{"id":57751,"date":"2017-10-10T18:07:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=57751"},"modified":"2017-10-10T18:07:26","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:07:26","slug":"postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/","title":{"rendered":"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" Lea Rasovsky, “SOFT WAR (Bubble Gun of Sweet Surrender)”<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, I boarded a plane (and then a bus) to Hungary, and on to Timisoara. The third largest Romanian city, Timosoara is a melting pot of cultures, thanks to its close proximity to Hungary and Serbia. It’s also the European Capital of Culture 2021 (Bucharest missed the mark). The identity of this city is founded on its history, and it was the starting point of the revolution that would overthrow authoritarian communist leader Ceausescu’s regime.\u00a0 But I’m not here to talk politics; I’m here for the art.
\n<\/span>
\nArt Encounters is no ordinary biennial. Everything about its odd conception is charming. The event has been made possible by real-estate mogul, Ovidiu Sandor, who’s also one of only a handful of art collectors in all of Romania. (He’s also an absolute delight). Timisoara’s\u00a0eccentric mayor \u2014 who makes his own music<\/a> and proposed birth control as a solution to the city’s crow problem \u2014 personally contributed a palm leaf to David Maljkovic’s work, because he loves palm trees. It may not be conventional, but what great events are?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" Curator Ami Barak in front of Francis Alys’ “15+1” (2009)<\/p>\n

Art Encounters is a huge deal for Timisoara, and for Romania. Post-communism, they were left to build the art industry back up from nothing. In an effort by the communist regime to “to eliminate and erase all traces of the previous configuration”, art institutions and legacies were eradicated, artists were killed and art was censored. \u201cRomania had the harshest regime\u201d, curator Diana Marincu insists, asserting the brilliance of the 1.1.1. artists, who made it against all odds. Art Encounters decision to painstakingly reconstruct the 1968 show that catalysed their international acclaim seems appropriate, but it’s Hungarian Fluxus artist Endre Tot’s works that make more of an impact. On the floor below, these “gladness” works embody a distinct moment in Eastern European history and a public resistance to political oppression,which lends itself well to the historicising context of the Muzeul de Arta. In one image T\u00f3t’s picket sign reads, “I’M GLAD IF I CAN HOLD THIS IN MY HAND”. In another, a banner \u2014 “WE ARE GLAD IF WE CAN DEMONSTRATE.”\u00a0<\/span>
\nPost-communist caution continues to shape a contemporary Romania. \u201cRomanians are cautious about being nationalistic,\u201d founder Ovidiu Sandor tells me. That being said, these people are proud of their homegrown talent, and rightly so. The Art Encounters program is largely Romanian-centric, with over 60 Romanian artists are featured. There’s an affinity between Michel Blazy and Brancusi \u2014 with Blazy\u2019s white foam emerging from wheelie bins seen as a contemporary re-envisionment of the \u201cEndless Column\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>Even works that aren\u2019t explicitly linked to Romania find new meaning in this context. Next to Ahmes Ogut\u2019s swinging door riot shields one finds Zbigniew Libera’s concentration camps made from Lego, each a reminder of turbulent political unrest. Francis Al\u00ffs\u2019 installation \u201c15+1\u201d, conceived for display in Hotel Datji, an Albanian landmark of Fascism, becomes all the more pertinent in its Romanian, post-communist setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" Michel Blazy, “Fontaine de mousse” (2007) installation view<\/p>\n

Despite the obvious triumph of pulling together an event like this in Timisoara, there\u2019s still an overriding sense of longing for Western Europe’s validation. Talks from the Tate’s Gregor Muir and about Romanian integration into the Venice Biennale speak to a sense of “official” acceptance in the art world. This truth is unfortunate, but paradoxically affirms the whole reason of Art Encounters’ existence: getting Romania on an art map that has heretofore excluded the former Eastern Bloc.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year’s event is a firm step in the right direction, and, as they say, you live and you learn. Where Art Encounters faced organisational problems (there were apparent hiccups with venues and lighting prior to the event), they’ll certainly be pre-empted for 2019. And who’s to say how Art Encounters will develop by 2021, when it coincides with Timisoara’s Cultural Capital status? I for one hope Art Encounters succeeds in its hope of putting Romania on the art world’s radar.
\nArt Encounters runs until 5 November. Find out more\u00a0hier.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\" Dan Beudean & George Cringasu, untitled<\/p>\n

","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pre-communism, post-independence, Romania gave us the patriarch of modernist sculpture. Those glory days might be over, but there’s more to Romanian art than Brancusi.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[9284,7928,1375,3191,9366,9367,9368,9369,9289,9290],"class_list":["post-57751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-art-encounters","tag-communism","tag-contemporary-art","tag-francis-alys","tag-lea-rasovsky","tag-michel-blazy","tag-olivia-mihaltianu","tag-post-communist-art","tag-romania","tag-timisoara"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\nPostcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pre-communism, post-independence, Romania gave us the patriarch of modernist sculpture. Those glory days might be over, but there's more to Romanian art than Brancusi.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sleek Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sleekmag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-10T16:07:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleek\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3\u00a0Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sleek Magazine\",\"description\":\"Sleek is Germany\u2019s leading independent media house\/brand for creativity and innovation located in Berlin the creative capital of the world. This creativity manifests itself in SLEEK\u2019s quarterly print publication, digital and social media channels.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"de\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/\",\"name\":\"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-10T16:07:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-10T16:07:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd4c1b41c96eff389e4781115613a68\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd4c1b41c96eff389e4781115613a68\",\"name\":\"sleek\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28a91a7b03694a9860c1590004521e06b91644c079476028047b1a7f5e3eb6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28a91a7b03694a9860c1590004521e06b91644c079476028047b1a7f5e3eb6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sleek\"},\"description\":\"She\u2019s currently writing her thesis on immersive installation and has a soft spot for techno, existential art memes and nineties sunglasses.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/author\/sleek\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial","og_description":"Pre-communism, post-independence, Romania gave us the patriarch of modernist sculpture. Those glory days might be over, but there's more to Romanian art than Brancusi.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/","og_site_name":"Sleek Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sleekmag\/","article_published_time":"2017-10-10T16:07:26+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sleekmag","twitter_site":"@sleekmag","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"sleek","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"3\u00a0Minuten"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/","name":"Schlankes Magazin","description":"Sleek ist Deutschlands f\u00fchrendes unabh\u00e4ngiges Medienhaus\/Marke f\u00fcr Kreativit\u00e4t und Innovation mit Sitz in Berlin, der kreativen Hauptstadt der Welt. Diese Kreativit\u00e4t manifestiert sich in der viertelj\u00e4hrlich erscheinenden Print-Publikation, den digitalen und Social-Media-Kan\u00e4len von SLEEK.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/","name":"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2017-10-10T16:07:26+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-10T16:07:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd4c1b41c96eff389e4781115613a68"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/article\/postcard-timisoara-romania-biennial\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Postcard from Timisoara: An Inside Look At Romania's Charmingly Unconventional Biennial"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd4c1b41c96eff389e4781115613a68","name":"schlank","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de","@id":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28a91a7b03694a9860c1590004521e06b91644c079476028047b1a7f5e3eb6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28a91a7b03694a9860c1590004521e06b91644c079476028047b1a7f5e3eb6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"sleek"},"description":"Zurzeit schreibt sie ihre Doktorarbeit \u00fcber immersive Installationen und hat ein Faible f\u00fcr Techno, existentielle Kunstmemes und Sonnenbrillen aus den Neunzigern.","url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/author\/sleek\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}