The Steampunk World Tour turns southwest from the Rodina to that crossroads of cultures, Romania. Steeped in misty mountains, eerie folklore and marked by the almost innumerable boots of invaders from the dawn or history, Romania is rich in the romance and lore that makes for great Steampunk adventure. With these preconceptions, we expected to find many more traces of Steampunk culture than we did.
Steampunk in Romania appears to be something of a developing culture. We found much more evidence of Gothic (duh!) and, interestingly, techno-electronic culture. But that doesn’t mean that they are bereft of steam influence. Quite the contrary. One of the major highlights in Romania is the Joben Bistro in the city of Cluj-Napoca. It is reputed to be based on a Jules Verne Nautilus submarine theme. As you look at the photos, we’re sure that you’ll agree, it’s the kind of place we want to spend some time in.
Romanian Steampunk is also infiltrating other arts beyond interior design. We’ve found some truly awesome art by Paula Duta; a gorgeous typeface from Romania; and be sure to read the interview with Steampunk author Diana Parparita. Lastly, we think you’ll enjoy looking in on the blog Egophobia and the Steampunk video channel of Puppetmissing. Both offer some wonderful insights into the growing Romanian Steampunk scene. We look forward to great things from there.
 The heart of any pub, the bar at Joban Bistro (or John’s Bar) in Cluj-Napoca – image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk |
 Stunning wall art gives contrast to the Nautilus theme. – image courtesy of lushome.com |
 This beautiful airship fixture adorns the ceiling/ – image courtesy of thechive.com |
 And, it appears to be able to change colors. How cool is that? – image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk |
 The decorating is completely Surround-Steam. Check out these torpedo like structures. Very slick. – image courtesy of thechive.com |
 A view of what’s been described as a “small room” in the pub. We love the choice of color. Brass and purple. Awesome! – image courtesy of thechive.com |
 Here’s the cover of an anthology of Romanian Steampunk stories. Be sure to check out the interview with one of the contributing authors Diana Parparita – image courtesy of worldsf.wordpress.com |
 This hand made Steampunk television. We understand it was offered for sale on an auction site. Too bad we didn’t see it then! – image courtesy of boingboing.net |
 This is one example of the incredible Romanian Steampunk art scene. Paula Duta created this superb work. – image courtesy of awesomeinventions.com |
 Another stunning example of Romanian graphic art is found in this type face. It combines elements of Gothica and Steampunk for a truly unique appearance. – image courtesy of designyourway.net |
 Two stunning examples of Romanian Steampunk costuming. You can truly see the influence of multiple cultures in these amazing vestments. – image courtesy of steamfashion.livejournal.com |
 Here is another example of finely detailed Steampunk outfitting. More conventional but still, quite stunning in its complexity. – image courtesy of egophobia.ro |
The Steampunk World of MA Scott 