The digital (artistic) memory of Nicolae Ceausescu

This is the title of the chapter I published as part of the volume entitled "Memory, Conflict and New Media" edited by Ellen Rutten, Julie Fedor and Vera Zvereva and which came out at Routledge in May 2013. My chapter presents the varied presence of the former Romanian dictator in online spaces along with artistic interpretations of his portrait that seem to have become the obsession of Romanian contemporary artists. You can see the book here and my text scanned on my Academia page here. Below is one of the images included in my text by Adrian Ghenie. 

Adrian Ghenie, Study for Boogyman, 2010

Sub supraveghere (artistica). Relatia artistilor cu Securitatea

Am scris un articol despre dubla supraveghere din perioada comunista: cea arhicunoscuta a politiei secrete, dar si cea interprinsa in paralel de artisti. A aparut in no 1 din 2013 al revistei Studia Politica si il puteti citi aici

Ion Grigorescu, Electoral meeting, 1975

Art and politics in postcommunist Romania: changes and continuities

I wrote an article, Art and politics in postcommunist Romania: changes and continuities  for the Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society that discusses how 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.

Ciprian Murean

Artistic critiques of modern dictatorships

I wrote an article called Artistic critiques of modern dictatorships for the latest number of The European Legacy that discusses how under a political dictatorship it is primarily from the margins that an artistic critique can be articulated, as suggested by the examples presented  from Romania and Chile during the 1970s and 1980s. By focusing on their threefold marginality—of the artist, the art form, and the subject of art—and by applying to them Jacques Rancière's concept of dissensus, the analysis of artistic variants of marginality sheds light on the relationship of art and politics in totalitarian regimes.

Ion Grigorescu, La Inchisoare (In prison, 1978)

Civil society activism and authoritarian rule in Romania and Chile. Evidence for the role played by art(ists)

I wrote a chapter about "Civil society activism and authoritarian rule in Romania and Chile. Evidence for the role played by art(ists)" in  Civil Society Activism under Authoritarian Rule (Routledge 2012) edited by Francesco Cavatorta and that you can order here: http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780415692649/.

László Újvárossy, Chestnut Self-portrait, 1983, photography, dimensions variable

Iron Curtain Graphics

Iron Curtain Graphics is a beautiful volume edited by the Atelierul de Grafica and published by the prestigious publishing house Gestalten. The volume presents communist posters and has four sections: Propaganda, Labour Safety, Culture & Entertainment, Education & Science. I wrote one of the introductory texts called "Invisible daily propaganda. The template for uniform thought" that states how this type of propaganda tool was useless as all the posters and images became invisible for the majority of citizens. The intention of the authors of the project, Ciprian Isac and Carla Duschka, was to safeguard these images from total erasure and oblivion. A series of interesting details came up while writing the text for this book: the details of the communist décor are still present while being invisible. These details of the bygone epoch still present were accompanied by a "double life" people had - an official one and a private, personal one. The involuntary comicality of some of the labour safety enouncements makes propaganda even more ridiculous than it appeared at the time. The aesthetic value of these signs of the still present past is certain and merits to be saved, documented, showed.

The volume can be bought on the website of Gestalten or in Bucharest at the Bookstore Carturesti.

One too many statues

This is my third post about an unwanted statue. This time things are even more problematic then  before. The latest controversial statue is that of the poet/politician Adrian Paunescu known especially for his praising of Nicolae Ceausescu and the socialist republic; also leader of the Cenaclul Flacara, he was a politician after 1990 as a representative of the socialist party (PSM) and then of the social-democrat party (PDSR/PSD). His most important role after 1990 was as head of the Commission for Culture of the Senate. Thus, his influence in both communist and post-communist culture was quite important.

As his legacy is quite divisive in post-communist Romania why did one of the mayors of Bucharest decide to inaugurate just before local elections his bust? My question being rhetorical I think Paunescu represents for some nostalgic Romanians one of the greatest poets of the XXc, his verses are known by heart and can be heard in very diverse TV shows when the topic discussed concerns "our nation's great destiny" (this is one of the typical communist phrases of the protochronist period). For others, he represents all the evil the Ceausescu regime created: false values and false idols, accentuated nationalism and arrivisme. Yet, in our city, the first win; every time. Their perspective is officialized by local authorities such as the current mayor Necolai Ontanu. And this is what counts and should concern us all.

The photo belongs to Vlad Petri.