Exile in an App


Exile is embedded in Romanian history and soul, as described in the intro for this blog. Whether we left or we stayed, we are all impregnated of it.  Future generations will have it in their genes.  This is why is so important to know our past - to exorcise our past..

But exile was and still is a way for certain people to fulfil their destiny, to use their particular experience in order to feel the universal soul of humankind. If one thinks of famous European thinkers or artists with Romanian origins, Cioran, Eliade, Princess Bibesco, Anna de Noailles, just to name a few (with parity in mind), they spoke to many because they melted their origins into the universal mold. For a visual representation, take Brancusi.


His "Bird in space" is the essence of The Bird. It is how a peasant sees a bird up above in the air, a flash of winged flesh and in the same time the idea of Bird flying away.

In some people, exile brings exactly this out: their universal soul. Outside of one's home country, one  feels they are part of a bigger world than the one they used to know. And all the while, they have the nostalgia for something smaller, that they could feel in the palm of their hand, a certain familiar vibration, the true bird they remember from their childhood and not an essence of a bird, be that even Brancusi' one.

Or maybe just an app on your smartphone, showing you the path to walk in your and your ancestors’ shoes for a while..

This is exactly what the CelebRO app might be doing. Upon an idea from Maria Smaranda, a young lady the head full of ideas, brought to material life by the Romanian IT network - CelebrRO is all about this: about catching a glimpse of that essence of exile and bringing it to our life – via our smartphones, now. It's about souvenirs of people who made Romanian history, following their steps through their city or country of exile (France for now).

While wishing Maria and her team a lot of success in their voyage, I also wish each one of you that exile fulfils your own destiny.

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