James Joyce: The Most Complete Original. Concert and Panel Discussion on the Forms of Modernism

Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB), through UBB Cultural (by Mobexpert), in collaboration with the Ana Silvestru Classics Foundation and the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, a public institution of county interest operating under the authority of the Cluj County Council, is organizing the event “James Joyce: The Most Complete Original. Concert and Panel Discussion on the Forms of Modernism” on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, at 6:00 PM, at the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum.

The event offers an occasion to celebrate three emblematic figures of modern art: Constantin Brâncuși (whose 150th birth anniversary is being commemorated this year), James Joyce (the friend whom Brâncuși described as “the most complete original,” adding that “once he starts from a point, you never meet him again”), marking 85 years since his death, and Igor Stravinsky, whose passing is commemorated 55 years after his death.

In the public imagination, 16 June is known as the day dedicated to Leopold Bloom’s long journey through Dublin, the protagonist of the monumental novel Ulysses.

Two of the most important musical works of the early twentieth century will frame a discussion on the forms of modernism featuring Ana Silvestru, Mara Rațiu, Rareș Moldovan, and Dan Breaz, moderated by Horea Poenar.

The evening will be framed by two musical moments representative of twentieth-century European culture. Opening the programme, pianist Ana Silvestru will perform Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in a transcription for solo piano. No artist living in Paris at the time remained untouched by the shockwave of the ballet’s premiere on 29 May 1913. More than a tremendous scandal—one that remains unparalleled in the performing arts to this day—the premiere now appears as a ritual of exorcism in which Stravinsky, a high priest of modern art, deaf to the siren songs of Wagnerianism, liberated music from all post-Romantic excesses and transformed it into a guide for a soul that did not yet know how deeply it longed to return to its origins and reconcile itself with nature.

Thus, the supreme sacrifice becomes an opportunity for the rebirth of primordial, mythical humanity, freed from superficial formalism. A creator such as Brâncuși, for whom “reconciliation with oneself resides in your soul when you see yourself as a link in the endless chain of your ancestors and when you do not violate by so much as a jot the prescriptions of eternal naturalness,” could not remain indifferent to the pulsations announcing the dawn of a new artistic world. The Rite of Spring is among the recordings preserved to this day from Brâncuși’s eclectic and remarkably rich personal record collection.

To conclude the evening, the audience will hear Frank Martin’s Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello on Irish Folk Themes. Coincidentally, 1922—the year Ulysses was published in Paris—was also the year in which Frank Martin composed his Mass for Double Choir a cappella, one of the masterpieces of the twentieth century. This is not the only intersection in the biographies of the two great artists: Irish folklore inspired Frank Martin’s most beloved chamber work, while Switzerland became a place of refuge for James Joyce both during the First World War and in the final years of his life.

Zurich is the city where Joyce wrote a significant portion of Ulysses; it is also where he rests alongside his wife and son, and where the James Joyce Foundation is located, housing the continent’s most important archive and research centre dedicated to the great writer.

Through this initiative, UBB Cultural continues its series of projects dedicated to fostering dialogue between the arts, promoting Europe’s cultural heritage, and connecting audiences with the major themes of modern culture.

Admission is free.