Exhibition Category: Past Exhibitions

”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.

“Floral representations are a commonplace in popular tradition from an ethnographical or folkloric point of view, whether its Europe, the Balkans or Romania. And still, there are phytomorphic elements belonging to Romanian culture and specific details that make the difference not just between Romania and other neighboring countries, but also between inland regions, between villages, or between families. Moreover, it is a well-known fact that each IE (Romanian Blouse) is unique and says something very precise about its owner, the one that made it (if she is married, has children, if yes – how many, etc.) From a macro level to a micro level and back, Arina Bican gives us an excursion into the fascinating symbolism of ornaments. Since her penchant for fashion details is already a recognizable feature in her paintings, the focus in this solo show consists of the way she illustrates the hairstyle of her characters. For Arina Bican the queue serves as an indicator of femininity and speaks for manifestations of the respect for ancient traditions. Besides, they are a way to honor the cultural and historical legacy that the artist revisits. The braids depicted by Arina Bican, not only in her paintings, but also in her ceramics recall myths and interior images, while they also bring forth a journey into the subconscious collective Jung was describing; a journey through the virtual, the poetics of femininity, and the poetics of floral representations.” (Ana Daniela Sultana)

Arina Bican graduated from “Nicolae Tonitza” High school of Fine Arts (2010) and from the National University of Arts in Bucharest with a BA in mural art (2013), and a master’s degree in visual arts (2015). Member of the Fine Artists’ Union (U.A.P.), Department of Painting, Arina Bican develops an intense exhibitional activity, with various solo and group shows, in Bucharest, across the country and abroad, as well as a pedagogical activity. In 2022 she opened her studio dedicated to painting lessons called Yellow House. Currently, she is exclusively represented by Kulterra Gallery.

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.

Vatra Verde

Art Mirror Association

Vatra Verde project represented Romania at the London Design Biennale in 2023 and is with this occasion for the first time on view in Bucharest. A living installation, the work is made of innovative materials, plants, and recycled paper, transforming the plants’ vibrations into sound. The experience is then extended and mediated through a program consisting of workshops and artistic moments build on visual, musical, and educative concepts.

Created by the Art Mirror Association members, Vatra Verde has been so far explored by over 300.000 visitors within a traveling exhibition which started in London and then continued in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, and Târgu-Mureș.

The elements the installation is made of are renewable energy, mycelium, artistic objects made from recycled materials, interactivity, tradition, poetry, as well as a technical solution through which the plants’ vibrations are turned into sound. From an aesthetical point of view the installation pays homage to Brâncuși, by reinterpreting his seminal work titled “Table of Silence”, whereas from the point of view of the message it transmits, it implies strategies of sustainability and protection of the environment.

Art Mirror Association is a cultural NGO based in Cluj experimenting and testing techniques and durable solutions in order to educate communities in the field of recycling, reusing of materials, and ecology. Active since 2015, it organizes workshops, exhibitions, and community activities.

Voices Of the Wind

CRENGUȚA MITROFAN

“Oscillating between Romania and Austria for more than three decades, Crenguța Mitrofan managed to integrate into her personality these two personal geographies, each with its particularities, in a balanced way. However, recently, she came to realize that only home can one really listen to the ‘voices of the wind’. Then, she came across this idea elaborated on the radio, within a broadcast on Novalis, one of the most representative thinkers of German Romantism and understood how universal this subtle and complex poetic image is, which, although it implies a certain dynamics and mechanics of the movement, it actually consists of an expression of the time staying still, an invitation to stay in the present moment. Through the modality in which the works by Crenguța Mitrofan are displayed, the exhibition points out to the way the sound of the wind can be perceived. This, like other apparently ordinary sounds such as the squawk of the seagulls or crows, that of the waves crashing against the shore, or the swish of the leaves, often brings a melancholic, nostalgic, bitter-sweet feeling, prolific expressed in poetry, philosophy and many other artistic fields.” (Ana Daniela Sultana)

Crenguța Mitrofan is a visual artist born in Piatra Neamț, Romania. For more than 30 years she has been living in Austria, where she studied painting with prominent artists such as Ludwig Attersee and Edgar Tezak. She is active as an art educator, and at the same time she is exhibiting both in Romania and Austria.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator and columnist, a graduate 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 cultural institutes, museums, art centers, and with various contemporary art galleries.

“Always observant at what is going on in the media, locally as well as internationally, Ana Andronic (BUZU) often approaches in her work big topics of the day. In this new solo show titled ‘Barbillion’, BUZU questions the recent phenomenon by the same name, caused by the news that ‘Barbie’ by Greta Gerwig made over $1 billion, breaking a historical record for female directors. However, BUZU’s intention in this installation isn’t to feed the media hype, but to draw attention to the less positive consequences of the doll’s influence in girls’ lives and in society in general, like the carbon footprint the toy generates, or the unrealistic beauty standards it promotes. As for the artistic practice, the installation indicates – in terms of means of artistic expression – a new sculptural experiment presenting a direction pretty much different from the vibrant graphics accompanied by text she accustomed us with in her previous exhibitions and projects.”  (Ana Daniela Sultana)

Ana Ștefania Andronic (BUZU) is an artist who graduated in 2004 from Graphic Design Department of The National University of Arts in Bucharest, having Mircia Dumitrescu as coordintor professor. Member of The Romanian Artists’ Union from 2014, Ana Ștefania Andronic is also the founder of Galeria Fără Nume and the gallery director of Senso Gallery. Her artistic practice is complex, ranging from animation, illustration, and digital art, to painting, graphic design, and graphic installation. She exhibited in numerous solo and group shows and participated in various biennials, art fairs, and art saloons, in Romania and abroad.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator, columnist, and art advisor at creart – the Center for Creation, Art and Tradition of Bucharest. She holds BAs in philology and communication, and a MA in curating 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 the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, 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.

Artists: Anca Boeriu, Alexandru Cînean, Cosmin Paulescu 

A visual installation derived from the audio performance/app THE WALKS by the renowned theatre collective Rimini Protokoll from Berlin, in co-production with creart/TEATRELLI and in partnership with Goethe-Institut Bucharest.

Curators: Roxana Lăpădat, Andreea Sandu

Photo artists – THE WALKS installation

Timișoara: Andreea Băban, Ioana Cionte, Felix Cionte, Peter Horațiu, Timotei Hotea,  Loredana Ilie Georgiana Șleam, Alexandra Ștefan, Alexandru Știube, Cristian Răzvan Uță

Sibiu: Andreea Bena, Raluca Elena Coșăreanu, Alexandra Dogaru, Cristina Fău,      Horia Fedorca, Maya Goia, Ilie Mitrea, Sergiu Pavălă, Andrei Popa, Paula Prade

Cluj-Napoca: Lucia Codreanu, Gabriela Jilav, Virgil Puiac, Elena Waldorf

Bucharest: Official photos of the Romanian version of the performance / app FTHE WALKS by Rimini Protokoll. Photo: Bogdan Botofei

The curatorial project starts from the theme of the Arts and Science Annual –  reconnection – and was specially designed as a bridge between different types of artistic manifestations, between artists and between the diverse public of the cities in which it will was itinerated: Timișoara, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest.

Young artists from Timișoara, Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca wee invited to undergo the 10 ”Walks” of the experimental audio performance / app by Rimini Protokoll (in co-production with creart/Teatrelli and in partnership with Goethe-Institut Bucharest) and  to discover their city from a performative perspective, their experiences (materialized in photos that the application invites you to take) being encapsulated in an installation created by Cosmin Paulescu (Cozo), in the form of maps.

Part of the installation are also the works designed by the artist Alexandru Cînean from Sibiu, that were presented during the exhibition EYE SB-YOU (FITS 2021) and are now recontextualized for the project “Reconnecting the City”. The painted eyes, in the skylights of Sibiu’s houses, through which the city became a spectator of its own histories, will add new stories and images, from a different perspective: in 2021 they have documented the life of the city as an objective “spectator”, now they become subjective “spectators” who collect memories through an indirect performative experience – ”The Walks”. 

The perspective is completed by the ”people” of Anca Boeriu, her works offering a voice of the city through their ”presence”, but also through an audio installation: You look around, you see, listen, feel. It’s your love affair with the city. Then you wonder if people inhabit the city or allow themselves to be inhabited by it.

The exhibition project is part of the Art and Science Annual – Neo Art CONNECT (NAC), the first national platform, network and annual of art and science, initiated by Galateca Gallery and the Cultural Association Neo Art Romania and developed in partnership with BRD Groupe Société Générale, having as strategic partner Fundația 9. The platform kicked off its artistic events on 18th of May, with an exhibition entitled RECONNECTION, which has presented the five winning projects of the grants offered by BRD Groupe Société Générale during  pilot edition of Neo Art CONNECT pilot edition, held in autumn 2022. Events within the platform are planned until the end of July 2023.

”The scenographic installation Two in one. A story… in the white cube space of the CREART Gallery is a unique plastic experiment for its author, Octavian Neculai. The work takes as its starting point Mircea Eliade’s The Forbidden Forest, both through the motto under whose inspiration it took shape, namely the passage that evokes the power of King Midas to turn everything he touches into gold, and through the character’s hypostasis who is faced with a choice. If the existence of parallel multiverses – according to quantum physics – holds true, then basically every decision we make generates a new universe; but what happens when we choose between two choices? Two in one is the possible story not only of two brides, but, given Octavian Neculai’s biography, it can also be a story about how a creator simultaneously follows two different artistic directions: architecture and scenography. Thus situated at the interface between artistic practices and keys to reading, the visual construction offers us the opportunity for an incursion into the artist’s imagination, but also an impetus through which everyone can take the alchemical path of self-transformation.” (Ana Daniela Sultana)

”My story is about coming together through love or because of love. It began one day when I saw a wedding dress sitting on a mannequin in an open window facing the street, giving me the impression that she was talking to someone. And so I thought to myself: why wouldn’t she talk to me and together we tell a story about this theoretically once-in-a-lifetime event. What if, looking in the mirror, we could see the other side only we know? It’s about a revelation on the day we celebrate love.
It is the day when, by touching that miraculous substance, we can turn anything to gold, including dreams.
My brides – who are actually two in one – prepare for their wedding, in front of the mirror, hiding their faces and bodies behind veils to keep their love away from people’s eyes. They only partially succeed.
All around them, meanwhile, are the gifts they are about to receive from the guests already hovering above them.” (Octavian Neculai)

Octavian Neculai is a set designer and architect, associate professor at UAIM, practicing architect at ICPIL and president of Comproiect, graduate of “Ion Mincu” Institute of Architecture in Bucharest (1966). A complex personality, he has carried out numerous projects for the performing arts, remodelling and refurbishment of theatres, commercial and performance spaces, interior design, complex hotel construction, construction projects in Romania and abroad, pavilions for fairs and exhibitions. He has also signed the scenography of numerous theatre and opera performances, working alongside established names in the field, such as Liviu Ciulei, Dan Jitianu, Andrei Șerban, Alexandru Darie, Mihai Mănuțiu and Alexandru Dabija.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator and art columnist. She holds degrees in philology and communication, a MA in curating from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and is currently writing a PhD thesis titled “Poetics of the curatorial text”. Her articles appear in ARTA magazine, Romanian-Italian Cultural Horizons and on agentiadecarte.ro. She collaborates with institutions such as the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest, creart – the Center for Creation, Art and Tradition of Bucharest, the Literature Museum in Bucharest, the Art Museum of Timișoara, Kunsthalle Feldbach, Aluniș Art Center and with various contemporary art galleries.

Part of Design GO! | Romanian Design Week

Creart Gallery
May 14 – June 14 2023 (12 AM – 9 PM)
Free entry

Opening: 14 May 2023, 6:30 PM

The opening is preceded by a workshop designed to offer a direct insight into the artistic practice and eco-philosophy of Maia Ștefana Oprea.

Workshop: May 14 2023, 5 PM – free entry

The solo show RECONCILIATION of Maia Ștefana Oprea is concepted “a potential dialogue on the respect for history and ecological necessities of our present and future world, in which plastic meets organic matter and makes a continuous creation process unfolding, through which forms are hybridized, organically invading other materia and spaces, like a pseudo-vegetation.” (Maia Ștefana Oprea)

“RECONCILIATION is, at the same time, about the relationship between the materials used by Maia Ștefana Oprea in her works; on the one hand we have plastic and other synthetic materials, on the other hand we have plants and parts of them coming from her garden: ivy, willow, vine, walnut, roses, straw, wood, wood flour, ash.

Titled after the painting MORPHOGENETIC INDUSTRY by Maia Ștefana Oprea, the related event at AnnArt Gallery consists of a live drawing session inspired by the plants in the artist’s garden. Along this lines, Maia Ștefana Oprea presents her life project: The Garden of Ideas and the outcome of Tout- va- bien artist residencies, which she coordinates at Nucșoara, in Argeș county.” (Ana Daniela Sultana)

Maia Ștefana Oprea is a graduate of the National University of Arts in Bucharest with scholarships in France and the USA. Since 2016, she has been represented by AnnArt Gallery in Bucharest and since 2019 she has moved with her family in the village of Inotești, Prahova County. Her work has been exhibited at the International Painting Biennale in Chișinău, Vienna Contemporary, the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Venice, the Ruse National Art Gallery, the “Palatele Brâncovenești” Cultural Center of Mogoşoaia, the Cantacuzino Castle in Bușteni, the Ploiești Art Museum, the Constanța Art Museum, the National Literature Museum in Bucharest, the Cotroceni National Museum, as well as in numerous local and international art galleries.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator and art columnist. She holds degrees in philology and communication, a MA in curating from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and is currently writing a PhD thesis titled “Poetics of the curatorial text”. Her articles appear in ARTA magazine, Romanian-Italian Cultural Horizons and on agentiadecarte.ro. She collaborates with institutions such as the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest, creart – the Center for Creation, Art and Tradition of Bucharest, the Literature Museum in Bucharest, the Art Museum of Timișoara, Kunsthalle Feldbach, Aluniș Art Center and with various contemporary art galleries.

a GRIVIȚA53 project @ Galeria CREART

„The Eggs of the Grivița53 already have a prestigious touring career (they have been exhibited at MNAC, at the mall etc.), finding their place in our collective memory alongside the expression “the first theatre built together”. The context in which we are bringing them back to the public’s attention, in the spring of 2023, is not only the celebration of World Theatre Day (this is just a pretext), but especially, the importance and necessity of community solidarity now, more than ever, with the start of the construction site, since the construction per se of the theatre in Grivița 53 began on the 1st of March this year. At the same time, the exhibition “Egg with egg and brick with brick” is a prelude to a new fundraising campaign similar to the Egg Festival, in which, this time, the support on which the artists, respectively the creators, will draw or paint will be the brick itself. Based on the principle that the whole is reflected in the part and the part in the whole, the present exhibition selection is a small fragment of the forces that have been involved in the materialization of this project called “the imaginary island on which we dream of building experiences”, to quote Chris Simion-Mercurian, the visionary and initiator of the Grivița53 concept. (Ana Daniela Sultana)

“That’s what I admire about the Grivița53 project. The passion. The energy. And determination. To follow a dream. No matter how hard it is. It’s worth following their example. It’s worth helping them. Help them. Those who dare to dream. Egg by egg and brick by brick, their dream will come true. And it will make us all happy in the end.” (Cristian Mungiu)

The exhibition brings together reproductions of the 19 oversized eggs, as well as a life-size Grivița53 egg (signed by Dalina Bădescu and Cristian Mungiu) from the Egg Festival, initiated by writer and director Chris Simion-Mercurian in 2019, when leading personalities from art, sport, music, theatre and other creative industries took up the challenge of giving a unique visual identity to each egg (2m high, made of reinforced polyester and fibreglass) and turning them into works of art.

The creators who have embraced the initiative in 2019 are: Arantxa Etcvheverria, Alexandra Nechita, Francisc Chiuariu, Gheorghe Fikl, Mihai Popescu and Florin Samoilă, Oana Pellea and Mirela Trăistaru, Alex Găvan and Adina Mastalier, Valeria Van Groningen and Chris Simion-Mercurian, Horațiu Mălăele and Cristi Farcaș, Maia Morgenstern and Cabiria Morgenstern, Alexandru Tomescu and Ana Munteanu, Ivan Patzaichin and Marius Burhan, Cristian Mungiu and Dalina Bădescu, Dan Perjovschi & Band of Illustrators: Sorina Vazelina, Tuan Nini, Laurie Mouret, Irina Iliescu, Alexandru Ciubotariu (Pisica Pătrată) and Ramona Chirică, Mirela Trăistaru, Iuliana Vîlsan, Marius Manole, Vasile Murivale, Mihai Dobrovolschi and Vlad Fodor.

“Woven mostly with pink thread, the female characters in this series, and the symbols with which they are accompanied, tell their stories from a feminist perspective (herstory). Adam and Eve, Mary the Egyptian, a life-size self-portrait of Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, which looks much like a pall or shroud, etc. are works that question Christian imagery and the status of women. More often than not, the heroines simultaneously encompass several identities, sometimes paradoxical (saint-prostitute for example, as in the case of Mary the Egyptian or Mary Magdalene), giving a measure of the complexity of female nature. Of course, we also find in this selection completely secular versions of women; however, the archetypes invoked by Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu are generally timeless and capable of offering us an open version of the narrative that the viewer can perceive and interpret according to his or her own life experience. The thread, not at all coincidentally pink, the choice of the textile medium as a medium of artistic expression (whose evolution from decorativism to the high forums of contemporary art is closely linked to the evolution of feminism), as well as the autonomous way in which her characters convey epic structures, characterize Raluca Demetrescu in her feminist approach as an artist. Similarly, in her curatorial practice, Raluca Demetrescu generates a space of inclusion and aesthetic diversity, orchestrating large-scale exhibition projects in which the voices of minorities – sexual or ethnic – can be heard.” (Ana Daniela Sultana)

Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu is a visual artist with doctoral studies in visual arts at the Sorbonne University in Paris, curator, co-founder and coordinator of the longest-running artist-run gallery in Bucharest, Alert studio (PINK CODE). Initiator of extensive collective exhibition projects, both in spaces traditionally dedicated to art and in alternative spaces, Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu produces an urban social, feminist and assertive curatorial discourse. In her artistic practice she approaches a wide range of media of expression, from painting and graphics to ceramics and textile installations, in which woven text or embroidered drawings convey a strong artistic message. Her works can be found in art collections in Romania and abroad.

Ana Daniela Sultana is a curator and publicist. She holds a degree in philology and communication sciences, a master’s degree in curatorial studies from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and she is currently working on a PhD thesis entitled “Poetics of the curatorial text”. She publishes articles in ARTA magazine, Orizonturi Culturale Italo-Române and on agentiadecarte.ro. She collaborates with institutions such as the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, ICR Vienna, the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest, creart – Bucharest Municipality Center for Creation, Art and Tradition, MNLR Bucharest, Timișoara Art Museum, Kunsthalle Feldbach, Aluniș Art Center and numerous contemporary art galleries.