Artists: Apparatus 22, Alex Bodea, Ștefan Botez, Patrick Brăila, Cornel Brudașcu, Irina Bujor, Liviu Bulea, Andrei Chintilă, Lorena Cocioni, Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, Georgiana Dobre & Kjersti Vetterstad, Paul Dunca / Paula Dunker, Julio Elvisey Pisică, Vergine Santa Frida, Alex Horghidan, Limba semnelor de întrebare / The Language of Question Marks, Luca Istodor, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Katja Lee Eliad, Mihai Lukács, Mihai Mihalcea, Alex Mirutziu, Sebastian Moldovan, Paul Mureșan, Vasile Mureșan (Murivale), Ioana Nemeș, Mircea Nicolae, Adrian Oncu, Sorin Oncu + archival materials, Ileana Pașcalău, Manuel Pelmuș, Adina Pintilie, Veda Popovici, Lea Rasovszky, Flaviu Rogojan, Miron Schmückle, Aris Tureac, Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys), Mihai Lucaks
Exhibition title: YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING
Curated by: KILOBASE BUCHAREST (Dragoș Olea, Sandra Demetrescu)
Venues: Combinatul Fondului Plastic, Suprainfinit Gallery, Spatiul THE INSTITUTE, Switch Lab, Bucharest, Romania
Date: December 4, 2021 – February 18, 2022
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and KILOBASE BUCHAREST
TRIUMF AMIRIA. The Museum of Queer Culture [?] in partnership with The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), has the pleasure to present the series of statement exhibitions YOU FEEL ~ AND DRIFT ~ AND SING in a tentacular approach in four art venues in Bucharest: Combinatul Fondului Plastic, Suprainfinit Gallery, Spatiul THE INSTITUTE, SWITCH LAB
YOU FEEL ~ AND DRIFT ~ AND SING exhibitions include more than 100 works and work series by 38 artists and artist collectives and represents the tangible result of research into the queer artistic practices happening in Romania since 2001. The exhibition marks the two decades passed since the landmark repeal of Article 200 of the Penal Code of Romania in 2001 which criminalized same sex relationships.
The curatorial duo KILOBASE BUCHAREST – Dragoș Olea (also TRIUMF AMIRIA’s visual art curator) and Sandra Demetrescu (also chief curator at MNAC) – selected works created by queer artists, dealing with queer themes or meant to disrupt the status quo and enable change, to queer the future in resonance with the fluid spirit of TRIUMF AMIRIA. Thus, one can discover works following artists or artist collectives, in alphabetical order: Apparatus 22, Alex Bodea, Ștefan Botez, Patrick Brăila, Cornel Brudașcu, Irina Bujor, Liviu Bulea, Andrei Chintilă, Lorena Cocioni, Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, Georgiana Dobre & Kjersti Vetterstad, Paul Dunca / Paula Dunker, Julio Elvisey Pisică, Vergine Santa Frida, Alex Horghidan, Limba semnelor de întrebare (The Language of Question Marks), Luca Istodor, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Katja Lee Eliad, Mihai Lukács, Mihai Mihalcea, Alex Mirutziu, Sebastian Moldovan, Paul Mureșan, Vasile Mureșan (Murivale), Ioana Nemeș, Mircea Nicolae, Adrian Oncu, Sorin Oncu, Ileana Pașcalău, Manuel Pelmuș, Adina Pintilie, Veda Popovici, Lea Rasovszky, Flaviu Rogojan, Miron Schmückle, Aris Tureac, Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys).
Venue 1 / Main exhibition
YOU FEEL ~ AND DRIFT ~ AND SING (1 – 245) at Combinatul Fondului Plastic
The exhibition can be navigated in multiple ways, for example:
*) a multidimensional puzzle in which 245 queer narratives coexist and diffuse one into another under the reigning aspects of love, empathy and the critical spirit empowered at the level of the hyperbolic
*) an imperatively necessary ~ fragile ~ precious forum resisting restrictive definitions of scope, where the boundaries between the public space (the agora) and the private worlds become blurred thanks to the adventurous ~ magical ~ surprising exhibition layout created together with the architect Laura Paraschiv / CIRCA 1703 – 3071
*) a nonlinear expected ~ unexpected ~ immersive retrospective account of two decades or queer artistic production in Romania. No themes have been imposed beforehand, but they emerged following in-depth research and conversations with the artists.
*) A revelry-free celebration in which we invite you to feel ~ drift ~ sing among an abundance of queer artistic voices chanting about identity, desire, trauma, ecology, healing rituals, a daring and progressive future, differences, stigmatum, racism, the contemporary art system, the reclaim of public spaces, the splitting off definitions and oppressive norms, the language and neologisms of an extended vocabulary, fluidity and generosity.
“Placing an exhibition (or, better said, a series of exhibitions of the likes of YOU FEEL ~ AND DRIFT ~ AND SING) in an ‘in-between’ state – fluid, myria-narrative and tentacular – has meant deep collaboration with numerous artistic communities while exploring answers to a few questions: Who are, or who should be, the invited artists given the budget constraint of 30 artistic openings? How can we enable a generous, nuanced and surprising spectrum of queer or queering work in the exhibition? How can we keep a constructive equilibrium between established voices which have consistently been contributing to the queer discourse in Romania and internationally in the two decades in scope, and more recent, emerging voices, with various gender expressions etc?” – explain the members of KILOBASE BUCHAREST.
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (1-245)
Combinatul Fondului Plastic
strada Baiculesti 29, Bucharest
December 4, 2021 – January 19, 2022
Wednesday – Sunday / 1- 7pm / in the period 12- 19 January the exhibition is open daily
Venue 2 / Tentacle A
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (246 – 309) at Suprainfinit Gallery
functions as a repository of a set of hypersensitive sensors of the invisible ~ transparency ~ immaterial. From works using ready-made texts (extracted from a surprising commercial context) as a transmitter of emotions almost indescribable to critical works on unseen aspects that further propagate discrimination of the queer community, from works about ecology to works for healing processes, or works tapping into the potential of the queer imaginary, an immaterial force that can invent new horizons.
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (246 – 309)
Suprainfinit Gallery
strada Mantuleasa 22, Bucharest
December 18, 2021 – February 18, 2022
Wednesday – Sunday / 1- 7pm
Venue 2 / Tentacle B
SIMȚI ~ ALUNECI ~ CÂNȚI (310 – 340) la Spațiul THE INSTITUTE
Having as a guiding light a sample of wisdom signed by RuPaul, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” the exhibition at THE INSTITUTE is expanding in multiple directions the definition of drag by meanings that are twisted ~ unexplored ~ spectral about the gesture ~ ability ~ need to disguise ourselves.
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (310-340)
Spatiul THE INSTITUTE
strada Baiculesti 29, Bucharest
December 18, 2021 – January 30, 2022
Wednesday – Sunday / 1 – 7pm
Venue 4 / Tentacle C
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (341 – 370) at Switch Lab
is an expansive mini-unit with artistic interventions on the archival impulse and with materials on queer topics in Romania in the period 2001-2021.
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (341 – 370)
Switch Lab
strada Brezoianu 23 – 25, Bucharest
December 18, 2021 – January 30, 2022
Wednesday – Friday / noon – 5pm
About TRIUMF AMIRIA
A polymuseum in progress, fluent in multiple artistic languages, TRIUMF AMIRIA – Muzeul Culturii Queer [?] is researching, disseminating, and highlighting queer culture and queer artistic production in Romania.
It is also an ever-changing expression of a complex process of queering ~ critical thinking about what a museum could be, therefore it reveals itself as a hybrid between a real institution possible in the confines of the Romanian context and an ideal construct.
It is the first large-scale queer initiative of its kind in Romania.
TRIUMF AMIRIA is about the past, about the future and often about the unknown.
About the past because one of the goals is to recover the queer artistic production of the two decades that passed from an essential moment in Romania’s recent history: the repeal in 2001 of Article 200 of the Criminal Code, a gesture that meant decriminalizing same sex relationships.
TRIUMF AMIRIA is also about the future because it encourages, contextualizes and advances queer artistic perspectives, queer sensibilities and criticality through exhibitions, workshops, guided tours, theater performances and performances, public readings, parties, networking events in order to deconstruct multiple paradoxes shaping RO realities and beyond. It operates with love and empathy at a hyperbolic power.
To create an extensive space for reflection for and about the local queer culture, TRIUMF AMIRIA works in partnership with major cultural institutions such as the National Museum of Romanian Literature, the National Museum of Contemporary Art and the Replica Educational Theater Center.
Venue 1 / The sphere (main exhibition)
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (1-245)
Combinatul Fondului Plastic
strada Baiculesti 29, Bucharest
December 4, 2021 – January 19, 2022
Exhibition view with works by Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Ioana Nemes, Alex Mirutziu, Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, Stefan Botez, Julio Elvisey Pisica, Adrian Oncu, Lea Rasovszky (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Irina Bujor (backgroud), Alex Mirutziu, Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, Alex Mirutziu (video), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Kilobase Bucharest, Manuel Pelmus (video), Aris Tureac (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Manuel Pelmus (video), Aris Tureac, Liviu Bulea (from left to right), Mihai Lukacs (centre), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Katja Lee Eliad, Limba Semnelor de Intrebare, Alex Mirutziu, Lea Rasovszky (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Veda Popovici, Adrian Oncu, Katja Lee Eliad, Limba Semnelor de Intrebare, Alex Horghidan (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Adrian Oncu, Limba Semnelor de Intrebare, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Katja Lee Eliad, Limba Semnelor de Intrebare, Alex Mirutziu, Ioana Nemes, Lorena Cocioni (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with work by Ileana Pascalau, Lea Rasovszky photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by exhibition view with work by Adrian Oncu, Apparatus 22 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Vasile Muresan Murivale, cinema for video work of Patrick Braila, Alex Bodea, cinema for video work of Adina Pintilie, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Apparatus 22, Farid Fairuz, Stefan Botez (drawing + cinema for video work of Stefan Botez), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Mihai Mihalcea, Vasile Muresan (Murivale), Cornel Brudascu, Miron Schmuckle (from left to right)
Exhibition view with works by Alex Bodea, cinema for video work of Patrick Braila, Luca Istodor (video), Apparatus 22, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, cinema for video work of Adina Pintilie, Ileana Pascalau, Katja Lee Eliad (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Farid Fairuz, Paul Dunca / Paula Dunker, Sorin Oncu, Ioana Nemes (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Irina Bujor, Apparatus 22, Murivale, Stefan Botez (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Andrei Chintila, Katja Lee Eliad, Veda Popovici (from left to right), Irina Bujor (Central) photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Alex Mirutziu, Mihaela Vasiliu, Alex Bodea, Andrei Chintila, (from left to right), Irina Bujor (Central) photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Cornel Brudascu, Flaviu Rogojan, Alex Mirutziu, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Adrian Oncu, Coming Out series 2018, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Works by Liviu Bulea, 2018 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Works by Aris Tureac, 2018 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Ioana Nemes, Monthly Evaluations (12.12.2007), 2011, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Mihai Lukacs, 1996, 2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Lorena Cocioni, Sebaceous glands, 2020 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Apparatus 22, Is there fake in afterlife?, 2012 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Farid Fairuz, Documenting Farid Fairuz, 2010- 2019 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Ileana Pascalau, Blissful Burden, 2019 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Irina Bujor, SHIELD no.2 (TO TEACH GENDER OPENNESS IN SCHOOLS), 2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Georgiana Dobre & Kjersti Vetterstad, Wedding Ceremony, 2018 (video) + Blocul Roz & Mozaiq, 2018-2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Sorin Oncu, Male To Male, 2010 photo: Serioja Bocsok photo: Serioja Bocsok
Alex Bodea, Proud Trans man on a beach, 2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok photo: Serioja Bocsok
Apparatus 22, Above and Beyond series, 2019 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys), Device, 2018 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Alex Mirutziu, Doings for a living, 2018 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Works by Veda Popovici, 2012- 2019 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Flaviu Rogojan, Bagheera, 2021, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Venue 2 / Tentacle A
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (246 -309)
Suprainfinit Gallery
strada Mantuleasa 22, Bucharest
December 18, 2021 – February 18, 2022.
Exhibition view with works by Sorin Oncu, Alex Bodea, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, intervention by Sebastian Moldovan (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Sebastian Moldovan Lend me your ear, 2021 and Stefan Botez. Glory to, 2013 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Sorin Oncu, Last supper meal, 2015 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Adrian Oncu, Apparatus 22. Intervention by Sebastian Moldovan photo: Serioja Bocsok
Works by Ioana Nemes, untitled, 2011 and Sebastian Moldovan, Lend me your ear, 2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Works by Katja Lee Eliad, Kad, 2017 and Veda Popovici Cine a murit? 2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Venue 3 / Tentacle B
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (310-340)
Spatiul THE INSTITUTE
strada Baiculesti 29, Bucharest
December 18, 2021 – January 30, 2022
Exhibition view with works by Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys), Miron Schmückle, Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, Adrian Oncu (centre), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Irina Bujor, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Mihaela Vasiliu (Chlorys), Irina Bujor, Miron Schmückle (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Mihai Mihalcea, Act IV (a disobedient sequence sliding out of context), 2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Ileana Pascalau Chasse, 2017, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Irina Bujor, detail from TV on ACID series, 2019-2021 photo: Serioja Bocsok
Venue 4 / Tentacle C
YOU FEEL ∼ AND DRIFT ∼ AND SING (341 – 370)
Switch Lab
strada Brezoianu 23 – 25, Bucharest
December 18, 2021 – January 30, 2022.
Exhibition view with works by Alex Mirutziu (video), Stefan Botez, Sorin Oncu, photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Sorin Oncu, Mozaiq video archive, TRIUMF AMIRIA archive, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, intervention by Sebastian Moldovan (from left to right), photo: Serioja Bocsok
Exhibition view with works by Patrick Braila, Mihal Lukacs, TRIUMF AMIRIA archive photo: Serioja Bocsok