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.

Naked Traian or yet another failed monument in Bucharest

The most recent monument inaugurated in Bucharest belongs to the sculptor Vasile Gorduz and shows the Roman emperor Traian naked and holding the symbol of the Roman and Dacian fusion (the wolf/snake). This depiction, placed on the steps of the Museum of National History has been greeted by all sorts of jokes and derision as authorities themselves fight each other (the current mayor Oprescu and the director of the museum Oberlander Tarnoveanu). I raised this issue before: why not a more interactive form of decision concerning public monuments? This time the cost of the project is not so enormous as for previous recent monuments but still the issue remains. Why inaugurate (as the mayor Oprescu announced) an entire series of monuments dedicated to the fusion of Romans and Dacians (oh so dear to the protochronism of the 1970s-1980s)? Why "tradition" and our "glorious" history are the only things politicians have in mind when public art is concerned? Contemporary art still seems rather an extraterrestrial form of art for Romanian public authorities.

 The statue has already been ridiculed in social media as the picture shown below testifies

by Julien Britnic (Facebook)

From Lenin to Deng Xiaoping: statues in Romania

Who decides in Romania where and whom shall be represented in the public space? This is the question. A recent decision taken by the local administration of the city of Bistrita in the northern part of Romania has puzzled me. They decided to build a statue of Deng Xiaoping in the Independence Square motivating that they received an address from the county' prefect...

If we take a look at the case of Bucharest we discover that the Bucharest Mayor has a "Scientific Council of the Administration of Monuments" (?!) that decides what personality should be represented. My puzzlement comes after two controversial decisions to (re)build in Bucharest the statue of King Carol (which cost was of 3 million Euro) on its former pre-communist site (realized by sculptor Florin Codre) and to place in front of the Bucharest National Theater (TNB) a equally costly project (worth 800.000 Euros) called "Caragialiana" by Ioan Bolborea and inspired by Romanian playwright I.L. Caragiale. Both projects were questioned by contemporary artists as part of their public interventions. See more about it on their website.

Let's not forget Bucharest is already scarred by such monuments as the "Memorial of rebirth - Eternal glory to the heroes and to the Romanian revolution of December 1989" (!) by Alexandru Ghildus also known as "the olive" or "the potato" failing to achieve the status of an obelisk the author intended so as to remember the heroes of the Romanian revolution of 1989 in the Revolution Square.

I ask why isn't a form of public consultation imagined before building such unrepresentative monuments and why isn't there more transparency in what concerns the selection of personalities to be remembered as well as in what concerns the authors of these projects.

Art and politics in (post)communism. Special issue of Studia Politica

I have edited a special issue of the journal Studia Politica. Romanian Journal of Political Science with the title Art and politics in (post)communism.

The selection of articles published in this special issue shows the plurality of foci and approaches the study of art and politics entails. The interrogations this special issue addresses situate communist art (visual arts, film) and culture in their connections to politics in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Several reviews of essential texts of art and politics accompany this special issue.

Propaganda zilnica invizibila. Sablonul gandirii unice

Am scris un text cu acest titlu "Propaganda zilnica invizibila. Sablonul gandirii unice" pentru cel de-al doilea volum din Grafica fara computer editat de niste oameni entuziasti de la Atelierul de Grafica. Ideea acestui nou volum era documentarea tipurilor de scris prezente inca in spatiul nostru public, majoritatea fiind create in perioada regimului comunist. De la firmele pentru magazinele Nufarul, Paine, Alimentara, Cinematograf si asa mai departe, la tabilitele - facute de mana sau produse in serie - de protectia muncii. Se alatura colectiei afisele de propaganda si enunturile politice. Trecutul vinde inca si el este inca accesibil in spatiul nostru public, este inca frecventabil desi incet dispare. Undeva intre nostalgie si necesara colectionare a semnelor trecutului se afla si acest volum.

2nd CFP: Studia Politica, Special issue on “Art and politics” no 4/2011

We invite contributions for a special issue of Studia Politica that explores the relationship between art and politics in postcommunist contexts. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches of these topics in English, French or Romanian.

We are especially interested in submissions that situate communist art and culture in their connections to politics in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Questions contributors might address include, but are not limited to:

How were artistic institutions transformed by the changes of regime?

How did the double transition (political and economic) affect the artistic domain?

How are artistic discourses transformed in the aftermath of communism?

How is the communist past deconstructed by artists?

Which is, comparatively, the approach of the post-communist states towards the artistic world?

Approaches of the various artistic contexts during the communist period are also welcomed.

Submission Guidelines: the articles should have 40.000 characters (including spaces).

Please consult our Author Guidelines before submitting your article at:http://www.studiapolitica.eu/Author-guidelines.

The deadline to submit your articles is November 5, 2011.

The editor, Caterina Preda may be contacted at: caterina.preda@studiapolitica.eu