with "Lady Godiva" (Mead Theatre Lab Program, Source Theatre 2016).
Within our first two years of existence inside the Beltway, we produced and promoted hit shows in the Capital Fringe Festival and DC Black Theatre Festival, performed twice in the Page to Stage Festival at the Kennedy Center, provided the theatrical entertainment for the inaugural Alianța Gala at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and were featured in the Washington and Huffington Post … all while keeping a solid cultural foot on the ground in risk-taking and progressive Bucharest. And now our artistic collaborations in Denver have begun. Since BiB's move to Colorado, we have had professional collaborations with the Romanian Cultural Institute of New York, Wheatridge Theatre Company, and Theatre 29 Denver, and our work has been featured in the Denver Westword and Broadway World.
HISTORY
When studying at the University of Bucharest on a Fulbright scholarship Cristina A. Bejan met Rucsandra Pop, who was organizing a literary festival in a hip new cafe in Bucharest's historic Geology Museum. Pop invited Bejan to contribute a live-reading of her play "Colombo Calling - a play from Sri Lanka" which featured actors from across Bucharest's eclectic and diverse theatre world, including the world famous Maia Morgenstern. Then Pop won a Fulbright to study at the University of Indiana. These two playwrights and poets have been scheming about just such an international and local culture and arts collective since their initial collaboration in 2008. Initially the name of the cross-cultural arts exchange was “Platforma” with an original logo design acclaimed Romanian visual artist Dan Perjovschi. Then Cristina A. Bejan directed Lucian Blaga’s Zalmoxis at the Romanian Embassy to the United States and Georgetown University’s Devine Studio Theatre in 2011. Bejan and Pop met in person for the first time since 2008 when Bejan presented at a conference in 2012 at the University of Indiana when Pop was a Fulbrighter. When Pop read Bejan her entire “America Poem” during a spontaneous break from her daily stroll to campus, the two poets and playwrights knew they had make their trans-cultural, international and local artistic vision happen for real. And in 2014 Bucharest Inside the Beltway was born in Washington DC. BiB was officially launched at the Romanian Embassy to the United States June 2014 and then launched in Romania at Carol 53 October of 2014. BiB moved to Denver, Colorado in June 2019 and officially launched at the foot of the Rocky Mountains with its virtual RADIANCE ~ New Play Showcase in December 2021. 2024 is BiB's 10 year birthday - celebrate BiB is promoting The Alex Fund. BiB is currently run by Cristina A. Bejan (Executive Director, Denver, CO) and Adela Sinclair (Cultural Producer, New York City).