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Art and Politics in Postcommunist Romania: Changes and Continuities

2012; Routledge; Volume: 42; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10632921.2012.726550

1930-7799

Caterina Preda,

Post-Communist Economic and Political Transition

Abstract Artists are the first ones to react to their environment and to articulate a protest. Recent Romanian contemporary art questions the way communism is remembered or forgotten and the manner in which the postcommunist society was organized. This study uses the approach of politics and the arts to analyze both institutions and artistic discourses in Romania after 1989 in order to show how an artistic space is rebuilt after a dictatorial experience. The conclusions show that artists interrogate the "reconstruction" of democratic institutions and discourses on solid communist bases. Keywords: artpoliticspostcommunismRomania Acknowledgments This work was supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/89/1.5/S/62259, under the project category "applied social, human and political sciences. Postdoctoral training and postdoctoral fellowships in social, human and political sciences." It was cofinanced by the European Social Fund within the Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007–2013. Notes 1. Union of Romanian Writers (USR; 1949), Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania (UCRM; 1949), Union of Visual Artists (UAP; 1950), Union of Architects of RPR/RSR (UARPR/UARSR; 1948−1952). At a later date, musicians, filmmakers and theater artists were organized inside the Association of Theater and Music People and The Association of Filmmakers of Romania (1963). 2. I can't agree with Stefan Toepler's observation (2000, 14) concerning Central and Eastern Europe that "cultural life under Communism was all but restricted to the state-run industries and institutions" for the Romanian case. The party-state structures were fundamental in the articulation of the artistic world. Raţiu (2007) also acknowledges the hyper-centralized administration of culture. 3. "Maecenatus" refers to the encouragement of patronage or art sponsorship through tax incentives. See Raţiu 2006, 11. 4. Three movies were released in 2006: 12:08 East of Bucharest, directed by Corneliu Porumboiu; How I Spent the En­d of the World, directed by Cătălin Mitulescu; and The Paper Will be Blue, directed by Radu Muntean. In 2007, another Romanian production, Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days (directed by Cristi Mungiu), which evoked the difficulties encountered by women following the Decree/Law no 770/1966 that forbade abortions, won the Palme d'Or in the Cannes 2007 Film Festival. Tales from the Golden Age, a collective work coordinated by Mungiu released in 2009, deals with this same communist past. 5. Statistical Annual Reference book by the National Center of Cinematography (2010). 6. "Cristian Mungiu: Interview." See http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/story/61/1561.html. 7. After 1990, the Romanian Cultural Foundation, closely following the nationalist approach typical of the communist conceptualizaiton of culture, functioned as a cultural embassy. Then, in 2003, it was reorganized as the ICR under the auspices of the Romanian president, with its own revenues and budget. Since 2005, it has been under the direction of Horia Roman Patapievici, who replaced Augustin Buzura, the president since 1990. The presidency of Patapievici has seen a diversification of the ICR programs and a highly evaluated Romanian presence in different international cultural events. 8. The two exhibitions are the Nuclear Fairy (Linda Barkasz), IRLO (Laurenţiu Alexandrescu), and Omar (Marwan Anbaki) "Freedom for Lazy People" exhibition (June 18−August 15, 2008, ICR New York); and the Alexandru Radavan and Tara von Neudarf "The Last Temptation" exhibition organized by ICR at "Days of Romanian Culture in the Ruhr Basin" (September 21−26, 2008, Bochum). 9. A denunciation to the city police for the anti-Semitic character of the show by a minor newspaper of the exiled Romanian community in New York brought about a visit by police officers to the exhibition. This nonexistent problem was hyperbolized in Romania, especially through the talk shows of one of the TV channels (Antena 3) owned by a leader of the political opposition in Romania. The attack especially concerned the leader of the ICR, Horia Roman Patapievici, a supporter of the current president, Traian Bãsescu. 10. See "Freedom for Lazy People," ICRNY, http://www.icrny.org/110-Freedom_for_Lazy_People_.html. 11. See the website of the project, www.forma12.com/archiveofpain/pag_events.htm. 12. See website of the project, http://www.frescapentruromania.ro/ 13. See Catrin Lundqvist writing on Stefan Constantinescu's blog, http://www.stefan-constantinescu.com/index.php?/works/an-infinite-blue/. 14. See "Romanian Art Infiltrates London," fluxmagazine, September 28, 2011, http://www.fluxmagazine.com/index.php/arts/romanian-art/. 15. See Dan Popescu, "Indicator de sãnãtate culturalã," Dilema Veche, no. 119, May 5, 2006. 16. See interview with Dumitru Gorzo, Metropotam, November 7, 2006.