POST

by Fabrizio Mifsud Soler.

All photos courtesy of Triade Foundation

Does today’s Romanian sculpture still retain the freshness and innovation it once did with Brâncuṣi? What is left to explore after trailblazers have completed their path? The after SCULPTURE/SCULPTURE after project proposes to answer these and several other questions through a series of events forming part of the Timișoara European Capital of Culture 2023 programme.

For centuries, sculpture has been understood as a monument, as a symbolic and religious representation meant to imprint a place, a character, or a memorable event on our consciousness. after SCULPTURE/SCULPTURE after explores the contemporary validity of these conventions and whether or not they are still maintained.

The curatorial concept of the project is built on the premise that, in contemporary art, the three-dimensional object may have exceeded its material condition or limits. For this reason, the selected exhibits are based on sculptural objects but pursue an extension of plastic expression: extending and interfering with other forms of expression or creative media such as installation, land art, site-specific interventions and performance.

Morphosis exhibition_ph.Federico_Florian

This kaleidoscopic presentation of the evolution of Romanian sculpture is carried out through four separate exhibitions:

Monumental and Ephemeral: Sculpted Memory approaches the historical-thematic perspective of Romanian sculpture with the archetype of the column as a starting point. Multiple iterations of the column in Romanian sculpture over the years are presented.

The second part of the project, Living Matter, aims to explore the relationship between materials that do not fit within the classical canon of sculpture. It highlights new forms of interpretation and perception of spatial dimension.

Volume by Layers proposes a dialogue between artists who approach the process of adding or subtracting layers according to Michelangelo’s vision of bringing form to light from the informality of matter.

Finally, Sparks in the Dark, is set to present six artists or groups of artists, selected through open call, who will create a spatial intervention or performative process with the goal of linking the idea of space degradation to that of revitalization through art. The entire segment is expected to be viewed as a growing and changing organism that inhabits and defines the space.