one man show

Modern Inconveniences

WPAdmin · Jul 21, 2026 ·

Modern Inconveniences

A striking feature is the vast gap between the wealthy and the poor. These two worlds coexist, yet they are not confined to distinct areas, and they can be encountered anywhere. An area may become attractive to higher-income groups without necessarily seeing any improvement in infrastructure.

The historian Lucian Boia points out: “Romania holds, by far, more negative records than any other country in the European Union. A very substantial book could be written on this subject. The most telling example is the ‘outdoor toilet at the back of the yard’, a true Romanian speciality and a clear sign of underdevelopment. […] Anywhere else in Europe, it would at most be a museum piece.”

Rovinari Power Plant

WPAdmin · Jul 22, 2026 ·

Rovinari Power Plant

We generate electricity by burning coal – a practice deeply embedded in modern civilisation, yet one that European Union member states have agreed to abandon, committing to the gradual closure of coal-fired power plants and the development of green energy sources. Every nation in the world should move in this direction, to reduce environmental pollution whose effects have grown increasingly visible with each passing year. Yet in the context of the energy crisis affecting economies worldwide, keeping coal-fired plants running remains an unavoidable compromise. Breaking free from the energy comfort we have grown so used to is far from easy. And yet, from the ease of our armchairs, we remain blind to a quieter, more intimate tragedy unfolding out of sight – entire villages vanishing from the map, swallowed by expanding mines. The pain of being uprooted, torn from the land of one’s ancestors, is made all the more devastating by the often deplorable circumstances in which these expropriations take place.

Hell on Earth

WPAdmin · Jul 23, 2026 ·

Hell on Earth

A Mining Operation That Displaced a Hill and a Local Village.

The Last Forest

WPAdmin · Jul 24, 2026 ·

The Last Forest

Mining operations and the extraction of materials needed by industry – or driven by human vanity – generate vast quantities of waste rock. Its disposal poses serious challenges and represents an extremely harmful source of pollution. Waste dumps sprawl across large areas of land, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. “The Last Forest” is, of course, a metaphor – yet the image it evokes should remind us of just how fragile nature is, and how easily it can be destroyed, while urging us to think more seriously about how this problem ought to be addressed.

Petrila Planet

WPAdmin · Jul 25, 2026 ·

Petrila Planet

The infrastructure of many mining operations in the Jiu Valley has undergone a process of so-called “ecological restoration.” In practice, this has meant stripping out whatever technological equipment had survived organized or opportunistic plundering and selling it for scrap, demolishing buildings entirely, clearing the land and converting it to pasture. In doing so, an entire chapter of the country’s economic history is being quietly erased. Through the efforts of civil society, a number of buildings have been saved from demolition. Work is now underway to consolidate, rehabilitate and preserve them for social and cultural use – ensuring that at least a part of the industrial heritage of that era is kept alive, in the form of a living museum.