Romania’s Petrilla mine shows how art can be a catalyst in former mining communities
After Coal author and director Tom Hansell recently traveled to Romania to participate in the Appalachians / Carpathians: Mountains Apart, People Connected conference. Participants explored the theme of post-industrial development in mountain communities. Here is his report: Photographer Gabriel Amza , who has documented the decline of coal in Romania’s Jiu Valley and I collaborated on a presentation that explored the role of arts in former coal mining communities. After our presentation, we visited the Petrilla mine, which employed approximately 20,000 workers at its peak, before closing in 2015. Some miners were transferred to other mines, but many lost their jobs. Local officials believed the best path forward was to bulldoze the mine site and leave a clean, green field. However a strong local movement emerged to save the mine site. Former mine engineer and artist Ion Barbu (pictured below) helped lead an art based campaign to preserve the mine. […]