Going out: Exhibitions to see in Bucharest
We outline some of the exhibitions open or scheduled to, where themes range from the ecological crisis and the myth of the tortured artist to forgotten inventions and the daily life of seasonal workers in agriculture.
Touch Nature
Until June 29 at SAC @ Berthelot and SAC @ Malmaison
The project initiated by the Austrian Cultural Forum, presented in 11 countries in Europe and the US, aims to explore the role of art in addressing the ongoing and increasingly severe ecological crisis through works of contemporary Austrian artists and those of artists in the host country, every time in an original format, adapted to every cultural context.
The Bucharest exhibition, curated by Sabine Fellner and Alex Radu, turns into "an immersion in the spectral diversity of attitudes, experiences and psycho-emotional reactions related to the devastating effects of the ecocidal Anthropocene: from activism to climate anxiety, solastalgia, melancholy, shadowtime, depression, abandonment, and back to imaginings of innovative sustainable solutions."
The artists included in the show are Uli Aigner, Matei Bejenaru, Floriama Candea, Codruța Cernea, Adriana Chiruta, Ciprian Ciuclea, Larisa Crunțeanu, Anna Dumitriu & Alex May, Michael Endlicher, Thomas Feuerstein, Peter Hauenschild, Barbara Anna Husar, Nona Inescu, Kitty Kino, Aurora Kiraly, Alexandra Kontriner, Ana Maria Micu, Nicoleta Mureș, Klaus Pichler, Monika Pichler, PRINZpod, Oliver Ressler, Gregor Sailer, Elisabeth von Samsonow, Hans Schabus, Ramona Schnekenburger, Marielis Seyler, Paul Spendier, Oana Stanciu, Mircea Suciu, Dan Vezentan, Judith Wagner, Nives Widauer, and Laurent Ziegler.
More details here.
Is Werther still under the weather?
May 23 – June 1 at the Goethe-Institut
The exhibition aims to tackle the myth of the "tortured artist" and its echoes in contemporaneity while also bringing into the discussion the responsibility of the artists regarding the representation and interpretation of mental suffering through the work they create.
The works in the exhibition share the fact that, when creating them, the artists were asked to do so when being in a balanced mood, thus showcasing how inner peace can also be productive.
The exhibiting artists are Adi Piorescu, Adriana Georgescu, Alex Manea, Alexa Lincu, Andreea Oprișan, Bucharest Collage Collective, Ciocârlica, Daniel Loagăr, Ingrid Odette Maschek, Maria Bratu, Maria Bălan, Mădălina Lucșoreanu, Oana Dragomir, Orhan, Ortaku, Peter Stöcker, Raluca Neagoe, SPÄM, Silviu Petrescu, and Wanda.
More details here.
NowHereThere
May 31 – June 2 at Ion Mincu Architecture University
Forgotten inventions showcased as part of Romania's Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale are now on display in the Romanian Design Week program. With a discourse focused on the culture of inventions and technological and architectural innovations, the exhibition proposed a dialogue between inventions that could have changed the climate agenda 100 years ago and contemporary architectural practices informing how architecture will be practiced globally.
More on the exhibition here.
People You've Been Before - Lea Rasovszky
Until June 15 at Mobius Gallery
The exhibition covers works reflecting the artist's past ten years, including drawings, ceramic work, installations, and personal items. It illustrates "the complicated dynamics of human connections, taking place in a space of profound intimacy, where the access of the viewer becomes possible exclusively through their openness to vulnerability and empathy." Rasovszky explores the geography of this space and reformulates her discoveries in various media – objects, photographs, and artifacts with a high emotional load in an artistic endeavor that entails connecting with the remnants of times past.
More details here.
Oh, Be a Fine Girl/Guy, Kiss Me! - Mihai Plătică
Until June 29 at Gaep
The exhibition is inspired by the legacy of "Harvard Computers," a team of women, math whizzes, devoted stargazers, and later physics and astronomy majors, hired beginning in the 1880s by the Harvard Observatory to study its growing photographic glass plate collection. The exhibition features almost 40 new photographs and objects. The works can be divided into five groups based on the artist's chief concerns: spectroscopy, birefringence, full-spectrum photography, photoelasticity, and light-reflecting landscapes.
More details here.
World Press Photo
Until June 7 in Bucharest's University Square.
The 67th edition of the annual World Press Photo international exhibition, brought to Romania for 13 consecutive years by the Eidos Foundation, covers photographs highlighting stories about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, climate change, migration, family, and mental health. The exhibition is accompanied by a free audio tour, created in partnership with the Smartify app, allowing visitors to listen to the story of each winning photograph.
The World Press Photo competition recognizes quality photojournalism and awards images and stories from around the world. The four global winners were selected from 24 regional winners, chosen from the judging of 61,062 entries submitted by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries.
More details here.
Sezonierii - Cosmin Bumbuț and Elena Stancu
Until June 9 at the Romanian Peasant Museum
This documentary photo exhibition, the work of photographer Cosmin Bumbuț and journalist Elena Stancu, looks at the daily life of seasonal workers in agriculture who have left Romania for Spain, Germany, or the UK. For the past 11 years, the two have followed them in their journey for a decent living to document the phenomenon of seasonal migration and propose an updated perspective on it.
More here.
Becoming Silviu Gheție
Opening May 31 at Is This Art?
The exhibition, described as an invitation to look at the sincerity of the commonplace through photographer Silviu Gheție's eyes, follows his style and themes as they evolve. The themes are recurring - absurdity, human emotion, and the relationship to faith, whatever that may be. Archetypal characters and increasingly complex compositions, as well as Baia Mare and its inhabitants, are featured in this retrospective that starts before 1989 and ends today.
More here.
Depictions - Danielle van Zadelhoff
May 29 - September 29 at the National Museum of Art of Romania
The photography exhibition by Dutch artist Danielle van Zadelhoff is meant as a dialogue between contemporary art and the works of the old masters. Some of the photographs will be showcased in a dialogue with the works of the European masters in the museum's European Art Gallery in order to highlight "through themed grouping or compositional associations, her ability to create novel artistic images starting from the major European visual landmarks."
More details here.
(Photo: Pla2na | Dreamstime.com)
simona@romania-insider.com
