ECOLOGIILE GRIJII ȘI ÎNGRIJIRII. Capitolul 1: PLANTE UTILE
Curatorial input｜Gabriela Mateescu
Research & curatorial output｜Valentina Iancu (Visual Arts), Eliza Yokina (Architecture), Prof. Dr. Mihaela Georgescu (Botany), Lecturer Dr. Vasilica Luchian (consultancy and herbarium curator)
Artists｜Horia Bernea, Nicolae Comănescu, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Andreea Medar and Mălina Ionescu, Gabriela Mateescu, Diana Miron, Liliana Mercioiu, Ana Maria Micu, Roman Tolici, Iulia Toma, Miki Velciov
Architectural Proposals｜Beros Abdul Architects, Stardust Architects, Nicolas Triboi, Eliza Yokina
Botanical research｜Adrian Mureș - Master's student at the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, Biodiversity Conservation Management Master's Program.
Anton Polyakov’s zines are available in all exhibition spaces.
Venue｜Strata Gallery, Parângului 76 Street, Bucharest
Opening｜Saturday, 2 September 2023, between 18.00 and 22.00
Visiting schedule*｜2-20 September 2023
*weekly guided tours or by appointment via message on Nucleu 0000 Facebook page
Workshop｜Plante de leac held by Lecturer Dr. Vasilica Luchian on Saturday, 9 September 2023, between 14:30 and 19:00, within the exhibition space, at Strata Gallery
Guided Tour｜Descoperă arta contemporană | Roman Tolici, Avanpost, Strata Gallery, ISAF, ArtCrawl Bucharest, held by Bogdan Bălan, Sunday, 10 September 2023, between 17:00 and 19:30.
Finissage | Wednesday, 20 September 2023, between 18:00 and 21:00 (link to Facebook event)
Curatorial input｜Gabriela Mateescu
Research & curatorial output｜Valentina Iancu (Visual Arts), Eliza Yokina (Architecture), Prof. Dr. Mihaela Georgescu (Botany), Lecturer Dr. Vasilica Luchian (consultancy and herbarium curator)
Artists｜Horia Bernea, Nicolae Comănescu, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Andreea Medar and Mălina Ionescu, Gabriela Mateescu, Diana Miron, Liliana Mercioiu, Ana Maria Micu, Roman Tolici, Iulia Toma, Miki Velciov
Architectural Proposals｜Beros Abdul Architects, Stardust Architects, Nicolas Triboi, Eliza Yokina
Botanical research｜Adrian Mureș - Master's student at the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, Biodiversity Conservation Management Master's Program.
Anton Polyakov’s zines are available in all exhibition spaces.
Venue｜Strata Gallery, Parângului 76 Street, Bucharest
Opening｜Saturday, 2 September 2023, between 18.00 and 22.00
Visiting schedule*｜2-20 September 2023
*weekly guided tours or by appointment via message on Nucleu 0000 Facebook page
Workshop｜Plante de leac held by Lecturer Dr. Vasilica Luchian on Saturday, 9 September 2023, between 14:30 and 19:00, within the exhibition space, at Strata Gallery
Guided Tour｜Descoperă arta contemporană | Roman Tolici, Avanpost, Strata Gallery, ISAF, ArtCrawl Bucharest, held by Bogdan Bălan, Sunday, 10 September 2023, between 17:00 and 19:30.
Finissage | Wednesday, 20 September 2023, between 18:00 and 21:00 (link to Facebook event)
The exhibition "Ecologiile grijii și îngrijirii", initiated by Gabriela Mateescu, joins contemporary art to architectural and botanical nature research projects, a collectively curated construction that guides a visual, poetic and practical foray into the complexity of human relations with planetary flora. Starting from the nourishing, healing, magical, mythical attributes, symbolic imagination or use in different aspects of life, from clothing, architecture or pharmaceuticals, the exhibition is divided into four sections, inspired by pop culture, folk culture and common understanding as follows: useful, poisonous, aphrodisiac and ritual plants. Current botanical taxonomies are mixed in this visual micro-anthropology of contemporary flora. The exhibition becomes a space for reflection, learning and revelation of man's relationship with vegetal nature. What is nature? How do we think about botanical nature? What place do plants have in our lives? What role do we play in their lives? "Ecologiile grijii și îngrijirii" starts from a series of questions concerning the relationship between man and botanical nature, which are derived from the homonymy of the word care.
The section on utilitarian plants within the complexity of human relations with vegetal nature reveals mechanisms by which nature, being at the service of humanity, is imagined, used, consumed, destroyed. Plants provide the breath of the ecosystem of which we are a part. This living shell of the earth's crust has been transformed into a seemingly unlimited resource, exploited for human survival. The usefulness of plants covers all aspects of human life, from food, clothing, shelter, physical and mental health. The plants that cover and feed us, breathe with us or delight our eyes are a raw material that provides the basis of our existence. Living with botanical nature is indispensable to life, while human consumption habits endanger the life cycles of plants.
The project proposes a formative, educational approach, being a context of broad collaboration between artists, architects and master students in the fields of horticulture and landscaping, as a result of which 3 exhibitions will be organized in Bucharest galleries in September 2023: Strata, Mobius, Leilei, and 2 interventions in the Botanical Garden in Bucharest, along with conferences, workshops and walks collaboratively curated by Gabriela Mateescu, together with researchers Valentina Iancu (visual arts), Eliza Yokina (architecture), Prof. Mihaela Ioana Georgescu (botany).
Media partners:
Propargarta, Spotmedia, IQ ADS, SMARK, Zeppelin Magazine, Arta Magazine, Radio Romania Cultural, Modernism.ro, Zile și Nopți, Daily Magazine, Ziarul Metropolis, Feeder, DigitizArte, Atelierul Magazine, Munteanu, Igloo, Empower Artist Magazine, HAPP, Radio Romania International, Book Agency, The Woman, curatorial.ro, Răsfoiala, Morning Edition.
Cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
The section on utilitarian plants within the complexity of human relations with vegetal nature reveals mechanisms by which nature, being at the service of humanity, is imagined, used, consumed, destroyed. Plants provide the breath of the ecosystem of which we are a part. This living shell of the earth's crust has been transformed into a seemingly unlimited resource, exploited for human survival. The usefulness of plants covers all aspects of human life, from food, clothing, shelter, physical and mental health. The plants that cover and feed us, breathe with us or delight our eyes are a raw material that provides the basis of our existence. Living with botanical nature is indispensable to life, while human consumption habits endanger the life cycles of plants.
The project proposes a formative, educational approach, being a context of broad collaboration between artists, architects and master students in the fields of horticulture and landscaping, as a result of which 3 exhibitions will be organized in Bucharest galleries in September 2023: Strata, Mobius, Leilei, and 2 interventions in the Botanical Garden in Bucharest, along with conferences, workshops and walks collaboratively curated by Gabriela Mateescu, together with researchers Valentina Iancu (visual arts), Eliza Yokina (architecture), Prof. Mihaela Ioana Georgescu (botany).
Media partners:
Propargarta, Spotmedia, IQ ADS, SMARK, Zeppelin Magazine, Arta Magazine, Radio Romania Cultural, Modernism.ro, Zile și Nopți, Daily Magazine, Ziarul Metropolis, Feeder, DigitizArte, Atelierul Magazine, Munteanu, Igloo, Empower Artist Magazine, HAPP, Radio Romania International, Book Agency, The Woman, curatorial.ro, Răsfoiala, Morning Edition.
Cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
MEDIA REFERENCES
[text & photos RO/EN] Raluca Paraschiv, The Ecologies of Care and Caring – A Mediation Program Between all Forms of Life, 1 May 2024, Revista Arta, RO
[text & photos RO/EN] Evantia Barca, Ana Maria Micu at Strata. “Art, among the non-invasive ways to experience the miracle of nature.”, Empower Artists, published online on 31 August 2023
[text & photo RO] Marina Oprea, Highlighturi București 2023, Revista 22, 9 January 2024
[text & photos RO/EN] Raluca Paraschiv, The Ecologies of Care and Caring – A Mediation Program Between all Forms of Life, 1 May 2024, Revista Arta, RO
[text & photos RO/EN] Evantia Barca, Ana Maria Micu at Strata. “Art, among the non-invasive ways to experience the miracle of nature.”, Empower Artists, published online on 31 August 2023
[text & photo RO] Marina Oprea, Highlighturi București 2023, Revista 22, 9 January 2024
MY PARTICIPATION WITHIN THE PROJECT
endless growth. ... believing that hope can be dredged from ruin, 2023, installation of painting and video
This composite work, a painting and a video, is about the action of allocating some of the limited space I have at my disposal, on the windowsills of my third-floor apartment, to a container that I filled only with compost from the bin I keep on the balcony. I wanted to facilitate, in parallel with my main gardening activities where I focus on edible plants, the spontaneous emergence and unrestricted development of volunteer plants resulting from seeds preserved in the soil or coming from my kitchen's scraps.
The key moments of this performance are mingled in the video work, just as they occurred, with some other activities, listed chronologically, but randomly selected, that I had to carry out during the growing season. I gave this experiment enough time for significant vegetation to appear and it is captured as such in the painting. The video presents one more final scene, with the plants at a mature stage, as they have been relocated indoors for a while, due to events related to a severe storm.
The aim of this work is an aesthetic one. I am looking to collect shapes, colors, compositions, light, hand gestures, occasional facial expressions, body language samples, still life arrangements, and other details that are not dictated by myself, the artist, but by the necessity of my engagements and undertakings, the specific of my circumstances and the way I choose to make the best use of my resources.
endless growth. ... believing that hope can be dredged from ruin, 2023, installation of painting and video
This composite work, a painting and a video, is about the action of allocating some of the limited space I have at my disposal, on the windowsills of my third-floor apartment, to a container that I filled only with compost from the bin I keep on the balcony. I wanted to facilitate, in parallel with my main gardening activities where I focus on edible plants, the spontaneous emergence and unrestricted development of volunteer plants resulting from seeds preserved in the soil or coming from my kitchen's scraps.
The key moments of this performance are mingled in the video work, just as they occurred, with some other activities, listed chronologically, but randomly selected, that I had to carry out during the growing season. I gave this experiment enough time for significant vegetation to appear and it is captured as such in the painting. The video presents one more final scene, with the plants at a mature stage, as they have been relocated indoors for a while, due to events related to a severe storm.
The aim of this work is an aesthetic one. I am looking to collect shapes, colors, compositions, light, hand gestures, occasional facial expressions, body language samples, still life arrangements, and other details that are not dictated by myself, the artist, but by the necessity of my engagements and undertakings, the specific of my circumstances and the way I choose to make the best use of my resources.
endless growth. ... believing that hope can be dredged from ruin, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 78 x 118 cm.
endless growth. ... believing that hope can be dredged from ruin, 2023, video with sound, 1920 x 1080 px.,1h38m