In a project that has strong diplomatic and historical references, from an idea that could have lead in a rather dry, institutional direction, the team had the liberty to choose where the story went. And the most important were the choices made early on: the non-negotiables. One of them is that the story of the French Institute in Bucharest is deeply connected to shared layers of personal memories, from the staff of different departments such as the mediatheque, to the readers and cinema-goers, who should be present in these pages. Everything, from the size of the publication, to the neon colors and the way that the illustrations progress in closing in on the idea of communities, with groups of people that were interviewed in the process, reflects this choice.

There was a balance to be found between the importance of some very well-known events in the life of the French Institute and the emergence of less known stories and historical characters, such as the chief librarian in Bucharest, Germaine Lebel, one of the first women of her generation to be associated with important Higher Education Institutions. This was part of a collaboration that was a first for many on the team, gliding between fast-paced research, curatorial direction and artwork and design choices in a team of five people and external historic advisors.

We were very lucky to be able to have a meaningful exchange with Nicoleta Radu from Fabrik, who allowed us to find the best proportions, color options and choice of print, and to find that sweet-spot between ideal and pragmatic alternatives. The whole team participated in the discussion. We connected to the story that we were set to write and show, taking decisions that were conceptually linked with the theme, such as the page-spreads that act as highlights in the book. For example, it was important for us that it was a friendly format, easily held in one hand, or that the over-cover would double as a poster-image of the centennial to mark the occasion. The neon colors were unanimously loved when Anna Benczédi proposed the color scheme, which transforms the whole atmosphere of the book, allowing us to step out of the expected rigid historiographical approach.

It was a tough balance between a large and complex history, and the little-big stories that usually go unnoticed. The way that the overall layout falls is very structured and has a formal attitude, as it appears on the all-blue inside cover as well, binding in the life, the joys and sometimes the terrors that the French Institute in Bucharest has witnessed. Paula Rusu found this structural solution as a wonderful way to bring together the dialogue that Maria Surducan and Anna Benczédi tell throughout the book, allowing their artwork to really stand out and explore different nuances in story-telling according to each decade and depth of research.

The only compromise that the whole team reacted to was the limited edition of the booklet, which we would have loved to circulate more broadly. The French Institute organized an itinerary exhibition with digitally printed excerpts throughout the year and was able to compensate on the limited edition beautifully. With the objective budget limitations we would not have otherwise had the opportunity to work in these bright, neon colors as we have with a larger tirage – and in that sense, the book stays as a limited-edition object that marks the centenary of the French Institute, of course available in all its libraries in Romania.