Walking around the globe. The story of 4 young Romanians who took up the contest to walk the globe and their 497 pairs of peasant sandals

Project facts

Project promoter:
Buzau County Museum
Project Number:
RO12-0026
Target groups
Researchers or scientists
Status:
Completed
Initial project cost:
€77,224
Final project cost:
€65,455
From EEA Grants:
€ 55,637
The project is carried out in:
Buzău

Description

The project tells the amazing story of 4 young Romanian students and their dog Harep, who competed in a French contest for the world record for walking around the globe. They set out on their quest in 1910 wearing traditional Romanian costumes, in peasant sandals and without money. Only Dumitru Dan finished the race, becoming the winner of the French contest. He was the 1st Romanian globe-trotter and his performance was registered in the Guinness World Records in 1985 as the world champion of 100000 km around the world. Dumitru Dan's colloection is currently owned by three museums and the aim is to display this collection for the first time since his death in 1978. The project researches the extraordinary aim to set this record for walking the globe through documents dating from 1910-1916 and 1923. It reconstructs and records 6 songs and 5 dances the globe-trotters sang, danced and performed (2 of them are listed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage). The entire collection of items will be digitized and uploaded on www.europeana.eu. In addition, 497 pairs of replicas of their peasant sandals will be made, offering scope for the training of young Roma students in this craft (10 workshops). These workshops will help to safeguard this craft.

Summary of project results

The project addressed the need to preserve, restore and promote the tangible and intangible cultural heritage and contributed to the preservation of 2 crafts on the verge of extinction – manufacturing peasant footwear and sewing traditional shirts. A cultural space has been created in the city of Buzău designed to host a collection which is unique in Romania, composed of cultural goods related to globe-trotter Dumitru Dan and his journey on foot around the world. The results of the project include: 1 scientific study, 2 databases, 1 catalogue of the collection in printed, 677 digitalized and preserved assets, 136 restored assets, 120 exhibited assets, 14 crafts workshops organized, 497 pairs of peasant footwear created, 2 traditional shirts recreated, 3 cultural games (1 digital and 2 electronic), 1 permanent bilingual exhibition. The project activities included the organization of crafts workshops for Roma children and socially-assisted children.

Summary of bilateral results