From Madrid to Bucureşti through Culture

First of all, we arranged an appointment with Iosif Kiraly, one of the founders of the Photography and Time Based Media Arts Department in the National University of Arts in Bucharest. Besides teaching, he is also an artist and a member of the collaborative project subREAL.

After reading about his work on-line, we were willing to meet him, visit his studio and enjoy his photography creation at first hand. It was fascinating to chat with him and see how different visual artists approach the relation between perception, time and memory. Moreover, his research concerning the changes that shake the actual life and visual environment of the post-communist Romania was much more exciting than we imagined.

During the long conversation, we were able to exchange points of view not only about the topics we had been previously working in, but also about his own artistic creation. Such production is a great reflection of the main influences and current topics in contemporary photography in Romania.

Our next meeting place was the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNCA), located in a new glass wing of the monumental Palace of Parliament, Europe’s largest building. There we interviewed Cosmin Tapu, responsible for the Communication and Fundraising Department.

Although its controversial new location, MNCA is thought as an opportunity for advancement of Romanian contemporary art on the international scene. In the current European context, it may be expected to become one of the most important institutions of this type in Eastern Europe, due to the increasing interest in contemporary art within young generations.

Even though the museum has been recently refurbished, its wide open halls are so huge that most of the exhibition space is unutilised. It astonished me that the extensive local contemporary art collection owned by the MNCA is not exhibited there.

In addition to it, I realised that the MNCA budget is heavily dependent on government funds. Such economic dependence not only influences the cultural programme in the mid/long-term, but also the acquisition policy and the main management decisions.

Thirdly, we met Anca Benera, one of the most active young visual artists in the country. She co-runs the Centre for Visual Instropection, an independent institution for research, artistic and theoretical production.

It was very interesting and useful to know about the day-to-day running of the foundation, as well as the activities programme designed.

Besides her co-manager role, she is also an individual artist. I do enjoyed her work, particularly her projects named as ‘Collecting collectors’, ‘Art sickness bag’ and ‘Network’, a contemporary art in the public space in Bucharest. They all are unique, original and innovative.

Apart from all those arranged interviews, we visited both the Muzeul National Al Satalui and the Muzeul Taranului Român, as contemporary Romanian culture is said to be deeply rooted in ethnicity and tradition.

Finally, I enjoyed the interesting exhibition of local visual artist Dan Perjovschi in Galleria Posibila. His works mix art, society and politics through critical drawing, cartoon and graffiti.

To sum up, all I can say is that the trip to Bucharest exceeded my expectations in all senses. Thank you very much to ECF for giving me the opportunity of being an award holder. It has been an unforgettable experience. I do recommend to everybody involved in cultural and artistic professional area to apply for it.