Images of the Good Life in the East
Exhibition and Forum
Chișinău, 14-28 September 2024
Exhibition participants: Darya Tsymbalyuk, Ghenadie Popescu, Maria Doni, Marina Sulima, Nikita Kadan, Pavel Brăila, Tatiana Fiodorova, Alexandra Tatar, Ana Barbu, Ana Kun, Andrei Nacu, Catherine Morland, Daria Nedelcu in collaboration with Cyrill Lim, Jo Brăilescu, Irina Botea & Jon Dean, Lilia Nenescu, Maria Mora in collaboration with Tudor Vlădescu, Paula Dunker, Raluca Popa, Silvia Dogaru
Exhibition venues: Bunker, Lutnița, Zpațiu
Opening: 14 September 2024
Forum participants: Charles Esche (online), Corina Oprea (online), Elena Crippa, Irina Cios, Magda Radu, Miki Braniște (online), Sara Buraya, Theo Prodromidis, Zdenka Badovinac (online), Diana Munteanu, Lilia Dragneva, Nora Dorogan, Octavian Eșanu (online), Pavel Brăila, Rusanda Curcă, Ştefan Rusu, Tatiana Fiodorova, Valeria Barbas, Vitalie Sprînceană, Vladimir Us and others
National Art Museum of Moldova
15 September 2024
Curators: The Resurrection Committee (Adelina Luft, Nora Dorogan, Ovidiu Țichindeleanu, Raluca Voinea)
From 14 to 28 September 2024 the project “Images of the Good Life in the East” will take place in Chișinău, organized by tranzit.ro/Bucharest in partnership with teatru-spălătorie, Ksak Association (Center for Contemporary Art Chișinău) and Bunker space, Lutnița gallery, Zpațiu, and The National Art Museum of Moldova. Curated by Adelina Luft, Nora Dorogan, Ovidiu Țichindeleanu, and Raluca Voinea, the project consists of an exhibition in the partner spaces with an opening on 14 September, and a public forum at the National Art Museum of Moldova taking place on 15 September.
The exhibition brings together artists from Moldova and Ukraine: Ghenadie Popescu, Marina Sulima, Tatiana Fiodorova, Pavel Brăila, Darya Tsymbalyuk, Maria Doni, Nikita Kadan, together with 14 participants from the independent course “Non-Western Technologies for the Good Life” (October 2023 - May 2024): Alexandra Tatar, Ana Barbu, Ana Kun, Andrei Nacu, Catherine Morland, Daria Nedelcu in collaboration with Cyrill Lim, Jo Brăilescu, Irina Botea & Jon Dean, Lilia Nenescu, Maria Mora in collaboration with Tudor Vlădescu, Paula Dunker, Raluca Popa, and Silvia Dogaru.
The project “Images of the Good Life in the East” is an attempt to look for preliminary answers and bridge ends for the next general challenge, relevant beyond borders and for societies across the region in a turbulent historical time: regaining the power of symbolization after a long period in which the East of Europe has suffered an extensive material, social and cultural devaluation, compensated by an import of models, symbols and influences. This project proposes profiling the idea of a good life amid a critical backdrop which does not negate, but acknowledges the abusive imports and destructions in the recent past, the current proximity to war and the possibility of future catastrophes, including ecological ones. If buen vivir and sumak kawsay have been proposed by indigenous movements from Central and South America as unifying symbols of local philosophies and practices which shape wellbeing and ecological restoration through communal ways of living where violence, extractivism and consumerism are reduced or eliminated, what images of the good life in the East can provide an initial answer to this call? If from India we have learned about sangam practices, of collective meetings to discuss systemic alternatives in day-to-day life, both at a practical and conceptual level, sharing experiences and collective visions, what conversations, forums or gatherings can be agreed upon so that the answers to local needs could be opened towards addressing global and international problems?
The words image, good life, and East from the title of the project are also provocations to think outside preconceived frameworks. The challenge to think of the image verbally, as an action in time, rather than a surface within a space. To crack into the depth of reality beyond practices that produce images as style, reflections of a given reality, or reducing depth to a surface. The challenge to situate one’s own life in the midst of a dynamic reality, ongoing transformations, and to shape the symbols of such complex shifts. To work critically in order to cultivate a good life based on ethical relations with the world around and on the acknowledgement of small and large issues. The challenge to rethink the East and its zones of correlation, creation and reinvention, despide dislocation, uprooting and devaluation.
The independent course “Non-Western Technologies for the Good Life” took place from October 2023 to May 2024 and was organized by tranzit.ro Association together with Ovidiu Țichindeleanu as mentor, part of the L’Internationale Confederation’s project Museum of the Commons. By proposing a reorientation of sensibilities and cartography of reason that frame cultural movements in Eastern Europe, the course connected the group formed at The Experimental Station for Research on Art and Life with reflections, practices and innovative initiatives from different places around the world that tackle important issues and global challenges via local solutions. A conversation has been shaped with messengers from indigenous nations such as Abya Yala (America), Kurdistan and India, to elaborate tools indispensable to an ecological and communal imaginary, to cultivate vegetative or ignored resources, and to ultimately create new spaces and institutions in which research and work can take place in convivial situations and on strong ethical footing.
The project “Images of the Good Life in the East” is curated by the fluid collective “The Resurrection Committee” and is organized within the framework of the Museum of the Commons.
This project is cofinanced by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the Cantemir Programme - a funding framework for cultural projects intended for the international environment.
The Romanian Cultural Institute cannot be held responsible for the content of this material.
Museum of the Commons is cofinanced by The European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
ERSTE Fundation is the main partner of tranzit.ro.
