Photographer Petrut Calinescu went on a journey to explore how contemporary Romanians interpret the mythology to the ancient Dacian people – from re-enactment events to tourist attractions and right-wing ‘sovereigntist’ movements.
Marian Chiriac
His images reveal both a fascination with antiquity, but also a deeper search for identity, as many Romanians project present-day concerns, aspirations, and frustrations onto an idealized vision of their ancient past.
“I first came across a re-enactment festival – something I hadn’t even known existed – along with the whole ecosystem built around it. I immediately felt that this was where my research had to begin. Over time, I attended around 15 such festivals, at least,” Calinescu told BIRN.
“Gradually, I came to understand the phenomenon and saw that these events attract a highly diverse audience, driven by equally varied motivations – from a desire to escape urban life to more extreme, politically charged reinterpretations of history.”
Calinescu later went on to identify and visually document other “Dacian presences” in both history and the contemporary imagination. He photographed sites around ancient Dacian fortresses, as well as tourist areas associated with a supposed “Dacian legacy.”
His work also captures how this heritage is commercially exploited—through the sale of allegedly Dacian-inspired objects—and how a wide range of individuals, from mystics and athletes to yogis and nationalists, construct public narratives rooted in their own interpretations of the past.
When asked to capture Dacia’s presence in several images and phrases from his book, Calinescu chose these:
