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The National Theatre Under the Sign of Visual Arts
The inauguration of The retrospective of paintings Emil Ciocoiu (curator Marius Tița) took place on Thursday evening, in the presence of over 200 guests.
Born in Romania in 1948, Emil Ciocoiu is one of the most important Romanian painters of the present time. Having lived for a long time in Germany, he has built an exceptional career participating at international exhibitions and renowned collections. The exhibition at the National Theatre is his first major retrospective, bringing together 196 paintings of large and extra large sizes. These form an overview of the essential cycles of his creative activity and of the reflection themes he suggested us over time. (www.ciocoiu.eu)
Present at the inauguration, Augusto Medici, editorial director of the well-known Italian art history magazine, ContemporArt, who specially came to this event in Bucharest, was deeply impressed by the spectacular building of the theatre and considered Emil Ciocoiu's exhibition as "overwhelming". This is what he said in that evening: "I confess that I underestimated Romania: I don't think in Italy such a wide-spreading event would have any chances of succeeding today... What you have done at the National Theatre is worth congratulating and is absolutely remarkable". In the next issue of the magazine a full report on the restoration of the National Theatre will be published.
The retrospective of paintings Emil Ciocoiu at the National Theatre stands out not only by its magnitude, but also by the novel way in which the paintings are placed: these can be seen on the panels from the foyer, foyers which are designed also as exhibition halls: the foyer of the Small Hall, the foyers connected to the Media Hall, as well as the foyer of the Studio Hall (former Operetta) which has been restored and came back in the National Theatre's circuit. The exhibition is open until 25th November 2013 and can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday between 12 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., after which it becomes accessible to the spectators who come to see the theatre's performances.
So the diverse programme of the I. L. Caragiale National Theatre interdisciplinary projects, released two years ago under the title TNB Parateatral, takes shape with the opening of the generous exhibition spaces and foyers of the institution, which is in full metamorphosis, becoming an identity "brand" for the future national cultural centre. In the same context, on the initiative of Prof. Romeo Belea, the architect of the monumental restoration project of the National Theatre of Bucharest, famous Romanian artists have given the theatre works meant to improve the ambience of the new spaces.
Works of painters such as Viorel Mărginean, Alexandru Mărginean and Olga Morărescu-Mărginean, are exhibited in the red foyer of the new Painting Hall (which will be inaugurated soon). The Mărgineanu's are a well-known family of artists, whose work definitively marks the history of Romanian contemporary art. Works of another remarkable artist, painter Ion Sălișteanu, as well as sculptures by Horia Flămând are exhibited in the foyer connected to the Media Hall. Works of the renowned painters Vladimir Șetran and Ion Stendl have been exhibited there before, and will be displayed again after Emil Ciocoiu's retrospective closes.
This is an inspired way to enrich the ambience of the National Theatre's new spaces with artworks that find their natural place in a building meant to shelter everything that is best from our national culture.
Translated by: Dumitrescu Ioana-Alexandra
MTTLC, The University of Bucharest
