”To become” and „to unlearn” are two verbs trying to substitute, in the posthumanism era, tense facets of gender identity, within a title inspired from “the benchmark of modern feminism”, “The Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir, published in 1949, by Gallimard. This starting point gives us the perfect occasion for an exquisite excursion into the creative universe of Liliana Basarab. The period of the exhibition isn’t, of course, random: it’s “the women’s month”, when little pieces of ceramics, coloured and modelled in various forms and shapes are offered as traditional gifts between the 1st and the 8th of March, invoking and activating archetypes and symbols. In her recent series of works, Liliana Basarab explores the art of becoming and unlearning through feminine perspectives and approaches, from chimeras and other mythological creatures, representative for her artistic practice, to self-portrait, in which the hair (from the work chosen for the exhibition poster) develops even more on the interpretation spectrum, including also the woman in the Islamic world. With great subtility and stylistic ability, Liliana Basarab expands in this sense connotations and mental images about the (self)portrait of the woman artist, but also about releasing/unlearning, reminding us, at the same time about the becoming of a branch of applied arts – ceramics – whose emancipation towards major arts overlaps with the evolution of modern feminism. (Ana Daniela Sultana)

Liliana Basarab (b. 1979) is a visual artist working in Bucharest, that started her career in Iași, in the early 2000s. Her art practice is socially engaged and often functions as a reflection on representation. She is interested in gender issues and works within various mediums like ceramics, sculpture, textiles, drawings, performance, workshops, video. She is part of the collective who organize the Sofia Nădejde - prize for literature written by women. Her works were shown in solo and group exhibitions like - My heart sits on my tongue (solo) at Sandwich Bucharest, RO, Ex-east – The past and present stories of the Romanian avant- garde, Oscar Niemeyer building, Paris, FR, Garage sale, Sandwich, RO and Beijing Konditorei, C5CNM Beijing, CN in 2019; Life a User's Manual, ArtEncounters Biennial, Timișoara, RO in 2017; Talent is not democratic, art is not luxury, Borderline Art Space (solo), Iași, RO in 2016; In times of hope and unrest. Critical art from Iași, Museum of Contemporary Art Bucharest, RO in 2015.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator and columnist, who graduated from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Her articles appear in ARTA magazine, Romanian-Italian Cultural Horizons and on agentiadecarte.ro. She collaborates with institutions such as creart – the Center for Creation, Art and Tradition of Bucharest, the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest, the Museum of Bucharest, the Literature Museum in Bucharest, the Art Museum of Timișoara, Kunsthalle Feldbach, Aluniș Art Center and with various contemporary art galleries.