The first rural gallery in Romania Cetate Arts Danube is a growing international art center established by Joana Grevers, a medical doctor and art historian, under the aegis of her cultural foundation. Dr. Dr. Grevers is a member of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Advisory Board and of Tate London’s Eastern European Acquisitions Committee as well as the director of 418 Gallery. The center hosts artists from all over the world, supports creative residencies and offers contempo

Capturing Life Stories Ioana Moldovan is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer and the co-founder of the Documentaria.ro. Her photographs were published in renowned international publications, including The New York Times, BBC, Der Spiegel, Libération, ESPN, Al Jazeera English, Huffington Post. By her own confession, telling visual stories represents the meaning of her life, and she hopes that her photographs can help viewers venture into other realms, oft

Living the Concepts Catinca Malaimare (b. 1996) is a London-based performance artist born in Bucharest and a graduate of The Royal Academy of Arts who has developed a personal approach that employs technology in an intimate manner. In her ritualistic live performances and media-connected works, she is particularly interested in body movement and technological mediation. For her, the performative methods constitute a basis for artistic investigations. Catinca sees the STUDIO a

Art as Creative Mythology Alexandru Rădvan (b.1977) is one of the most prominent contemporary Romanian artists, with numerous shows in Romania and abroad, and a professor at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, where he also studies painting under celebrated artist and educator, Florin Mitroi. Preoccupied by the relationship between contemporary society, myths, and ancient religions, he is the author of an extensive series, including works like Imperator, Minotaur, C

In Pursuit of Textures and Tactility Ioana Stanca (b. 1987) belongs to the young generation of Romanian artists. She studied painting at Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, Italy and at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, were she received her B.F.A and M.F.A. In her works, Ioana emphasizes texture and tactility, and this interest has pushed her to expand towards other media besides painting and to focus on different techniques of working with textiles. The sewing mach

Reinventing Urban Spaces Our next guest in the "Studio Conversations' series, Obie Platon, is a street artist based in Bucharest who has carved a well-known reputation for himself in the street art world under the pseudonym Allan Dalla (a play on words which roughy translates as Helter-Skelter). He is a founding member of the URBANART Association, an organization focused on the regeneration through art of underdeveloped urban areas, which numbers many international projects i

Experiment and Self-Discovery Zoiţa Delia Călinescu (b. 1978) is a Romanian visual artist and founder of the artistic community STUP. For her, art is essentially self-knowledge, which makes research and experimentation with various mediums central to the artistic practice. Zoița likes to describe herself as a multidisciplinary artist with a hundred faces hence her creativity is expressed through painting, digital photography, installations, looping videos, performance, and c

The Shapes of Perpetual Movement Ştefan Radu Creţu, our next guest in the “Studio Conversations” series, is a kinetic artist living and working in Sibiu, central Romania, who uses playful elements in order to create innovative sculptural constructions which allude to utopian worlds filled with peculiar creatures. The artist is employing complex technological means to create works that are perpetually mobile, inspired by primitive life forms and endlessly going through differe

Molding the Personality Bianca Mann (b. 1991, Bucharest) belongs to the new generation of Romanian sculptors. She studied Sculpture at the National University of Arts in Bucharest and since 2013 has been a member of the Union of Visual Artists in Romania (UAP). In 2018 Bianca Mann was awarded UAP’s "Youth Award". Bianca's work is developed around the mask seen as a metaphor of identity as well as an opportunity to analyze the perception of images as a way to mold one’s person

Architectural Reflections Aurora Király ( b. 1970), who is teaching at the Department of Photography and Dynamic Image of the National University of the Arts in Bucharest and holds a doctoral degree in Photography, immerses herself in the contemporary artistic phenomenon in different roles: as an artist and as an initiator of cultural and educational projects. We are glad to welcome her to our "Studio Conversations" series, featuring 10 rising stars of the Romanian artistic s

Still playing the game 125 years after the birth of Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (Photo Source: https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/tristan-tzara) “Art is not the most precious manifestation of life. Art has not the celestial and universal value that people like to attribute to it. Life is far more interesting.” - Tristan Tzara Born in Romania as Samuel Rosenstock, poet, essayist, playwright, literary critic, performer, director and composer Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) is the fou

Life as a 24/7 Art Project Today's guest in our “Studio Conversations” series is Ciprian Paleologu (b. 1976), a “Romanian visionary artist” (as he jokingly likes to recommend himself) and the founder of Laborna Gallery, a creative space in Bucharest. He studied painting at the University of the Arts in Bucharest, where he also teaches. Ciprian’s long-time, ongoing artistic focus, called “The Human Project”, began when he was 24 years old and is meant to continue for 24 bienni

Humorous Anti-Aesthetic Drawing The week’s encounter in our Arts Friday’s "Studio Conversations" features Lea Rasovszky (b. 1986), a young yet prolific female artist, graduate of The University of the Arts in Bucharest, whose work is characterized by a fresh message: fierce, brazen, and amused. Enjoying working in a variety of media, LEA RASOVSZKY is fascinated by situations or contexts that don’t bore her: the bodies, the boobs, the sex, the fashion, the kitsch, the bunnies,

Carving the Human Flesh Today's "Studio Conversation" within our Art Fridays series brings us into the creative laboratory of sculptor Cătălin Bădărău, whose haunting creations examine contemporary forms of violence, sufferance, and alienation as unescapable features of our existence. Cătălin Bădărău (b. 1981) is a sculptor and Assistant Professor in the Sculpture Department of the National University of Arts Bucharest’s Faculty of Fine Arts. His sculptural approaches deal wi

The Leads of Metaphysical Restlessness Art Fridays, the aegis of our ongoing visual arts program, debuts “Studio Conversations”, a new online series that offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes access to 10 rising stars of the Romanian artistic scene, uncovering their philosophy and practices, technical approaches, sources of inspiration, and personal stories. Get ready for a close encounter with some amazingly creative individuals, working in a wide range of styles and media,