At the intersection of cultural memory and artistic experimentation, between applied arts and the written word, Ana Gurduza's playful solo exhibition brings together representative aesthetic and conceptual elements from her practice and offers us an insight into the fascinating world of Romanian proverbs. Imagological objects, proverbs from a wide variety of linguistic spaces expressively resort to the same type of simple and concrete language to convey universally valid experiences or moral guidance. The present selection represents only a part of the illustrations that Ana Gurduza has created based on Romanian proverbs, a broader concern of hers that led to the launch, in 2024, together with Alexandra Mihailciuc, of the editorial project "Cuvinte înaripate. Proverbe românești ilustrate" (Winged Words. Illustrated Romanian Proverbs). Choosing some of the most edifying Romanian proverbs as the subject of her work, Ana Gurduza explores Romania's intangible heritage in a symbolic act of researching both the past and the collective unconscious. "Urma alege" (It’s how you finish that counts) is not only about the final result or the end of a process of visual research, but above all about how we decide the true value of this process and how we understand our relationship to the past and cultural identity. The diffuse and subjective process of artistic resolution ultimately "chooses" or configures a dual reality in which memory dissolves into sign and symbol. – Ana Daniela Sultana

Ana Gurduza (b. 1992, Chișinău) is a visual artist and graduate of the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest. As further training, she practiced architectural restoration under the tutelage of architect Șerban Sturdza, ceramics under the guidance of Marius Stanciu, and photography with Francisc Ferko Mraz at the Fotopoetica School of Photography. In 2022, she founded Atelier Ars Ana in the historic center of Bucharest, a space dedicated primarily to ceramics, painting, and illustration. As a visual artist, her most recent exhibition project is her participation in BASE Istanbul, November 26–30, 2025.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator and publicist, a graduate of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She publishes articles in ARTA magazine, Orizonturi Culturale Italo-Române, and on agentiadecarte.ro. She collaborates with institutions such as CREART, ICR Istanbul, ICR Vienna, ICR Venice, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest, the Art Museum in Timișoara, Kunsthalle Feldbach, Aluniș Art Center, and numerous contemporary art galleries.