Visual Arts

Photographic installation Get to Know the World - Exhibition inspired by Constantin Brancusi dedicated to the beauty of people with disabilities Between November 1 and November 13, 2024, the exhibition Knowing the World will be open to the public in the Media Foyer of the Bucharest National Theatre. Photo artist Alina Rotaru, scenographer Cristina Milea, video makers George Rotaru and Cristi Oprea, brought together by curator Denisa Nicolae, propose an exhibition with multiple ways of artistic communication, inspired in equal measure by the work of Constantin Brancusi, by the underground connections woven by micelles and by the beauty of people with disabilities. The project gathers these threads of inspiration and creativity into a unique bundle, intended to reveal beauty in imperfection, to stir empathy and provoke curiosity and introspection. The "Knowing the World" project, initiated by Vanner Collective, was inspired in part by the work of the great sculptor Constantin Brancusi, but its main aim is to explore the creative potential of people with disabilities and integrate them into a broader narrative of contemporary art, thus providing them with a platform for expression and self-discovery, both through photography and through intersections with other artistic languages, from sculpture to theater. The 'Knowing the World' project invites reflection on the role of art in addressing pressing social and cultural issues such as accepting diversity and combating stigmatization, becoming a manifesto for a more inclusive and empathetic society, while recognizing how the deepest cultural roots can be a wonderful basis for a discourse that is adapted to contemporary goals and priorities. "The project proposes that visual art strengthens the link between tradition and access to culture. We intend to initiate a process of destigmatization, of changing the prejudice between 'normal' people and people with 'problems'. We are made of the same material and we have the right to enjoy culture equally, what's more, we want people with disabilities to become an integral part and to gain a voice through this project." - Alina Rotaru, photographer "Because it puts the beauty and superpowers of people with disabilities in focus, I believe it [the exhibition] can change perceptions and paradigms, carry forward the voices of people with disabilities and those involved in the project, increase confidence in themselves and in a more inclusive society. And it can develop in each of us a greater empathy and care for our surroundings and, last but not least, it can turn our gaze both inward and outward to the wider world and its beauty." - Denisa Nicolae, co-founder Vanner Collectiv, curator of the project  "Knowing the World" is a project co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN) The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the program can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grantee. Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

Bucharest Graphic Days is a multi-faceted event dedicated to graphic design and related fields. The educational component and the involvement of leading national and international artists define the purpose of the festival - to raise the existing level of visual aesthetics, to increase the degree of interaction between members of the graphic design guild and to emphasize to the general public the usefulness, importance and beauty of the graphic design phenomenon. Now in its third edition, the festival is structured in three content categories, exhibitions, workshops and debates. The first of them including an international poster call - Roar Poster whose theme this year will be Power. Organized by Graphic Front Association & Graphics Workshop - Bucharest, the event is conceived and built on the collaboration with some of the cultural institutes in Romania, other artists and cultural organizations. The exhibition will take place between October 19 and December 15, 2024 and the central exhibition will be in the Rotonda Hall of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest Official opening: Saturday, October 19, 2024, 18.00, "I.L. Caragiale" National Theater "I.L. Caragiale" Bucharest, Rotonda Hall (access from Carol Boulevard) Program here   Exhibitions  here  Hocus-Pocus, Agata Kulczyk & Marcin Markowski - Poster exhibitionOrosz István - Poster exhibitionPerahim, Taru & their contemporaries - Picture book exhibitionRoar Power Poster – Poster international call – selection of 100 postersThe best books from Germany, Switzerland and Austria100 Beste Plakate - Top 100 posters from Germany, Switzerland, Austria Exhibitions in other venues:Oana Ispir - Picture book exhibition20.10– 10.11 > Seneca Anticafe, Bucharest Doriana Marasoiu + Ilona Polanski - Illustrations exhibition (20.10– 10.11,  Architects Order, 19, Arthur Verona St.) Orosz István - Drawings – Anamorfoze (20.10 – 10.11 > Liszt Institute, Bucharest) Talks here Debate topic: Ethics in advertising - power and influence in teenvertisingGuests: George Bonea, Dan Stanescu, Maria ZvincaModerator: Monica JitariucOctober 21, 2024, 6 PMRotonda Hall, National Theater Bucharest Debate topic: Graphics everywhere - a debate on the omnipresence of the graphic phenomenonGuests: Eliza Yokina, Tudor Juravlea, (more TBA)Moderator: Ciprian N. IsacOctober 29, 2024Rotonda Hall, National Theater Bucharest Debate topic: Power in its many formsGuests: Caterina Preda, Cosmin Ciotlos, Raluca Bradea, Victor Morozov, Alexandra Mihaela Dancs (more TBA)Moderator: Ciprian N. IsacNovember 4, 2024Rotonda Hall, National Theater Bucharest Workshop, applications here   Oana Ispir – Linocut WorkshopOctober 26 - 27, Seneca Anticafe, Bucharest Tuan Nini - No more Talking HeadsComics WorkshopNovember 1, 2, 3, Architects Order, Bucharest  Aleksandra Kot și Marcin Władyka - Design and printing workshopOctober 25, 26, 27, Architects Order, Bucharest Alexe Popescu - Origamix – Origami WorkshopOctober 26, 27, NTB, Bucharest Organizers:Graphic Front AssociationGraphics Workshop, Bucharest The main event partners: AFCN, National Theater Bucharest, Polish Institute Bucharest, Goethe-Institut Bucharest, Czech Center, Embassy of Switzerland in Romania, Austrian Cultural Forum, Liszt Institute, Order of Architects Bucharest, Seneca Anticafe Supporters: AFCN, Antalis Romania, Embassy of Switzerland in Romania, Aqua Carpatica, Armenian Cultural Center Promotion partners: Zeppelin Magazine, Radio Romania Cultural, IQ Ads The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grant beneficiary.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

Starting September 15, 2024, in the Media Foyer of the NTB (Grand Hotel wing) there will be an exhibition of visual art works entitled The Shape of Thought, created by talented scholarship holders of the Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation. The opening will take place on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 18.00, followed by a classical music recital performed by young musicians at 18.30. The exhibition "The Shape of Thought" brings together 45 visual art works by 15 promising young artists, supported this year within the framework of the Royal Foundation's Young Talents 2024 National Program*. The exhibition includes works ranging from paintings, graphics, photo-video to clothing design, all visual expressions of the young artists' thoughts and emotions: Alexandra Cristina Duta, Alexandra Ecin, Alina Bobeica, Ana Virdol, Dariana Onofre, Ioanna Dimosthenous - graphic arts; Melisa Savu and Stefania Marin - fashion; George Ifrim and Valeriu Hincu - photography and computerized image video-processing; Andreea Gabriela Tudor - painting, Daria Donciu - conservation-restoration, Delia Cirstea - mural art, Teodora-Elena Sucia - textile arts and David Metac textile design. The curator of the exhibition, Prof. Dr. Ion Anghel, member of the Romanian Union of Fine Artists and mentor in the Young Talents project, carefully selected the works on display, emphasizing the diversity of techniques and themes approached by the young artists. After the opening of the exhibition, a classical music recital will take place with a program chosen and prepared under the guidance of violinist Rafael Butaru, concertmaster of the George Enescu Philharmonic and the Bucharest National Opera, mentor of the Young Talents program. The public will be able to listen to works by Robert Schumann, Jules Massenet, Alberto Ginastera, Franz Liszt and Ronald Peterson, performed by young musicians supported by the same project: Claudiu Sutu - saxophone, Daniel Dumitrascu - piano, Daria Cornitov - cello, Iuliana Ioana - soprano, Maria Hemansi Singh - piano, Mariia Velia - flute, Olga Florea - soprano and Sabin Banescu - piano. This initiative is part of a series of actions to promote the 30 young visual artists and musicians at the beginning of their career, with limited financial means, and aims to promote and support young talents in Romania, giving them the opportunity to present their work in a prestigious space and interact with the general public. The exhibition The Shape of Thought will be open to the general public from September 15 to October 15, 2024, daily from 11:00 - 18:00. Admission is free and the public is invited to explore the works of young artists in a special setting in the heart of Bucharest. *About the Young Talents program The national program "Young Talents", initiated by the Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation 2009, aims to support and promote young talented artists in Romania who lack the resources to reach their true potential and express their talent. In addition to financial support, the young people receive guidance from valuable mentors, training through masterclasses and have very important promotional opportunities, all of which create a platform from which to launch their artistic careers. So far, 440 scholarships have been awarded to talented young people at the beginning of their career studying music or visual arts in Romanian high schools and universities, helping them to overcome financial hardship and continue to express their artistic value. In support of the scholarship holders, 128 recitals and concerts, 82 exhibitions, 126 mentoring or masterclass sessions were organized. The "Young Talents" Program is recognized as the Best Arts and Culture Program in Romania, 4 times laureate at the Civil Society Gala. More details are available on www.tinteretalente.org. The Young Talents national program is supported by partners and sponsors, but also through donations made by SMS to 8864 with the text "ARTA", through which the public can donate 4 Euro per month, thus supporting scholarships for Romania's talented young people. Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

TNB Media Foyer hosts the 3rd national exhibition of watercolor painting Starting June 3, 2024, the third national exhibition of watercolor painting will commence in the Media Foyer of the NTB (Grand Hotel wing), under the title Romania in Watercolors 3 - organized by the Romanian Watercolor Painters Association (A.P.A. - IWS Romania), with the support of Globe Art Network (International Watercolor Society). More than 60 works signed by 49 watercolor artists are on display. The opening of the exhibition will take place on June 4, 2024 at 18:30. Special guest: soprano Felicia Filip who will perform a micro recital. The International Watercolor Society is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by the Turkish artist, resident in Canada, Atanur Dogan, and since 2016 has been operating in Romania under the name of International Watercolor Society Romania (I.W.S. Romania), chaired by the artist arch Ovidiu Iovanel. I.W.S. was founded with the aim of promoting the oldest painting technique in the world, Watercolor. We quote from the "Mission Statement" of IWS Romania: "Our aim is to promote respect, peace and harmony through the use of art - the common language of the whole world. Our activities involve bringing together watercolor painters and lovers of art, of watercolor. Watercolor painting has long been neglected and even despised, to the detriment of other techniques. In order to bring the art of watercolor to the forefront as we grow, we are promoting and popularizing watercolor painting in every country. (...) We have embarked on a monumental task and success is only possible if we work together. So far we have succeeded. Thus, in our group in Romania there are more than 100 more or less known artists, professional or amateur. We show respect, practice courtesy and diplomacy at all times, listen to each other, are open to new ideas and welcome innovation." The exhibition will be open until the end of June 2024 and can be visited daily from 10.00 to 18.00.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

The collective of artists 59 Rivoli invites the audience in Bucharest to an encounter with contemporary art produced in 2024 in its Parisian workshops, in the form of an exhibition where visitors will not only encounter the finished artistic products, but will also be able to understand the dynamics of the processes involved in the artistic practice of the century in which we live and will be encouraged to dialogue with the French artists coming to Bucharest and the curatorial team. Through an eclectic collection of 28 works of art, bringing together mixed media installations, sculptures, paintings and photographs, the exhibition "Metamorphosis" explores, through a phenomenological approach, the richness, complexity and multifaceted nature of artistic metamorphosis. Inspired by the immersive and transformative nature of theatrical space, the canvas becomes a fluid stage in which realities shift and boundaries dissolve. The subject is liberated from its boundaries, and disappears to become an art object, metamorphosing into a new creation. In this realm, artists are given absolute freedom, navigating beyond conventional perceptions to infuse their very essence into the fabric of their creation. "Metamorphosis" is not only a celebration of artistic innovation, but also a testament to the power of international artistic exchange. As part of a mutual collaboration between the 59 Rivoli and Arte 1001 collectives, the exhibition marks the continuation of a cultural dialogue between Paris and Bucharest and the second exchange between the two collectives. Following the great success of 1001 Arte's Bestiaire Roumain exhibition in Paris in October 2023, "Metamorphosis" now brings the vibrant spirit of 59 Rivoli, an international collective based in Paris, to Bucharest in May 2024. The opening will take place on Sunday, 12 May 2024, from 4pm - 6pm, in the presence of the seven exhibiting artists from France and curators Cristian Cojanu and Gilda Ghinoiu, assisted by Michele Bonavita and Matei Ghimiș.  For more information, please visit tnb.ro or contact Marion Pacini at marionpacini@59rivoli.org or Cristian Cojanu at cristi@1001arte.ro. 59 Rivoli is a non-profit association whose mission is to promote artistic creation. In the center of Paris, 59 Rivoli aims to be an open artistic center around which singular expressions and varied creativity gravitate, hosting more than 30 artists in artistic residence. The place is entirely dedicated to artists and the diversity of artistic practices and universes. In the heart of a museum capital, 59 Rivoli reveals itself as an island of originality, a place of encounter and movement, a true laboratory of possibilities and infinite experimentation. With 10 years of experience and over 100 exhibitions for its own gallery in Amzei 5, relocated last year after 6 years on Calea Victoriei, but also for the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Carturești Carusel Art Space, ARCUB and other galleries, 1001 Arte is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting Romanian contemporary art. One of the murals produced by 1001 Arte for Bucharest was chosen by the Washington Post for the best images in the world, and our exhibitions in Paris attracted over 20 000 visitors. It also has artistic intervention projects in Bucharest in partnership with the Centre for Philosophy and the Arts, initiated together with the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest, where the Good Girls Imaginarium exhibition can be visited during this period.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

The Centre for Visual Communication is pleased to present the photography exhibition Festival Stories, an artistic project dedicated to celebrating and promoting the 2023 edition of the National Theatre Festival through a creative and unique perspective. The exhibition - which includes photographs signed by Andrei Gindac, Lucian Muntean, Florin Biolan, Mihaela Marin, Maria Gindac and Cosmin Stoian - will be hosted by the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, Marble Foyer, from April 12 to 21, 2024 and can be visited according to the following schedule: Monday: from 10.00 to 16.00, Tuesday to Sunday: from 10.00 to 18.00. The event is organized by the Centre for Visual Communication in partnership with UNITER and the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest and is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. "Festival Stories" is much more than just a photographic exhibition, it is a visual journey into the heart of one of the most appreciated theatrical events in Romania. The concept behind "Festival Stories" is the communication of art through art. Through 30 captivating images, visitors will have the opportunity to rediscover the beauty and intensity of theatrical moments, to enjoy the unmistakable atmosphere of the festival, moments captured through the lens of the photographers of the 33rd edition of the National Theatre Festival. We invite you to join the photographers who created the "Festival Stories" universe, organizers and partners, on Friday, April 12, 2024, at 6 pm, to mark the opening of this exhibition!   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

A large exhibition of watercolors can be visited from April 3 to 27, 2024 in the Media Foyer of the NTB (Grand Hotel wing). The exhibited works were made during several editions of the International Watercolor Symposium "Iulia Halaucescu", Tarcau, 2019 -2023, a symposium initiated in 2019 by the "Mircea Titus Romanescu" Foundation, in partnership with UAT Tarcau. The symposium, which has become an annual event, has made Tarcau and its picturesque valley in Neamt county, the birthplace of the "lady of Romanian watercolor, Iulia Halaucescu, to become a true capital of "Watercolor Country", a meeting point for professional watercolor artists from Romania and abroad, completing through their generosity the collection of the Tarcau Art Museum, the only museum in the country dedicated to watercolor. The exhibition of the International Watercolor Symposium at the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre is dedicated to the memory of the watercolor master Iulia Halaucescu, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her birth (31 March 1924 - Tarcau). The selection of works that can be seen at the NTB includes several original works signed by the master Iulia Halaucescu (from private collections) and more than 80 of the works created in the four editions of the Symposium, complemented by works created in the other four watercolor camps in Tarcau, works signed by 28 artists from the country and abroad: Crinela Antonescu, Ion Alexandru Antonescu, Ilie Boca, Dumitru Bostan, Teodor Buzu, Grigore Carata, Alexandros Pintilii Carciucas, Mircea Corcodel, Olga and Gheorghii Diaconu, Victor Dima, Corneliu Dragan Targoviste, Iosif Haidu, Ema Hagiu, Mirela Hagiu, Valeriu Jabinschi, Lucia Juncu, Marcel Lupse, Eugen Macinic, Eugen Mircea, Nadia Negru, Valter Paraschivescu, Corina Perianu, Erwin Ratz, Arcadie Raileanu, Mircea Titus Romanescu, Yan Su and Teodor Visan. To these are added the works signed by the special guests of this anniversary exhibition: Constantin Flondor, Horea Pastina, Mihai Sarbulescu and Andrei Rosetti. The opening of the exhibition will take place on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at 5.00 pm, in the presence of representatives of the organizing partners and the initiator of the project, Mircea Titus Romanescu. The exhibition will be open daily from 10. a.m. to 6 p.m.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

Starting February 13, 2024, in the Media Foyer (Grand Hotel wing) of the NTB, the exhibition Graphic Sequences will be open for visitors. The opening of the exhibition takes place on Friday February 16, 2024, at 16.00. After graduating from the People's School of Art in the Graphic Arts section, Beatrice-Octavia Parus attends the "Justinian Patriarch" Faculty of Orthodox Theology - Sacred Art - Conservation and Restoration at the University of Bucharest. Following the advanced courses in the field of restoration she obtains accreditation as an expert from the Ministry of Culture in the restoration of movable cultural property, oil painting technique. She publishes scientific articles and participates in communication sessions in the field of restoration. She is a member of the Union of Fine Artists of Romania and of the Association "Filia- Religious Fine Art and Restoration", and participates in group exhibitions with graphic works and not only. Since 2017 she has been working in the National Theatre Museum. From 2020, after the accreditation of the Restoration Laboratory, she starts restoring paintings from the Museum's collection. A creative and versatile nature, over time she flirts with various plastic forms of expression, bringing new content, substance and personal breath to the young art scene in Bucharest. In the exhibition Graphic Sequences, which runs from February 13 to March 3, 2024, in the Foyer of the Media Hall of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, Beatrice-Octavia Parus brings to your attention a series of 32 graphic works made in different techniques such as: charcoal, watercolor, pastel, mixed media or collage on paper and cardboard. The works, various sequences, skate on the visual surface conveying the chromatic joy of the combination of nuances or go in depth, interweaving on the axis verses-image, requiring an exercise of transposition and inner emotional experience. The exhibition can be visited daily from 11.00 to 6.00 pm, except on public holidays when the theatre is closed.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu

During this month of December, marked, among others, by the International Human Rights Day (December 10) and the National Minorities Day (December 18), the Media Foyer of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre (the wing facing Tudor Arghezi Street) is hosting the exhibition of portraits taken by the photographer Alex Galmeanu, photos taken as part of the Love that breaks down walls campaign, run under the auspices of the "Together" Community Development Agency. The exhibition can be visited daily (from 11.00 to 6.00 pm) until December 20, 2023. On display are 14 portraits of "invisible" Romani people who became "great" because they received love, trust and self-esteem. The campaign's protagonists include top athletes, actors, singers, activists, sociologists, students, teachers, online content creators, etc. alongside the people who have most influenced their lives.The arguments of the campaign and the related exhibition are thus formulated by its initiators:"The difference between failing and succeeding often lies in our strength to grit our teeth, combined with the confidence we receive from those around us. Is inner strength alone enough? Many young Romani people would say no, because being a Romani in Romania comes with the pressure to be twice as good as others in order to be treated the same. Because the stigma attached to ethnic identity is quite strong. This pressure makes many of us give in to the pressure of society. But those who succeed do so because they have people around them who see their potential and understand that the antidote to ignorance is love.How often do we talk about the people who stand behind us and help us "grow up"? How much do we show gratitude to the people we look up to and become our role models? How much does meeting someone change our path and choices?We will show them as they are, without trying to turn them into "models", because there are people like them all around us. And there are many of them. We'll show them together with their mothers, fathers, sisters, mentors, friends, the people they admire or who have most influenced their lives, telling stories of gratitude." The following portraits are exhibited:Valentin Tanase, performance athlete, with his mother Ionica;Oana Rusu, actress at the National Operetta and Musical Theatre "Ion Dacian", Bucharest, with her husband Catalin Frasinescu;Isabela Stanescu, student at the National University of Music, soprano in the Royal Choir, with her mother Violeta and her sisters Lorena and Irina;Zita Moldovan, actress, with her mother Zita-Ema;Alexandru Stan, activist, part of the Romanian Students' Union, together with his mother Simona;Adrian-Nicolae Furtuna, sociologist, with his daughter Natasha;Crina Muresanu, senior social worker at the General Directorate of Social Assistance of the Municipality of Bucharest, with her son Albert;Corina G. Paun, Romani writer and Director of the "Pod peste suflete" publishing house, with her father Paun Gheorghe Ialomiteanu;Petrica Badea, Head of Service - Romanian Government, Department for Romanians Abroad, with his daughter Indra;Raisa Mihai, a classical guitar teacher at the "George Enescu" National College of Music, with her mother Daniela;Alexandra Ciornea, student at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work in Bucharest, with her father Florin;Catalin Raducanu, concert pianist, with his former piano teacher Alma Peter;Emil Nepot, online content creator, alongside Micutzu (Cosmin Nedelcu);Ana Duminica, associate director research department (dilligence), with her husband Yassine.  The Love that breaks down walls campaign is part of the project Knowing the (ro)man(i) next door, a project implemented by the Community Development Agency "Impreuna", through the Active Citizens Fund Romania program, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants 2014-2021. The project "Knowing the (ro)man(i) next door" aims to raise awareness on human rights and equal treatment, with a focus on the Romani minority. The content of the campaign does not necessarily represent the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information please visit www.eeagrants.org.   Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

The exhibition Memorabilia, testimony to over 50 years of Nicu Alifantis' activity in the world of show business, can be visited from November 29, 2023, in the Rotunda in the foyer of the Small Hall of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre. The inauguration of the exhibition will take place in the presence of the artist on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at 6 pm. "Posters, photos, instruments, costumes, props, kept in the personal archive, are part and parcel of the Romanian theatre museum and transform the artist, musician, composer Nicu Alifantis, aware of the ephemerality of the theatrical creation, into the archivist-museographer of eternity" - wrote Ioan Cristescu, director of the Romanian Literature Museum in the preface of the superb album A treisprezecea noapte (The Thirteenth Night) - Memorabilia printed in the summer of 2022 under the auspices of this institution. This is also the argument that justifies the NTB's presentation of this exhibition, which Nicu Alifantis dedicates to his "unequalled friends" in the world of show business: "This collection is for me an artistic covenant with unequalled friends who defy time and its laws. I consider that, after 50 wonderful years spent in this special family of Romanian music and theatre, in which I have fully benefited from the love, respect and trust of my colleagues, I have today the great honor to thank them from the bottom of my heart." The curator of the exhibition, Relu Bitulescu, says: "I must admit, it wasn't easy. Like any work done with Alifantis. My friend's work in the theatre was not limited to 'some songs'. Nicu Alifantis did something else, he created a mood, in all his stage music." And as slogan of this exceptional exhibition, we quote again the artist to whom the Romanian scene owes an unmistakable sound universe and who says: "Where imagination can no longer cope with the real world, Theatre appears..." The Memorabilia exhibition will remain open for two months, with free admission, every day from 2 pm to 6 pm, except on Mondays and public holidays when the theatre is closed. Access is from Bd. Carol. Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu