[spectre] Announcing Public Art Bucharest 2007

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Spatiul Public Bucuresti |
Public Art Bucharest 2007

20 April - 15 October 2007
Bucharest / Romania


Curated by Marius Babias and Sabine Hentzsch
Assistant curator: Raluca Voinea



Spatiul Public Bucuresti | Public Art Bucharest 2007 is a pilot 
project which creates a platform for trans-disciplinary discussions 
and debates exploring how public art encourages a critical engagement 
with the structures of power which are dominant in society.. The 
non-existence of a public sphere in Romania during Communism created 
the conditions for the unfettered capitalism of the post-Communist 
period to acquire a monopoly on the public space. Bucharest is one of 
the fastest developing cities in Europe, however one where 
post-Communism and globalization have created specific tensions and 
eccentric juxtapositions in the architecture, urban environment and 
social life. The ways in which people in the city perceive, 
experience and respond to these tensions define an active public 
space, which needs to be acknowledged by the cultural discourse and 
analysed in open debates.

The project Spatiul Public Bucuresti | Public Art Bucharest 2007 has 
three objectives:

--to support Bucharest’s synchronization with the evolution of 
contemporary art and to create awareness about the importance of the 
public space;
--in the medium term, to create a self-sustained initiative for public art;
--in the long term this self-sustained initiative allows continuous 
and consistent realization of public art projects.

For the pilot stage of the project, taking place throughout 2007, the 
following Romanian artists with international profile were invited to 
participate: Mircea Cantor, Anetta Mona Chisa in collaboration with 
Lucia Tkácová, Nicoleta Esinencu, H.arta, Daniel Knorr, Dan 
Perjovschi, and Lia Perjovschi. The artists’ projects confront the 
public with a series of contemporary themes relevant both from an 
international perspective and for a context in which the exercise of 
democracy has not yet been fully incorporated. The streets, squares 
and markets of the city, public and private institutions, public 
transportation, and mass media channels constitute settings for the 
artists’ interventions. Within the artists’ projects a central role 
is held by a multifunctional project space, which opens in September 
for one month, with a daily program of activities. Professionals from 
different fields will present and discuss contemporary issues. The 
project space will attra ct not only an audience with a cultural 
background, but also young people, a casual street audience or people 
frequenting bars. Along with the discussions and workshops, a variety 
of activities will be staged, such as lectures, film projections, 
musical performances and club events.

The artists’ books series is published by IDEA Publishing House Cluj 
and Walther König Cologne, 2007.


Spatiul Public Bucuresti | Public Art Bucharest 2007 opens on 20th of 
April 2007 with an international conference which brings together 
theorists, representatives of institutions which are supporting 
public art initiatives, as well as key figures of the cultural and 
public life of Bucharest. The conference participants are: Marius 
Babias, Marlis Drevermann, Sabine Hentzsch, Olaf Metzel, Timotei 
Nadasan, Horia-Roman Patapievici, Serban Sturdza, Michael M. Thoss, 
and Adriean Videanu.


Initiated by the partner institutions Goethe-Institut Bukarest, 
Institutul Cultural Român (ICR), and Allianz Kulturstiftung. 
Financially supported by the Cultural Programme of the German EU 
Presidency in 2007 provided by the German Foreign Office, and Erste 
Foundation. Media partners: IDEA, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther 
König, Cologne, Suplimentul de Cultura, E-cart.ro.

<
http://www.spatiul-public.ro> http://www.spatiul-public.ro

For more information contact Goethe-Institut Bukarest
T: +40 21 3119762
E: il at bukarest.goethe.org