Visual Arts

Visiting schedule in the time frame 9 January – 23 February 2017 Daily between 14.00 – 19.30, except for monday   The access to the Rotunda foyer of the Small Hall is possible from the entrance towards the Carol Blvd. of the National Theatre building, from the alley ascending from the boulevard. Starting with 8th December 2016, at the ”I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest, the exhibition Andy Warhol and Slovakia shall be open to the public – event with an rich cultural resonance marking the end of the Slovak rotary presidency at the Council of the EU (July-December 2016). For over 2 months, for the first time in Romania, 85 works of different styles (drawings, prints, facsimile on canvas, photographs, and documents) shall be exhibited, as well as a few personal objects of the famous American artist with Slovak origins. The exhibits stem from the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art of Medzilaborce, Slovakia, the first of this kind in the world and to this day, unique in Europe. The main initiators of the museum, founded in 1991, were John Warhol (Vice-President of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts of New York), Dr. Michal Bycko, PhD , curator of the Bucharest exhibition and Michal Cihlář. The museum performs presentation activities, scientific research and exhibitions in the field of contemporary art, the main attractions being the Andy Warhol Exhibition - including Campbell soup cans, parts of the portfolios Ladies and Gentlemen (1975), Electric Chairs (1971), Lillian Carter (1977), Kimiko (1981), as well as works acquired from private collectors; The Exhibition on the Origins of Andy Warhol; the Paul and James Warhol Exhibition. Descendant of a poor family of Slovak immigrants from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (parents Ondrej and Julia Warhola, born in Medzilaborce, Slovakia), Andy Warhol studies at Carnegie Mellon University from Pittsburgh, and moves afterwards to New York, where his creativity fully unfolds. Andy Warhol has imposed a revolutionary approach to all artistic genres he practiced - painting, sculpture, photography, music, film, fashion, literature. He attempted, in a way, to synchronise art with modern times, becoming the emblem of a new artistic genre – pop art. Charismatic magnet of the New York bohemian society, accepted in the fanciest high society circles, Andy Warhol has consecrated through his status of popular idol a new kind of fame and celebrity for a visual artist. The idea of touring this exhibition to Bucharest is by courtesy of the current Slovak Ambassador to Bucharest, His Excellency Mr. Jan Gabor, who recounts: ”20 years ago, during my at the Slovak Embassy in the USA, when I visited the Andy Warhol Museum from Pittsburgh – the largest American art museum dedicated to a single artist – I told myself that it would be nice to promote the knowledge about the Slovak roots of the King of Pop Art. Ten years ago, when Slovakia became an EU member during the rotary presidency of Ireland at the EU Council, I succeeded in bringing Andy Warhol to Dublin. And these days I am very happy to have the privilege to enjoy thisexhibition, inside the cultural sanctuary of Romania – country so close to us, Slovaks.” The exhibition is open to public viewing from 8th December 2016 to 23rd February 2017, daily between 14-18, except for Mondays, in the Rotunda of the NTB Small Hall, with access from the Carol Blvd.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

The Painting Department of the Bucharest National University of Arts presents, in the Rotunda Foyer of the NTB Small Hall, a collective exhibition of 9 artists - professors, entitled S.P.F.M. 2016 _ meaning ”The Very Large Painting Salon”, exhibition to be varnished on Thursday, 3 November 2016, at 6.00 p.m., with an opening speech by Prof. Dr. Ruxandra Demetrescu. The exhibition curator, Prof. Marcel Bunea, defines this endeavour of the artists-professors as a new challenge, to ”escape one’s own concerns”: The large dimensions of the ”aesthetic objects” represent this time an objective per se, but also exit gates towards the infinite concerns of contemporary painting. Certainly, beyond aesthetic prejudices, painting is an extremely fresh means of expression, present in the vast majority of international, wide-scope exhibitions. We consider that not only the new media interfere in the great concert of contemporary art, but also painting is far from having reached its boundaries, especially in this part of Europe. The current exhibition S.P.F.M. 2016 is also a programme of conceptual releases in relation with one’s own daily concerns. This project differs from the preceding ones. This project is deprived of the idea of ”synchronisation at all costs”, of pale copies of mainstream art. This project is assumed pro-European. Thus open and without aesthetic prejudices. The exhibition, organised in partnership with the”I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre, within the framework of the NTB - Paratheatrical – Visual Arts programme, shall feature works signed by Ion Anghel, Cezar Atodiresei, Cătălin Bălescu, Traian Boldea, Marcel Bunea, Petru Lucaci, George Moscal, Alexandru Rădvan, Mihai Sârbulescu– all professors of the painting chair from UNARTE and shall be open until the end of November. The access to the Rotunda Foyer of the NTB Small Hall is possible from the Carol Blvd.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

The Arhitext Foundation is opening the second edition of the East Centric Architecture Triennale 2016. The varnishing of the exhibition shall take place on Friday, 16 September 2016, as of 4.00 p.m., in the Media Hall foyer, in the presence of the curatorial team and special guests. The Triennale is divided into three modules: Drifting Architecture (thematic project exhibition), Critical Discourses (essay contest), the East Centric Arhitext Awards (project competition), alongside the project Agora Experiments (multimedia exhibition and workshop organised based on an international contest of ideas). The greatest architecture event in the region, x-raying, mapping and connecting major projects, experiments and ideas of the region and establishing a dialogue between the authors, the East Centric Architecture Triennale 2016 is organised by the Arhitext Design Foundation — promoter and producer, in conjunction with the Romanian Order of Architects — main strategic partner and the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism — strategic partner.                    The exhibition can be visited in the time frame 16 September – 9 October 2016!   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu

The Cultural Romania Association invites you on Tuesday, 7 June 2016 as of 6.00 p.m., at the National Theatre of Bucharest (Media foyer) to the varnishing of the photo exhibition King Michael - A Happy Childhood. 40 photographic panels shall be displayed, with images depicting the childhood of King Michael. The photographs originate from the collection of the Royal Family of Romania, the collection of the Romanian Academy and the „Luiza Berman” collection. The exhibition shall travel inland and abroad. The following shall take the floor at the preview: NTB Manager Ion Caramitru, historian Dr. Georgeta Filitti, the President of the RCI, Dr. Radu Boroianu, journalist Adina Ștefan. Her Highness Princess Mary of Romania shall also be present at the event.   The exhibition has been created in partnership with: The Romanian Cultural Institute The National Theatre of Bucharest The Library of the Romanian Academy The Peleș National Museum The County History Museum of Brașov The „Valter Literat” Făgăraş Country Museum The „Moldova” National Museum Complex of Iași The „Curtea Domnească” National Museum Complex of Târgoviște And with the support of: Caru cu Bere, City Grill, Contrast Print, We are Media Curator: doctoral candidate Beatrice Todireanu   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

In a gesture of noble generosity, Mrs. Irina Lucaci, the widow of Constantin Lucaci, one of the great masters of Romanian sculpture, has recently donated to the “I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest a valuable collection consisting of 21 stainless steel sculptures, which have remained in the artist’s atelier after his passing away and which are publicly exhibited for the first time at the National Theatre, in the foyer of the Grand Hall. The collection is replenished by an expressive stone sculpture, as well as one of the famous “fountains”, situated at one of the theatre entrances facing the Carol Boulevard. Sculptor Constantin Lucaci, a master of Romanian monumental art, was born in Bocşa, in Banat, on 7 July 1923 and died on 21 July 2014, aged 91. He is especially famous for his kinetic fountains, as well as for the extraordinary artistic properties he conferred to stainless steel, material from which he created hundreds of sculptures in various sizes, up to the monumental ones. One of his creations, Dialogue of the Waves, has been since 1972 the symbol of Romanian Television. The piece, almost 12 meters tall, placed in the TVR yard, can be admired by anyone passing on Calea Dorobanţi in Bucharest. In 1984, he was awarded the Herder Prize by the Vienna University for his lifetime oeuvre. Beside Romania, the works of the master can be admired in Venice, alongside masterpieces of Picasso, Mark Tobey or Marc Chagall. Other works of the artist can be found in private or public collections in the cities of Antwerp, Copenhagen, Ferrara or Milan. Since 2012, there is a museum dedicated to the œuvre of Constantin Lucaci at Bocşa, his birthplace. The preview of the Constantin Lucacidonation at NTB shall take place on Wednesday, 25 May 2016, as of 6.30 p.m., in the lobby of the NTB Grand Hall, in the presence of Mrs. Irina Lucaci and the master’s friends. The event shall be hosted by the art critic Pavel Şuşară.                                        Entrance is free.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

  In May, the First Edition of the Unfinished Visual Arts Festival Transforms Bucharest into a Forefront of Visual Arts   The Festival shall be hosted from 5 to 29 May 2016 by some of the newest and currently most active exhibition spaces of Bucharest: the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre (on this occasion the exhibition space facing Bd. Carol shall be inaugurated, where the World Press Photo 2016 photojournalism exhibition shall be held), the Cultural Centre of Bucharest – ARCUB, the University Square and the „I.L. Caragiale” National University of Theatrical And Cinematic Arts, which shall provide the newly founded International Centre for Research and Education in Innovative-Creative Technologies – CINETic. The opening event of the festival shall take place on Thursday, 5 May 2016, as of 7:00 p.m., at the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre, in the presence of officials from the partner institutions of the event. The festival curator from New York, Liza Faktor and the World Press Photo project manager, Anaïs Conijn, shall be present. The greatest visual creators from arts and journalism at international level shall occupy downtown Bucharest between 5 and 29 May 2016, conveying a vision integrating the most innovative, captivating and interactive projects at the moment. unfinished shall highlight revolutionary productions of the last years in terms of multimedia journalism, installations, film, virtual reality and computational and digital art. The festival organised by the Eidos Foundation is a natural outcome of the interest registered by the World Press Photo exhibition, as well as the other programmes pursued by the foundation in the last 7 years. In an age in which the information climate surrounding us is dominated by conflict - refugees, violence and major environmental crises – the festival invites through the selected topic for 2016, “Humanity”, to a meditation on the human condition and a reassessment of the way we interact and relate to one another. unfinished aims, through a variety of forms of visual arts, with the aid of internationally established curators and content creators and through partnerships with global institutions, media representatives and museums, at attracting and engaging the audience into a dialogue on the topic of the human condition in nowadays’ world. unfinished is intended to be a platform of dialogue and interaction between traditional photography, visual journalism, film and art, merged through technology. The festival shall include web multimedia, journalistic and interactive documentaries, computational and visual art, VR, video installations and live events. „Art is a process. Not a message, not a product, not a bubble frozen in time and space. The cycle commencing with the artist interpreting a stimulus – either a story of the world we inhabit or an inner experience – is a never-ending one. To the initial act, thousands, millions of interactions are added – with the audience, with the story of our days, with more art joining it, with the changes within the artist himself. With every living man who contemplates an artistic act, art is changing. That is why we came up with “unfinished”, declares Cristian Movilă, Festival manager and founder. The main content partners include The New York Times, Time, United Nations VR Series, The Marshall Project, Al Jazeera and the National Film Council from Canada. Individual projects of great artists from various platforms, like the pioneer of trans-media journalism Tim Hetherington and visual artist Chris Milk shall be present.   #unifinished Instagram #unfinished Facebook Page Organiser: Eidos Foundation; curator: Liza Faktor The „unfinished” Visual Arts Festival is a priority project under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and partner of the Capital’s Municipality, the Bucharest Local Council and Arcub. The EIDOS foundation is a non-governmental organisation devoted to supporting contemporary Romanian art and exposing the audience and Romanian artists to international modern art. Its mission is to integrate Romanian art into the worldwide cultural area and to encourage the activity of local artists, aiming at artistic and cultural development and international dialogue.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

An event of Contemporaries at NTB, in the exhibition space of the Media Hall foyer, Intercontinental wing, 19 April – 19 May 2016 It is with great pleasure that we announce the opening of the painting exhibition Seven Days at Redondo, accompanied by the launch of the homonymous catalogue, to take place on Tuesday, 19 April, as of 6.00 p.m., at the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre of Bucharest, in the foyer of the Media Hall — Intercontinental wing. The exhibition shall reunite 50 works of painting and photography bearing the signatures of seven Romanian painters: Florin Ciubotaru, Dorin Coltofeanu, Teodora Coltofean, Sorin Iosub, Elisabeth Ochsenfeld, Christian Paraschiv, Mihai Sârbulescu and graphic artist Mihail Alexandrescu. Alongside these, Veronica Kirchner, the journalist who has accompanied the artist throughout the residency, signs the editorial content of the exhibition catalogue. The exhibited works and the exhibition catalogue represent a glimpse of the experience of the seven artists participating in the artistic residency Seven Days at Redondo, action organised in August 2015 in the town of Redondo, Portugal. The exhibition Seven Days at Redondo is organised within the framework of the Contemporaries Project, alongside the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Embassy of Portugal in Bucharest, as co-organisers.                   In the opening of the exhibition, the following shall take the floor: Radu Boroianu, President of the Romanian Cultural Institute João-Bernardo Weinstein, Ambassador of Portugal in Bucharest Daniel Perdigão, representative of the Camões Institute in Romania Ion Caramitru, Manager of the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre of Bucharest Maria Pașc, curator of the exhibition   “Seven days spent in a small town, known for its beauty had the gift of harmonising distinct artistic personalities. The works of the seven painters bear the stamp of inner light capable of making the colours of an exceptional reality visible to the eye. I know them and I can tell that the way in which they are together in a high spiritual endeavour, of superior morals and profound knowledge of things reclaims a long forgotten ideal: kalokagathia, the union between the good and the beautiful. Florin Ciubotaru has remained the same subtle researcher of himself. Irrespective of the challenges of trends, he tells us that the imaginary is but another expression of archetype, yet more powerful than reality. A reality, which is filtered and purified by Dorin Coltofeanu, in order for us to be able to peacefully contemplate in its pristine beauty, whereas Mihai Sârbulescu tunes it with the materiality of colours, to his own inner state. They are joined, in the common dimension of spirituality by Christian Paraschiv. Teodora Coltofean displays her canvasses in the fresh air of a perpetual morning and entices us into optimism. Himself passionate about colour as well, Sorin Iosub contemplates the world with lucidity and sometimes, we are surprised by what he sees. I admire at Elisabeth Ochsenfeld, beyond her indisputable prowess as a painter, graphic artist and writer, her ability to bring artists together: she has been organising, for a few years now, the international camp and visual arts symposium of Gărâna. Seven days, seven painters and this exhibition give us the opportunity to embark on a different kind of journey, to Redondo.”Radu Boroianu, President of the Romanian Cultural Institute   “To see familiar places and landscapes through the eyes of an artist is as if making a new discovery, embarking on an authentic and most welcome adventure. Seven Romanian artists have travelled to Portugal and they are now inviting us to a promenade through images they have gathered, through the agency of light and colour they have kept, of the spirit they have managed to take along with them, through the memories they have transcribed into their paintings, blended in an exhibition rich in a variety of styles and perspectives. I would like to emphasize the importance this exhibition bears in its dimension as intercultural experience, the opportunity of dialogue it represents: an artistic and institutional one, beyond doubt, but foremost a human one. The coexistence in a foreign country has enabled the Portuguese to get to know a group of Romanians and the latter have been given the opportunity to discover Portugal and the Portuguese. Bridges have been built and doors have been opened.” João-Bernardo Weinstein, Ambassador of Portugal in Bucharest   „Portugal, the country of prodigy poets and brave sailors, where admirable castles and cathedrals have been erected from stone, did not have painters matching the infinite range of lights and horizons it enjoys. Thus come, Romanian painters, masters of combining colours on canvasses and on the sleeves of Romanian blouses, come and paint our Light, in which once Lucian Blaga was composing his poems, absorbing the Atlantic breeze on the ocean’s shore.” Daniel Perdigão, representative of the Camões Institute in Romania „Welcome, therefore, to the seven Romanian artists who delight our eyes with the artistic production as a result of a documentary journey and of a Lusitanian residency, displayed on the rails of the NTB Media foyer under the title Seven Days at Redondo. Through their presence in the premises of the National Theatre, these artists are implicitly becoming ambassadors of Romanian culture: NTB represents a true national cultural brand and is one of the main cultural image generators of Romania. This privileged position requires not only exploiting, but firstly honouring by all artists entering it.” Ion Caramitru, Manager of the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre of Bucharest   The exhibition Seven Days at Redondo may be visited in the timeframe 19 April – 19 May 2016, during the working hours of the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre of Bucharest. The access to the exhibition hall shall be made through the NTB esplanade from the Intercontinental Hotel (from the foyer with the NTB ticketing counter or directly, through the entrance to the Painting Hall). Contemporaries is aproject initiated andconducted by the Makers Association, aiming at the capitalization of current Romanian culture by favouring the creative act, tackled from a perspective unitary with the creator. The Contemporaries project aims at organising and supporting artistic and socio-cultural activities for educating the audience’s aesthetic sensibility.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

In the vast foyers of the Small Hall, a spectacular costume exhibition of the Fashion Department of the National University of Arts Bucharest (UNARTE) is varnished on Tuesday, 15 March 2016, as of 6.30 p.m., entitled Mise – en – place at NTB andcreated by Univ. Prof. Dr. Unda Popp and Univ. Prof. Dr. Doina Lucanu, joined by a group of Fashion M.A. students from the 1st academic year, Fashion B.A. students from the 2nd academic year and students in the field of Textile Arts (within the AAICREA project).    It is not by chance that this exhibition is opening on the very evening of a show, which is part of the Small Hall repertoire of the “I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest, space exclusively intended in the last two seasons for young creators, through the 9G Programme at NTB, namely the premiere of the show Eden by Eugene O’Brian, pursuing NTB’s endeavour to support young artists. Edenis the fruit of the collaboration between the Irish Embassy (who has given a grant to a master student enacting an Irish text), the “I.L. Caragiale” National University of Theatrical And Cinematic Arts of Bucharest and NTB, the show representing the MA degree exam for direction of Cristina Giurgea. Therefore, through the exhibition from the lobbies of the Small Hall, „NTB pursues the story of the young”, this time of those from the area of visual arts, initiative meant to be continued also by future collaborations with young visual artists. The exhibition can be viewed until 30 May 2016!   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER), in partnership with the National Theatre of Bucharest (NTB), are organizing on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, as of 2.00 p.m., in the Media Hall – the Intercontinental wing of NTB, the opening of the exhibition Exposures, capturing the destinies of 30 political detainees from Communist Romania in photographs from the family album, from detention and after the release. The project was initiated by the late Dana Cenușă (National Administration of Penitentiaries). The exhibition, which may be visited at the National Theatre of Bucharest until January 20, 2016, shall itinerate, whereas new names shall be added at each new display. Thus, IICCMER invites the former political detainees, but also their family members, to send illustrative photos from the period prior to arrest, images from detention (including those from the imprisonment file) or shot after the release, accompanied by a short description, to e-mail irina.hasnas@iiccmer.ro. No photographs from the internet are allowed, as there are no rights of use. For further information about the exhibition or other IICCMER projects, please contact us at telephone no. +40 21 316 7565 or e-mail office@iiccmer.ro. *** About IICCMER    The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) is a governmental body established in 2005 and under the coordination of the Prime Minister. Its role is, above all, the administration and analysis, from a scientific standpoint, of totalitarianism and its effects. Secondly, IICCMER supports the creation and implementation of educational instruments with memorial purpose, thus contributing to the articulation of the context, in which fundamental rights and values are perceived by our post-totalitarian society. Last but not least, IICCMER serves at gathering, archiving and publishing documents concerning the memory of Romanian exile. For further details about the IICCMER activity: http://www.iiccmer.ro/ or https://www.facebook.com/InstitutuldeInvestigareaCrimelorComunismului.   Translated by Simona Nichițeanu 

The National Institute for Patrimony, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, organizes the 13th edition of the International Salon for Naive Art, in Bucharest, in the period 22 December 2015 – 15 January 2016, at the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre – Small Hall. The exhibition shall itinerate to Iaşi, in the period 20 January - 5 February 2015, at Palas Mall – Atrium Hall. SIAN is the most extensive selection of naïve painting and sculpture nationwide and with international participation, uniting, every two years, emblematic naïve artists from Romania and abroad. The exhibition project aims at promoting the naïve art in the Romanian and worldwide cultural area. The works exhibited at SIAN depict today’s and yesterday’s world, ancient milestones endowed with new meanings, evocations, sentimental reconstructions, everyday stories. The picture rails shall host some of the most appreciated naïve artists from: Serbia, Ukraine and Romania. The most valuable works shall be awarded by a specialised jury. SIAN openings: ■ in Bucharest - Tuesday, December 22, 2015, 2 p.m., at the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest – Small Hall, with access from Tudor Arghezi Str.; ■ in Iaşi - Wednesday, January 20, 2016, 5 p.m., at Palas Mall – Atrium Hall. Through the selected locations, the organisers provide a wide audience with the opportunity of encountering contemporary naïve art and the cultural projects of the National Institute for Patrimony and those of the partner institutions: the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre of Bucharest, the County Centre for the Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture Iași and Palas Mall – Iași.   Translated by Simona Nichițeanu