The exhibitions envisioned by Judit Angel (1963, Arad) certainly remain a reference point on the map of Romanian art during the 1990s. Innovative in the way they managed to integrate contemporary art into the museum discourse and reopen the art institution to society, they also constitute a turning point in terms of curatorial practice in Romania. Through the projects initiated by Judit Angel at the Arad Art Museum, the position of the curator acquires new values within the local public sphere and new responsibilities that engage not only the relationship with the artistic and institutional environment, but also with the social and symbolic context of the period.

Through a series of emblematic exhibitions Art Unlimited Ltd. (1994), Inter(n) (1995) and complexul muzeal (1996), Judit Angel managed to insert contemporary art into the network of ideological permutations and transformations characteristic of the transition times. The exhibition strategy, respectively the concerns and desires of these years, are discussed by Judit Angel in this interview. The undertaken curatorial mechanism, that of reviving the public institution and connecting it to the present, transformed the exhibition into a territory of reflection, circulation of artistic values and social dialogue. It was remodelled, to a large extent, into a channel of communication with the public and response to certain life situations.

Interview: Alina Șerban
Photographs: © Florin Hornoiu, Zsolt Barabás, Iosif Király, Dan Mihălțianu
Artworks in order of appearance: © Dan Perjovschi, Dan Mihălțianu, Călin Man, Teodor Graur, Sorin Vreme, subREAL, Lia Perjovschi, Matei Bejenaru, Dan Mihălțianu, Sándor Bartha, Dan Perjovschi
Archive: © Judit Angel
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Camera: Juraj Mydla
Video editing: Dan Iordache
Subtitles: Diana Bularca, Ștefania Ferchedău
Music: Lucian Meţianu, Pythagoreis, 1970
Parkour & IP visual identity: Radu Manelici
Parkour Video visuals: Sebastian Pren

Bratislava, 2023

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Film produced in the frame of the projects “Uncensored Act” and “Performing 89”.

The project is part of the national cultural programme “Timișoara—European Capital of Culture in the year 2023” and is funded by the Municipality of Timișoara, through the Center for Projects. Cultural project co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

The project does not necessarily represent the standpoint of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN cannot be held liable for the content of the project or the manner in which the outcomes of the project may be used. These shall devolve entirely on the beneficiary of the financing.