Calendar

On THU, September 12, on the occasion of the #doijoi Bucharest event series, we invite you to meet the members of INSERT, a community of publishers, authors, booksellers, curators and readers gathered around art publishing, initiated in 2024 in Bucharest. On this occasion, INSERT is open to all those interested in joining the discussion in a light format, next to a selection of art books published by the group members.

The 2024 IP COLLEGIUM masterclass is centred on book design following the Institute’s interest in a continued support of professionals towards developing new routes of visual representation and readership in the field of art publishing in connection with its editorial programme, P+4 Publications.

On 19 October, from 18:00 at FABER, the PENINSULA laboratory opens to the public and all those interested for a discussion dedicated to the PERFORMING 89 exhibition in its very space, together with the group members in 2023: Bianca Băilă, Otilia Galescu, Alex Luca, Cristina Potra-Mureșan, Adina Ștefănescu, Mihai Toth.

“What motivates artists? What motivates people to change something? How do we get to change the world? An imaginary journey through time—we will discuss how it used to be in Romania and the surrounding area, how times have changed and why. We write, we draw, we mask ourselves and maybe we plan a better world.”—These are the questions and proposals that the artist Gavril Pop makes to the pupils for the third thematic workshop in the frame of the “Performing 89” exhibition.

The second in the connected series of workshops in the frame of the “Performing 89” exhibition and conceived by artist Mihai Toth, “We Reconstruct Ideas” proposes a route for exploring spaces and objects of an intimate-personal nature, which we assimilate, research and rethink together in the presence of the installations and works of the artists in the exhibition.

The artist selected for the September Collegium residency is Liliana Basarab, who researches the work of artistei OMARA – Mara Oláh (1945–2020) one of the best-known Roma artists from Hungary. The residency includes a research period, open process laboratory and discussions, as well as an informal presentation/ artist talk on October 2, 2023.

At the invitation of the Institute of the Present, in connection to the Performing 89 exhibition hosted by FABER in Timișoara, De-a Arhitectura’s workshops bring together urban detectives to find out everything they can about familiar places and things we see all around us, which are turned into art to help us understand everyday reality.

The opening is scheduled on September 7 at 18:00, with the participation of the guest artists and is followed by a concert with Șuie Paparude, featuring Zimbru, which marks the opening of the exhibitions PERFORMING 89, organised by The Institute of the Present, and BRIGHT CITYSCAPES: Turn Signals—Design is not a Dashboard, organised by FABER and the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, events taking place on the same day.

On September 7, 2023, The Institute of the Present opens PERFORMING 89. STATES OF DISILLUSION, an exhibition that weaves together some of the intricate storylines of the nineties which emerged in the light of political and social turns occurring after 1989.

How is history becoming movement, how is a theme or an interest becoming movement, what can be uttered through movement and what procedures to use are the issues at the core of the “Lucky Dust” performance, created by Vera Mantero, Mădălina Dan and Ștefania Ferchedău, in a Romanian-Portuguese coproduction by The Institute of the Present and O Rumo do Fumo.

With the help of simple elements and tools, by being placed in a given space and with a series of instructions for use, the installation is activated by the workshop participants, who become in turn players and observers, experiencing ways in which movement can generate meaning both in action and in visual representation.

The artists selected for the May 2023 residencies are Gavril Pop, researching the activity of group Alb16 from Timișoara, and Silvia Amancei & Bogdan Armanu, researching the action “The Appropriation (of Land) Committee” (Dan Perjovschi, 1992, Timișoara). The residencies include a research period, open process laboratories and discussions, as well as an informal presentation/ artist talk on May 27.

The Institute of the Present opens in May a process-based exhibition dedicated to the design practices introduced by Maria Borțoi and Ioana Petcu in their work with the P+4 books. In this frame, the P+4 Publications become a starting point for developing new concepts for design and communication towards the public/readers, offering new routes of visual representations and readership.

THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE continues with the intervention of artist Ana Maria Micu, a work which is on show in the month of March. The 2023 edition of these interventions is part of the Institute’s artist-in-residence programme.

Launch of the 2023 residency call aimed at researching and rediscussing artworks created in the early 1990s in Romania, Hungary and Serbia, open to artists from any European country working in visuals arts, performance, theatre, dance, or music.

The Institute of the Present exhibits in the opening days of Timișoara 2023 a series of film-interviews with Adriana Babeți, Livius Ciocârlie, Ingo Glass, Diet Sayler, Laurențiu Ruță, Dan Mihălțianu, George Săbău. The films are produced in the frame of “Parkour Video.”

Anamaria Pravicencu proposes for THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE a sound performance inspired by the encounter with the publications from the Parkour collection. With sound occupying the space of the Institute of the Present, the artist’s performance is closely related to her concerns for site-specific sound interventions and field recording, but also to the way the visual and the word can trigger sound experiences and events.

We can only observe the past. In each and every moment the present we are inhabiting becomes the past for somebody else. The same can be said in relation to the way our gaze meets the immensity of the universe or the personal histories. The distance travelled by the gaze to meet its object turns everything into past.

The series of artistic interventions “Mimicking/Mining Normality,” dedicated to the Institute of the Present’s working space in the frame of THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE, continues with the work of artist Lea Rasovszky, which is on show between 14 October–12 November 2022.

IP—The Institute of the Present organises a residency programme aimed at researching and rediscussing artworks created in the early 1990s in Romania, Hungary and Serbia. The artists selected in the 2022 call are Neda Kovinić, researching “The Sadness” by ŠKART Group, 1992–1993; and Andrea Palašti, researching “Frozen Art” by Led Art Group, 1993–1994.

In the frame of THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE, in the monthly Open House event series, dedicated to the P+4 Publications editorial programme, the guest for the encounter in October is poet and artist Vasile Leac. On October 8, between 16:00–20:00, the workspace of the Institute of the Present will become Vasile Leac’s studio, where visitors can watch him perform a series of live interventions based on P+4 Publications, transforming them into customised collectable editions.

A new encounter around the P+4 Publications programme accompanied this time by a personal timeline of the publications to which Ștefania Ferchedău and Alina Șerban have contributed or have realised starting from 1999, individually or in collaboration. All titles will be available for consultation.

In the frame of THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE, we are opening the series of artistic interventions „Mimicking/Mining Normality”, dedicated to the Institute of the Present’s working space, with the works conceived by artist Cristian Răduță, which can be seen between 1.9–1.10.2022.

In the frame of THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE, in the Open House event series dedicated to the P+4 Publications editorial programme, our guest in July is artist Ciprian Mureșan, in an informal setting featuring the Of Puppets and Humans (2015) book. The visitors of the space may browse through the publication and watch in video version some of the works discussed in it: Untitled (2015), I’m Protesting Against Myself (2011) and Dog Luv (2009).

The Institute of the Present puts forward, starting with 2022, a series of interventions taking place in its own working studio in Bucharest, addressing the present and triggered by the way in which the independent artistic platforms and artists choose to respond to the energies of the context in which they operate. THIS IS NOT AN ARTSPACE is conceived as a place for dialogue, sharing of individual and collective experiences that are hosted in the septic terrain of the white cube, but in a working studio of 50 sqm.

Launch of the Institute of the Present’s residency call aimed at researching and rediscussing artworks created in the late 1980s and the early 1990s in Romania, the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Hungary, together with their contexts, the (temporary) artistic collectives or solitary initiatives conceived as solutions for new gestures, sometimes utopic at their time.

The Institute of the Present continues the lecture series in connection with the exhibition “The Modern Idol. Henry Moore in the Eastern Bloc” open at the National Museum of Art of Romania. The lecture given by Celia Ghyka looks at the influence that the 1966 Henry Moore exhibition organised by the British Council at the Dalles Hall in Bucharest would have on the local production of sculpture.

Devoted to the contextualisation and sharing of resources on recent histories of art from the former socialist space—some happening very close to us, as Timișoara is situated at the border with former Yugoslavia—this programme in the frame of the “Uncensored Act” project revisits some of the singular forms of collective engagement, artistic experimentation and communication, self-management and visual thinking in the Eastern Bloc.

In the frame of the „Uncensored Act” programme and in connection with the participation at SIT+READ | Independent Artbook Fair, we propose a different encounter of the public with P+4 Publications, the editorial programme developed by the Institute of the Present. Through our publications, focusing on personalities in different art disciplines, we will bring to the forefront artworks featured either visually, analysed or discussed in our books.

The first lecture series in connection with the exhibition “The Modern Idol. Henry Moore in the Eastern Bloc” takes place on October 15 at the Czech Centre Bucharest. The lectures given by art historians Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius (PL/UK), Daniel Véri (HU) and Lujza Kotočová (CZ-SK) discuss the context of the Henry Moore exhibitions in Eastern Europe between 1950-1960s.

The Institute of the Present and the National Museum of Art of Romania open the exhibition “The Modern Idol. Henry Moore in the Eastern Bloc”. Conceived in a documentary format, the exhibition proposes a contextualisation of the Henry Moore exhibition taken on tour to Bucharest, Bratislava, Prague and Budapest in 1966–67. The exhibition is a collective research project, being initiated by art historians Alina Șerban (Bucharest), Daniel Véri (Budapest) and Lujza Kotočová (Prague).

Adam Lockhart’s lecture will follow the progress that has been made by researchers at Duncan of Jordanstone Art and Design, University of Dundee to uncover films and videos from Richard Demarco’s archive, the digitisation process and their re-activation for further research and exhibition.

The lecture series in the frame of “Uncensored Act” programme in Timișoara opens with an event dedicated to artist Katalin Ladik, Hungarian-born poet and performer, born in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (Serbia) and who lives in Budapest since 1992, has been rediscovered in Hungary and globally post-2010.

The Institute of the Present launches its “Uncensored Act” long-term programme in Timișoara with a performance by internationally renowned Portuguese choreographer, Vera Mantero, presented in partnership with the German State Theatre Timișoara. The work, created for the Encontros do Devir Festival in Faro, was developed around the process of desertification/ dehumanisation of the Caldeirão Mountain, in the interior of Algarve (south of Portugal).

Looking Forward, Looking Back #14 talk will focus on Martin Nachbar’s concepts and processes involved in working with history and reconstructions of historical works, the stability of remembering, of the material to recover, while digging for it, clues, triggers and proofs and how they transform or become something else in shaping a choreographic content.

The 2021 edition of Collegium proposes the workshop Dancing Archives, held by Martin Nachbar, and is focusing on somatic, choreographic and academic approaches to dance reconstruction and other ways of remembering. The workshop will look at how bodies can function as archives that store, remember, actualise, but also forget and get rid of movement patterns, and of connected memories as well as imaginations.

The second regional event organised by the Institute of the Present takes on an investigative itinerary dedicated to the multiple strategies of artistic research and alternative historiographies which emerged in the East-European and non-Western regions starting from the end of the 1950s and continuing until the beginning of the 1980s. The event is organised in partnership with the Július Koller Society (Bratislava) and the Polish Institute (Bucharest).

The 2020 edition of the IP Collegium engages participants in an online reflection process. The exploration will be guided by a presentation of works to reflect on the specificities of the time and space of artworks for exhibition, for theatre, for public spaces and how they condition the artworks production and their experience in Public.

The Institute of the Present (IP) presents a new edition of its lecture series Looking Forward, Looking Back, in the series of events connected to the exhibition 24 Arguments. Early Encounters in Romanian Neo-Avant-Garde 1969-1971 open at the National Museum of Art of Romania between November 7, 2019 – February 2, 2020.

The exhibition gathers over 2 years of research in a variety of archives, public and private collections and libraries from Romania and abroad, artists interviews, representing the first event realised as a direct manifestation of research, envisioned as part of a series of exhibition projects showcasing the arts and culture of the 1960-1970s.

The Institute of the Present (IP) presents a new edition of its lecture series Looking Forward, Looking Back, the first in the series of events connected to the exhibition 24 Arguments. Early Encounters in Romanian Neo-Avant-Garde 1969-1971 open at the National Art Museum of Romania between November 7, 2019 – February 2, 2020.

The Institute of the Present opens in the frame of its research programmes a layer of action dedicated to the revisiting of pieces and events that have marked the local artistic landscape in the field of modern and contemporary dance. In 2019, in direct relation with the exhibition 24 Arguments. Early Encounters in Romanian Neo-Avant-Garde 1969–1971, the Institute present a performative event based on a reintepretation of the Genesis piece by choreographer Miriam Răducanu, signed by artist Mădălina Dan.

The Institute of the Present and the National Museum of Art of Romania open the exhibition 24 Arguments. Early Encounters in Romanian Neo-Avant-Garde 1969–1971. This is the first event of a cycle conceived by the Institute of the Present and dedicated to the visual and performing art of the 1960s and 1970s in Romania.
Artists: Horia Bernea, Ion Bitzan, Liviu Ciulei, Radu Dragomirescu, Șerban Epure, Pavel Ilie, Ritzi Jacobi, Peter Jacobi, Ovidiu Maitec, Paul Neagu, Miriam Răducanu, Diet Sayler, Radu Stoica, Vladimir Șetran, Grupul Sigma

The Institute of the Present (IP) presents the sixth edition of its lecture series Looking Forward, Looking Back, the second dedicated to questions opened up by the recent historiographies of textile art in Eastern European and international space during 1960–1980, a period which determined a paradigm shift in regards to the use, interpretation and theoretical and artistic questioning of the medium

The Institute of the Present (IP) announces a new event as part of its lecture series Looking Forward, Looking Back. The 5th event in this series is dedicated to questions opened up by the recent historiographies of textile art in Eastern European and international space during 1960–1980, a period which determined a paradigm shift in regards to the use, interpretation and theoretical and artistic questioning of the medium.

The Institute of the Present launches at this end of July the new issues of the Parkour micro-publication series published in Romanian and English and dedicated to artists Lucian Meţianu, Diet Sayler, Miriam Răducanu (second edition, revised). The event will take place on July 30, 19:00 at Modul Cărturești.

The Institute of the Present (IP) presents in the frame of its lecture series Looking Forward, Looking Back an artist talk with Portuguese choreographer, Vera Mantero. The event is organised in connection with a week-long workshop, Collegium—a new layer of action within the Institute’s educational programme centred on the artists’ engagement with pedagogy and other forms of reflection upon the process of working.

The Institute of the Present (IP) continues in 2019 its Lecture Series Looking Forward, Looking Back. The 3rd event is dedicated to questions opened up by the recent historiographies of performance in Eastern European art, which are provoking a theoretical interrogation of the medium’s paradigms of interpretation. The two lectures plead for a contextualised re-reading of performance art in the region…

IP—The Institute of the Present introduces COLLEGIUM—a new layer of action within its educational programme centred on the artists’ engagement with pedagogy and other forms of reflection upon the process of working. With each edition conceived in the form of a week-long workshop for professionals from Romania and the countries of Eastern Europe, COLLEGIUM puts forward a knowledge-resource space, advocating for a confrontational field featuring a variety of practices of performance and visual arts…

IP—The Institute of the Present announces in the frame of its research strand the first Regional Meeting dedicated to the issue of history writing in Eastern European post-war art from the viewpoint of each local culture’s referential field. The two-day conference gathers recognized scholars and researchers in the region and beyond. The event is intended to take place biannually, addressing each time a specific topic.

The Institute of the Present (IP) continues in the frame of the project Atlas of Personal Accounts the series of lectures Looking Forward, Looking Back. Departing from a closer look on artists’ concern with historicisation, with reassesment of models and narratives in the history of art and culture, with exploration of the dialogical dimension of the past and subjective envision of the future, the project introduces innovative approaches to recent art practice and theory.

The Institute of the Present (IP) opens a series of workshops entitled The World According to…, a component of the Atlas of Personal Accounts. Within the framework of these workshops, artistic intention is a key term for investigating and reading the vocabulary of artistic practices generated in a specific cultural context. Each workshop follows a script, a choreography of personal archives, carefully organised together with each of the artists around a number of themes or key concepts.

The Institute of the Present (IP) launches the series of lectures Looking Forward, Looking Back. Centered on questions around (art) historical canons, artistic production, on the transfer, reception and circulation of contents, materials and ideas in a given cultural environment and geopolitical reality, the lectures aim at opening a discussion about the afterlife of histories and the role played by artists in reshaping our understanding of a possible future.

The Institute of the Present (IP) starts in 2017 its research and educational programme dedicated to the recording of artistic facts, events, objects and situations that have defined the history of visual and performing arts in Romania starting from the late 1960s until today, with the project Atlas of Personal Accounts.