In May and June, the Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest is playing
\nhost to an exhibition of contemporary collaborative art entitled Circular tradition (Connected to nature), in the form of an
\nencounter between established contemporary artists and traditional
\nartisans who are keeping ancient crafts alive, in a nutshell a blend
\nbetween innovation, technology, art and craft. We talked to the
\nmanager of the Romanian Peasant Museum Virgil Ni\u021bulescu about the
\nconcept of the exhibition and how it took shape:<\/p>\n
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\nIndeed, it’s a somehow different exhibition than what we
\nnormally host at this museum. The concept is based on an initiative
\nfrom 2017 called Romania’s
\nCreative Traditions and which was launched by a former manager of
\nthis museum Vintil\u0103 Mih\u0103ilescu, together with Teodor Frolu. The
\ninitiative was aimed
\nat bringing together contemporary artists who are particularly
\ninterested in Romanian traditional culture. This time, the exhibition
\nCircular Tradition
\ndraws on a workshop held by
\nthe Romanian Peasant Museum by six contemporary artists and six
\ntraditional artisans. The six artists are Teodor
\nGraur, Mircea Cantor, Marius Alexe-Bean, Ol\u00e1h Gy\u00e1rf\u00e1s, Virgil
\nScripcariu and
\nDan Vezentan, and the six
\nartisans are Viorel Gheorghe,
\nT\u0103nase Burnar, Adrian Mihaiu, Melinda-Maria Andras, Csaba Balint and
\nCsaba Racz. Each of the
\nparticipating artisans specialises
\nin a different craft, such as pottery, textiles, leather, carpentry,
\nand each has inherited their craft from earlier generations and is
\ngoing to pass it on to the next generations. Ultimately, it’s an
\nexchange of experience, because they learn from the contemporary
\nartists new techniques and ideas that circulate in the Romanian
\ncontemporary art world, and,
\nmore importantly, the contemporary artists are learning from the
\nartisans, so as to tap the traditional world in their art. The
\nartists involved in the project are aware of the fact that you cannot
\nbe original and have a distinct voice on the international scene
\nunless you start from that which is characteristic to the community
\nyou were born in.<\/p>\n
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\nOne of the co-organisers and
\ninitiators of the project from 2017 entitled Romania’s Creative
\nTraditions that formed the basis for this new exhibition, the
\narchitect and creative industry entrepreneur Teodor Frolu told
\nus about the workshops, the involvement of the artisans and of the
\ncontemporary artists, and about the fine line that separates a visual
\nartist from a traditional artist. Teodor Frolu:<\/p>\n
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\nThe workshops that brought together the artisans and the artists
\nlasted a week, but many have been collaborating for many years and
\nour intention is to show just how contemporary and relevant
\ntraditional crafts are and how they can be transformed by the
\ncontemporary artists in works of art of great artistic value and
\nbecome part of private collections.
\nArtists like Mircea Cantor,
\nTeodor Graur, Dan Vezentan, Ol\u00e1h Gy\u00e1rf\u00e1s and
\nVirgil Scripcariu are already
\ndrawing on traditional crafts in their work, while someone like
\nBean, Marius Alexe from the
\ngroup
\nSubcarpa\u021bi, has already made
\na traditional instrument like
\nthe kaval flue known among young people by incorporating it in his
\nmusic. They recently set up the Subcarpa\u021bi cultural centre and each
\nis trying in their contemporary art works to enhance the visibility
\nof traditional crafts. So this is in fact a meeting between an
\nartisan who is also an artist and an artist who is also an artisan.
\nArtists are, if you will, contemporary artisans themselves, they work
\ndirectly with the material, are using different techniques and are
\nvery good in what they do with their hands and their imagination.<\/p>\n
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\nWe also caught up with one of the
\nartists involved in the exhibition, Mircea Cantor, a visual artist
\nliving in Paris and one of the most recognisable names in Romanian
\ncontemporary art. In 2011, he won the Marcel Duchamp prize at the
\nParis International Contemporary Art Fair. Cantor told us about the
\nrole of traditional art in his work and his constant collaboration
\nwith traditional artisans:<\/p>\n
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\nI think this is a unique moment
\nin the history of this museum, this collaboration between artists and
\nartisans. For me, however, it’s a natural process working with
\nartisans and acknowledging their contribution to my art. It’s
\nimportant to give credit to and admit that you’re working with an
\nartisan, whether it’s someone who works in leather or with wool.
\nThese things should take place naturally and everyone stands to gain
\nfrom it. It’s a form of mutual support and recognition, both
\nprofessional and financial. The public also benefits from this
\ncollaboration. I also believe the public should be more informed
\nabout this, including children, through education programmes
\nin schools designed by the ministry of education, and through
\nfinancial programmes, they should know that they can do things they
\nenjoy and also make a living from them. There’s a living to be made
\nfrom these traditional crafts that I discovered here at the Peasant
\nMuseum. I think this may have a domino effect in the long run, which
\nwould be positive for everyone, for artists and artisans alike, for
\ncivil society, and for education.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Contemporary artists meet traditional artisans in new exhibition at the Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":163839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-163838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n