Why INSEMN
'ÎNSEMN®' — A creative competition to restore local and national identity
Romania is a land rich in culture, history and traditions, a place where the spirit of our people is reflected in the symbols that define our heritage.
From the peaks of the Carpathians to the quiet hills of lowland villages, every corner of this country holds history, stories and legends connecting us not only to our ancestors but also to the generations who will walk this land after us.
The competition “ÎNSEMN®: Plai și Vatră — Emblema Locului” (Land and Hearth — The Emblem of a Place) seeks to capture these stories, preserve the essence of local identity through artistic expression, and share it with the world in a way that speaks to both heart and mind.
At its heart, this competition is a journey: a journey to distil the essence of Romanian communities into modern, lasting symbols.
We are not simply asking participants to create emblems and logos. We invite them to explore the history, traditions, culture and geography of a place, the soul of its communities and the people within them. To explore its stories and legends.
This is an artistic challenge, and a challenge to observe, understand, love and draw out the essence of a place's spirit; to know its people, history and values and concentrate them into a POWERFUL, simple, meaningful symbol.
An emblem that, when we look at it, awakens pride, love and recognition for everything it represents.
Today, more than ever, we need to recreate and strengthen our National Identity, especially among young people: children and those under 30. This generation is Romania's future. They need to understand and embrace the roots, history and symbols that define us as a people.
ÎNSEMN® gives them the opportunity and a framework to contribute to a visual identity that tells us and the world who we Romanians are. An identity that speaks of the strength, power and enduring ancestral energies of these lands, accompanying the eternity of this people.
It is time for the younger generation to become both the inheritors of traditions and the creators of new symbols representing the future. To become the link between past and future that we call the Present!
We warmly invite all educational establishments, cultural institutions and administrations — schools, secondary schools, universities, museums, cultural centres, churches and public institutions — to draw inspiration from this competition model and apply it in their communities. These institutions have a crucial role in encouraging children, young people and community members to deepen their knowledge of their villages, towns and regions, and express their essence graphically and symbolically. They also have the tools and means to do so. This practice promotes learning and rediscovering our roots, while strengthening national and local identity by revealing the finest parts of our traditions, history, geography and culture.
Valuable pieces of local history and the symbols created through these initiatives will have a profound impact on place branding. They can serve tourism and identify locally made products, emphasising each area's distinct character. Who knows — perhaps we will see them in new corporate identities too!
“Proud to have made <this>!”
These symbols will also become essential elements in souvenirs and branded objects: T-shirts, mugs, pens, caps, bags, coasters and other promotional items carrying the place's uniqueness and pride further, for residents and visitors alike.
We must also remember the essential role of generations over 50 in this journey. They carry vast knowledge and experience; they have lived through and witnessed this country's transformations. Now is their moment to contribute the wisdom and values gathered over a lifetime. Their knowledge is a vital resource, a legacy we should cherish and integrate into the new creations and symbols of modern Romania, and into the enlightened upbringing of coming generations!
Our ancestors expressed their identity through the crafts and symbols of everyday life. From the intricate motifs of traditional Romanian textiles to the sacred geometry of church frescoes and Maramureș gates, symbolism is deep and rich in meaning, often passed from generation to generation alongside ancestral doina songs, ballads and fairy tales.
Today we are challenged to create new symbols of essence that honour this past while looking ahead, reflecting and creating a bright, modern Romania of aware, clear-minded and happy people!
This competition is an artistic expression and a practical initiative serving our communities. Its emblems will find a place in everyday life through local branding, tourism promotion and education, becoming identity marks for communities wishing to highlight their unique heritage. We aim to offer communities a symbol that defines and represents them, nationally and internationally.
The competition also encourages collaboration. We bring together artists, designers and creative people from all walks of life, working alongside institutions, organisations, schools and local administrations. Every participant and collaborator becomes a keeper of Romania's cultural heritage. Together, we shape the future, honour the past and create a platform where creativity, innovation and identity can flourish.
We invite all Romanians, young and old, from the smallest village to the largest city, to take part! This competition offers challenges on many levels and in many areas, enriching the lives of those who join.
This is your moment to leave a mark on history, to create something that will endure as a testament to the unique story of your community, town and country!
Romania is a fabric of rich cultural stories. Through this competition, we are weaving new threads into that fabric, here and now!
“ÎNSEMN®: Plai și Vatră — Emblema Locului” is a call to creativity, to reconnect with our roots, celebrate our identity and create lasting symbols reflecting who we are.
It is an invitation, an opening and an opportunity to (re)connect with the histories, stories and legends of a place. Where they seem absent, let us SEARCH for them and FIND them!
A symbol's power lies in its form and in the meaning it carries. We are confident that this competition will create emblems we and future generations can look upon with pride, symbols continuing to tell Romania's story for many years to come.
Paul Gabor - Iliescu, 8 October 2024
Additions and clarifications
Where the idea came from
I am an ordinary engineer, aware of the enormous impact images, drawings, graphs and diagrams have on understanding and communication in general.
Years ago, as a beginner in a tractor engine design department, I was asked to prepare overall dimension and installation drawings for a family of engines. I had to study and assemble every engine part in the drawing — on a drawing board! — and came to know the whole engine very well.
From this experience, my love for my town and country, and my awareness of the enormous need to create and strengthen local, regional and national identity, particularly among young people, came the idea of encouraging people to know the place where they live. We need the chance to understand our surroundings, strive to extract their essence and present it somehow to others, residents or visitors. Starting with what exists in each person's locality and area, we can draw out its essence in a graphic representation: an emblem, an însemn.
What this initiative brings
- Knowledge of a place — locality and surroundings, area or region — for residents and outsiders alike.
- Better acquaintance among local people, discovering their passions and interests, building friendships and communities, locally or further afield.
- Wider knowledge of each place's histories, stories and legends; (re)discovering those that are not known.
- The “game” of simplifying and distilling the interesting, unusual or well-known riches and messages of a place into an appealing, evocative, simple graphic.
- Promoting a place's values and riches both within and beyond the locality and surrounding area.
- Creating graphic and/or verbal messages promoting a place's character and uniqueness, making them available as “public domain” to those who can use them in presentations, T-shirts, product packaging, business signs, logos and other materials.
- Developing or starting tourism in any area on the map.
- Local or national identity and rediscovering our roots, individually and as a people.
- Everyone gains: participants, organisers, sponsors, volunteers, administrations, organisations and other bodies involved.
For details or questions of any kind, contact us at 7directi@gmail.com.
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