The exhibition brings together five Romanian video artists whose works contend with Ceausescu's failed utopian social experiments and subsequent dehumanizing conditions, with an emphasis on the reality of built environment and private life in Romania.
Participating artists are Dan Acostioaei, Sebastian Moldovan, Joanne Richardson, Mona Vatamanu and Florin Tudor.
Dan Acostioaei's Reconstructionscapes (2005) and Bahlui by Night (2004) explore the unseen connections between power, economy and identity in his hometown Iasi, alongside the emergence of capitalism.
Sebastian Moldovan's Paris Project (2006) evokes the missing reality of the old Bucharest, known as Little Paris, inspecting notions of nostalgia and transience. His later work Doors (2009) invites the viewer in the intimacy of his surroundings.
Joanne Richardson's In Transit (2008) is a diary of the artist's journey through Romania in the year of its EU accession. The video reflects on the re-writing of history and the link between images and memory.
Mona Vatamanu and Florin Tudor's The Trial, filmed from the national car Dacia 1300, shows the seemingly endless blocks of flats built by the communist regime. In the background, a flat, emotionless voice reads the transcript of Ceausescu's trial in December 1989.
Click here for artists' biographies (Microsoft Word document).
Artist Talk, Fri 4 June, 7pm Dan Acostioaei in conversation with the curators. Chaired by Vlad Morariu - art theorist educated in philosophy (Iasi and Berlin), currently a PhD researcher at the Loughborough University School of the Arts. Morariu is a contributing writer to the IDEA arts+society magazine and member of the Vector Association.
Romanian Pavilion is a collaboration between the Romanian Cultural Institute in London and HotShoe Gallery. Curated by Marcin Dudek and Simona Nastac. Exhibition design by architect Ioana Iliesiu.
When: 14 May - 18 June 2010; Wed-Fri 10am - 5pm; Sat 12 - 5pm; Where: HotShoe Gallery, 29-31 Saffron Hill, Farringdon, London EC1N 8SW; Free entrance.
