S&E Guarantee Pilot: Alexandra Vîstraş

“What I like most about theatre is its capacity to transmit emotion, and the fact that it’s very real. Essentially when you watch a performance, you can’t watch it twice. Every performance is unique,” says Alexandra Vîstraş from Sibiu, Romania.

Alexandra has a passion for the arts and has been active in this field since she was a teenager: “When I was in high school, I attended my first few performances at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival and I guess that opened my appetite to start going to the theatre regularly. I went quite often after that and did a lot of volunteering for film and theatre festivals in the summers. Then I did an Erasmus in Athens at the International Dance Council, working on international relations.”

Alexandra completed her degree in Theatre Studies & Cultural Management in Romania and then worked as a PR officer for a theatre and an international theatre festival in Sibiu. “It was an interesting experience. I learned more about theatres and festivals, all the backstage and behind-the-scenes work and I was drawn into the organisational side of things.”

At the same time, she was keen to move abroad and explore new cultures. “I was also very interested in the Nordic lifestyle and wanted to experience it first-hand. On top of that, the quality of education here is very high,” she adds, explaining how she took the decision to pursue a master’s degree at Lund University in Sweden. These studies were made possible by an EU-guaranteed income sharing agreement through FINS, backed by the EIF, that gave Alexandra the resources to cover living expenses and accommodation in Sweden. “It was a good offer. There was no need for any guarantee with property or anything like that, and reimbursement only starts after graduation and once I’ve found a job.”

Alexandra’s master programme runs through to the summer of 2023, but she is already immersing herself in the cultural scene through an internship with a cultural organisation running a street theatre festival in Helsingborg, working on project management, marketing & communications. “It’s very interesting to see how Swedes go about project management in the cultural sector. In a way it’s very similar to Romania – both rely a lot on public and European funding – but at the same time there are some differences. For example, in Sweden I think the approach to sustainability is more developed.”

Looking ahead, Alexandra hopes to continue along the path she has chosen, “maybe even running my own projects, starting up my own programmes in performing arts, with European funding…”

Location: Sibiu, Romania to Lund, Sweden

Financial Intermediary: FINS

Beneficiary: Alexandra Vîstraş

Course: M.Sc. in Culture & Creativity Management

Institution: Lund University

EIF financing: Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot; EFSI

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Romania, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/ro