Romanian artists shout Li-ber-ta-te! Cво-бо-да! Free-dom! in Sofia, Bulgaria 35 yrs since the communism fall

• The ArtSociety Foundation, in partnership with the Union of Bulgarian Artists, invites the public to an exhibition in which the recent historical past of Romania and Bulgaria is brought into discussion in the context of the 35^th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.
• Li-ber-ta-te! Cво-бо-да! Free-dom! is a concept-exhibition presenting about 20 Romanian artists for the first time in Sofia. Sabin Bălașa, Felix Aftene, Andrei Chintilă, Irina Dragomir, Ondine Slimovschi, Georges Mazilu, Mihai Mureșan and Robert Lörincz are just some of them – from established artists to the young ones, reflecting several phases of Romanian contemporary art.
• The exhibition will be open at Sofia Press Gallery in the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia from the 2 to the 29^th of September 2024. The curator of the exhibition is Aleksandra Mitseva.

Li-ber-ta-te! Cво-бо-да! Free-dom! visually addresses Romania’s recent past, presenting illustrative artistic representations of the way in which accepting one’s history, the issue of freedom and understanding personal experiences in a world of transition are matters of interest for the Romanian artistic world.

Considering that the Bulgarian public will find here visual motifs from a common spectrum, the exhibition aims to invite to an intercultural dialogue that will bring the two cultural spaces closer together.

Freedom approached from multiple angles, through a variety of mediums

The idea of freedom is addressed from multiple perspectives, rather raising fundamental questions that explore the meaning of freedom 35 years after the fall of the Soviet Bloc. The concept of freedom is approached by the selected artists from various angles, capturing different themes, such as intimacy, the oneiric, rebellion, anguish, lyricism or solitude.

Many of the works on display are most often interpreted through metaphor and symbols, but sometimes, as in the case of George Anghelescu, references to real historical events or characters anchor the viewer in the dramatic past (whether recent or distant).

On the other hand, the freedom understood as an inner experience, in spite of all constraints, or the freedom perceived as a form of escape into a world of imagination and dreams is reflected in the works of Felix Aftene, Irina Dragomir, Georges Mazilu and Ondine Slimovschi. Sabin Bălașa, Andrei Chintilă and Marcel Guguianu are inspired by the theme of intimacy as a space of inviolable but fragile freedom. In contrast, the works of Petre Velicu, Heidi Tradnik, Octavian Ioan Penda, Mihai Mureșan and Robert Lörincz focus on issues such as anguish, suffering, alienation and loneliness, posing the question of the limits of individual freedom and the difficulty of finding meaning in an ever-changing world.

In addition to the diversity of angles from which the concept of freedom is approached, another unique aspect of the exhibition is the variety of mediums of artistic expression, from abstract painting to figurative art, from drawing to sculpture and object. At the same time, the selection of artists is quite extensive, from established to young artists, passing through several phases of contemporary art and reflecting the curatorial vision, which assumes a courageous discourse on freedom.

Opening: Monday, September 2, 6 p.m.

Address: Sofia, 1000, 29 Slavyanska St

Working hours: Monday – Friday, 10:30 – 18:30

This project is cofinanced by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the Cantemir Programme – a funding framework for cultural projects intended for the international environment.