GIO is a group of researchers and storytellers in dialogue with the people of Reșița. We will document the ways Reșița has transformed and the lives it has lived, creating a living archive of direct experiences.

The oral history method takes research out of archives and documents and brings it back to life. Thus, GIO's goal is to capture stories directly from those who have lived through important events, experienced the life of the factories and the transformation of Reșița's neighborhoods, participated in social movements, or whose ordinary daily experiences illustrate a moment in time and a cultural stage.

More specifically, we will have relaxed conversations with the “ordinary witnesses” of history, gathering their testimonies which might otherwise be lost. We are interested in how Reșița's transformations were felt by the people who lived them, with all their own perspectives and the emotions that come with them. We see GIO as a valuable method for documenting voices that are conventionally absent from official records, completing our understanding of the past, and creating a more inclusive and nuanced historical archive from which future generations can learn and connect.

In 2025, we are (re)starting this process, in a more structured, more sustained way, focusing on the blast furnace site. We want to continue the Oral History Group with recurring research endeavors over the coming years, as an important pillar of the Reșița Virtual Museum. The RVM will thus continue its role as a repository of the city's history, accessible to anyone.

The members of the Oral History Group are:

Cristian Lupșa, journalist, editor, and storyteller. Between 2009 and 2022, he led DoR, a digital and print publication that was a benchmark in Romanian independent journalism. He annually hosts The Power of Storytelling, an international conference held in Bucharest. Today, he writes the Draft Four newsletter, works with young journalists, supports local and regional newsrooms, and continues to believe that true stories, well told, can bring people closer, heal, inspire, and change the world.

Nicoleta Rădăcină, field reporter, passionate about how well-documented information can build bridges between people and mindsets. She first came to Reșița in 2022, wanting to understand the feasibility of the local administration's bet on Reșița as a magnet for European funds and a model for other post-industrial cities. The result can be read in the report “Reșița SRL,” published in DoR. She is currently collecting and editing true love stories on UNFINISHED Love Stories.

Anca Vancu, journalist. She has written for Adevărul, DoR, and currently coordinates editorial for Films in Frame. She has been close to the MKBT team for several years, working together on projects related to housing, the revitalization of abandoned spaces, and urban regeneration in Reșița. One of her favorite memories from there is from 2021, when, while documenting stories about the steel plant, she listened from her balcony in the city center to a jazz concert performed by Gregory Porter – a moment that perfectly captures the paradox and charm of this small, post-industrial city trying to find its new path.

Rucsandra Pop, writer and anthropologist. She is passionate about how dialogue and creativity can bring more trust between people, can transform cities, villages, or neighborhoods into communities, meaning into a better home. For the past 10 years, she has traveled the country extensively, talking to people in search of stories and practical solutions that can build a common good. Rucsandra creates – together with artists (professional or amateur) and researchers – cultural projects inspired by topics that are difficult or shameful for us to talk about.

Alexandra Lulache conducts research with applications in community development, and sometimes calls herself an anthropologist. She wants to find the human face of the processes of change or development of a place, and is particularly interested in current or former industrial cities. She came to Reșița through MKBT in 2023, where she began exploring the life of the funicular and the transformation of Mociur and other Reșița neighborhoods.

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In 2025, the efforts of the Oral History Group are part of the project “Gathering around the last blast furnace,” a cultural project coordinated by MKBT and co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration and the Reșița Municipality.