Exhibitions
Painting Exhibition Seven Days at Redondo
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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
