RHYMES & REASONS
The 8th Bridge
Marian was a talented romanian handball player, born in Bucharest, Romania on 8th of September 1982. During his career he played for HC Dinamo Bucharest, KC Veszprem and the Romanian national handball team. He was nicknamed ''Pasarila'' (bird catcher) due to to his impressive height of 2.11 m. He died in Veszprem, Hungary on 8th of February 2009, after being attacked and stabbed in a nightclub, where the members of KC Veszprem were celebrating the birth of the son of a player and the birthday of another. He was very loved in Veszprem, and on the day of his death thousands of people gathered in front of the town's sports arena for a torchlit vigil that was mirrored in several other towns and cities in across Hungary and Romania. In an unfortunate way, Marian accomplished something considered impossible by many diplomatic experts. A solidarity bridge, against violence and discrimination, established between two nations sharing a troubled past. We named it The 8th Bridge.
As an artist I've been saying for a long time we only have one world.
Maxi Jazz
On April 10, 2009 a group of hungarian journalists and musicians, gathered by Lukacs Csaba and Balasz Horvath, organised a special concert, inviting romanian & hungarian artists to share the stage together as a sign of solidarity against violence and discrimination. The event was hosted by a special venue named A38, a former stone-carrier ship, reconstructed and transformed as a cultural venue, harboured on the Danube river. Before the start of the concert, a funeral wreath was released in the Danube River. On February 6, 2010 a statue representing Marian Cozma was unveiled at the Veszprem Arena, from money donated by the Hungarian public.
Following this event, another concert was organised on 8th of February 2010, exactly one year since Marian's tragic death.
This time the event took place in Bucharest, hosted by one of Urma's favourite romanian venues, The Silver Church.
Once again romanian & hungarian artists were invited to share the stage, using music as a cultural bridge between the two nations.
A special metal artwork, signed by romanian artist Alexandru Mirea and inspired by the 8th Bridge logo imagined by Mani Gutau, was unveiled in front of the audience during that evening.
Commissioned by Mani Gutau, the artwork had the same height as Marian, 2.11 m, included guitar strings used by Mani in some of Urma's live performances and it was donated to the founders of the Love 8 anti-violence campaign, for public display.
Since that evening, despite several enquires made by the band, the location of the artwork is unknown.
On 8th of February 2012 Urma released a new single ''Cine Iubeste Si Lasa '' and its official video, with a special event organised in Bucharest, at The Silver Church.
Featured on the forthcoming album ''Lost End Found'', the song was performed for the first time by the band in Budapest, on April 2009, at the In Memoriam Marian Cozma event and it was recorded one year after in Bucharest, using 8 musicians to complete the track.
Considering that our music is signed by a multi-ethnic crew, including both romanian & hungarian musicians, the purpose of our 8th Bridge project is to create annual cultural events addressed to romanian & hungarian artists, building together a cultural bridge between Budapest & Bucharest.
URMA