THE TWIST. FAILING EMPIRES, TRIUMPHANT PROVINCES
Dates | June 13, 2024 - February 15, 2026
Opening | Thursday, 13 May 2024, 19:00 - 22:00
Venue | Ground Floor & Marble Hall, The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC Bucharest), The Palace of Parliament, 2-4 Izvor Street, Wing E4, Bucharest, Romania
Artists | Dan Acostioaei, Florian Lazăr Alexie, Alexandru Antik, George Apostu, Matei Bejenaru, Anca Benera, Horia Bernea, Ștefan Bertalan, Ion Bitzan, Geta Brătescu, Mircea Cantor, Boris Caragea, Ion Condiescu, Roman Cotoșman, Călin Dan, Cristian Dițoiu, Sorin Dumitrescu, Constantin Flondor, Marin Gherasim, Dani Ghercă, Nicolae Golici, Ion Grigorescu, Pavel Ilie, Peter Jacobi, Stela Lie, Ana Lupaș, Maria Manolescu, Ana Maria Micu (in collaboration with Alexandra Constantinescu and Radu Constantinescu), Gili Mocanu, Ciprian Mureșan, Paul Neagu, Sorin Neamțu, Mihai Olos, Neculai Păduraru, Romelo Pervolovici, Dionisie Popa, Virgil Preda, Marilena Preda-Sânc, Leonard Răchită, Laurențiu Ruță-Fulger, Șerban Savu, Liviu Stoicoviciu, Patricia Teodorescu, Napoleon Tiron, Titu Toncian, Mona Vătămanu, Dan Vezentan, Ion Vlad, Bogdan Vlăduță, Gheorghe Zărnescu
Concept & exhibition design | Călin Dan
Curators | Călin Dan & Celia Ghyka
Selection video art | Sandra Demetrescu
Concept and showcase design | Celia Ghyka
Showcase production | Andrei Suhan (Atelier feronier), Bogdan Rața, Dan Vișovan (AMU ART S.R.L.)
Exhibition production | Alexandru Oberländer-Târnoveanu, Irina Radu
Collections & Preservation | Irina Radu – Department Chief, Dana Cocină, Alina Constantin, Mariana Constantin, Diana Mealha, Iulia Popovici, Claudia Paraschiv
Logistics | Mirel Dumitrașcu – Department Chief, Valentin Dudău, Cristi Enache, Mihai Ene, Mirel Gheorghe, Gabi Lazăr, Florin Memet, Paul Sandu, Marian Săvulescu, Adrian Stoian
Communication | Mădălina Tichie, Iris Opriș; assistance Mălina Ionescu, Teodora Vindt
Art transports | Transglobus Art Services
Space improvement | Costel Clapan, George Tănase
Exhibition booklet | Celia Ghyka (concept, text); Serioja Bocsok, Bogdan Ceaușescu, Teodora Vindt (graphic design)
The authors and MNAC are extending their gratitude to Kunsthalle Bega Timișoara, organiser of the first part of the project—“The TWIST. Five Provincial Stories from an Empire”—, financed by the Center for Projects of the Timișoara Municipality and the Calina Foundation, as part of the programme “Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture”.
Thanks to all the partners, and to the institutions, collectors and artists who have lent works.
Institutions | Arad Museum Complex—Museum of Art; “Gavrilă Simion” Institute of Ecological and Museum Research, Tulcea; Geological Institute of Romania—National Geology Museum, Bucharest; Museum of the Highland Banat, Reșița; Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilization, Deva; Callatis History and Archaeology Museum, Mangalia; Museum of History, Ethnography and Fine Arts, Lugoj; Municipality Museum of Bucharest; National Museum of Agriculture, Slobozia; National Museum of Banat, Timișoara; MNIR—National History Museum of Romania; MNLR—The National Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest; National Museum of Romanian Literature, Iași; National Museum of the Village “Dimitrie Gusti”; “Prof. eng. Dimitrie Leonida” National Technical Museum; The Iron Gates Region Museum, Drobeta Turnu-Severin; Țării Crișurilor Museum, Oradea
Collectors | Tiberiu Adelmann, Răzvan Bănescu, Ovidiu Șandor
Main sponsor of the exhibition | Greentek Lighting, DARA Lighting
go to MNAC exhibition page ⮕
Dates | June 13, 2024 - February 15, 2026
Opening | Thursday, 13 May 2024, 19:00 - 22:00
Venue | Ground Floor & Marble Hall, The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC Bucharest), The Palace of Parliament, 2-4 Izvor Street, Wing E4, Bucharest, Romania
Artists | Dan Acostioaei, Florian Lazăr Alexie, Alexandru Antik, George Apostu, Matei Bejenaru, Anca Benera, Horia Bernea, Ștefan Bertalan, Ion Bitzan, Geta Brătescu, Mircea Cantor, Boris Caragea, Ion Condiescu, Roman Cotoșman, Călin Dan, Cristian Dițoiu, Sorin Dumitrescu, Constantin Flondor, Marin Gherasim, Dani Ghercă, Nicolae Golici, Ion Grigorescu, Pavel Ilie, Peter Jacobi, Stela Lie, Ana Lupaș, Maria Manolescu, Ana Maria Micu (in collaboration with Alexandra Constantinescu and Radu Constantinescu), Gili Mocanu, Ciprian Mureșan, Paul Neagu, Sorin Neamțu, Mihai Olos, Neculai Păduraru, Romelo Pervolovici, Dionisie Popa, Virgil Preda, Marilena Preda-Sânc, Leonard Răchită, Laurențiu Ruță-Fulger, Șerban Savu, Liviu Stoicoviciu, Patricia Teodorescu, Napoleon Tiron, Titu Toncian, Mona Vătămanu, Dan Vezentan, Ion Vlad, Bogdan Vlăduță, Gheorghe Zărnescu
Concept & exhibition design | Călin Dan
Curators | Călin Dan & Celia Ghyka
Selection video art | Sandra Demetrescu
Concept and showcase design | Celia Ghyka
Showcase production | Andrei Suhan (Atelier feronier), Bogdan Rața, Dan Vișovan (AMU ART S.R.L.)
Exhibition production | Alexandru Oberländer-Târnoveanu, Irina Radu
Collections & Preservation | Irina Radu – Department Chief, Dana Cocină, Alina Constantin, Mariana Constantin, Diana Mealha, Iulia Popovici, Claudia Paraschiv
Logistics | Mirel Dumitrașcu – Department Chief, Valentin Dudău, Cristi Enache, Mihai Ene, Mirel Gheorghe, Gabi Lazăr, Florin Memet, Paul Sandu, Marian Săvulescu, Adrian Stoian
Communication | Mădălina Tichie, Iris Opriș; assistance Mălina Ionescu, Teodora Vindt
Art transports | Transglobus Art Services
Space improvement | Costel Clapan, George Tănase
Exhibition booklet | Celia Ghyka (concept, text); Serioja Bocsok, Bogdan Ceaușescu, Teodora Vindt (graphic design)
The authors and MNAC are extending their gratitude to Kunsthalle Bega Timișoara, organiser of the first part of the project—“The TWIST. Five Provincial Stories from an Empire”—, financed by the Center for Projects of the Timișoara Municipality and the Calina Foundation, as part of the programme “Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture”.
Thanks to all the partners, and to the institutions, collectors and artists who have lent works.
Institutions | Arad Museum Complex—Museum of Art; “Gavrilă Simion” Institute of Ecological and Museum Research, Tulcea; Geological Institute of Romania—National Geology Museum, Bucharest; Museum of the Highland Banat, Reșița; Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilization, Deva; Callatis History and Archaeology Museum, Mangalia; Museum of History, Ethnography and Fine Arts, Lugoj; Municipality Museum of Bucharest; National Museum of Agriculture, Slobozia; National Museum of Banat, Timișoara; MNIR—National History Museum of Romania; MNLR—The National Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest; National Museum of Romanian Literature, Iași; National Museum of the Village “Dimitrie Gusti”; “Prof. eng. Dimitrie Leonida” National Technical Museum; The Iron Gates Region Museum, Drobeta Turnu-Severin; Țării Crișurilor Museum, Oradea
Collectors | Tiberiu Adelmann, Răzvan Bănescu, Ovidiu Șandor
Main sponsor of the exhibition | Greentek Lighting, DARA Lighting
go to MNAC exhibition page ⮕
The TWIST. Failing Empires, Triumphant Provinces represents the second phase of a long- term research, initiated with THE TWIST. Five Provincial Stories from an Empire (Kunsthalle Bega, Timișoara, 2023-2024). A complex inquiry into the visual and cultural history of the TWIST as a motif, it originated in a reiterated reading of Plato’s allegory of the Cave describing the “turning around of the soul”: a movement both spiritual and physical, declined in this exhibition in its figurative, morphological, corporeal, and symbolic dimensions.
The concept is illustrated through an unconventional assemblage of archaeology, applied arts, apparel, ethnographic and industrially mass-produced products that establish meaningful dialogues with contemporary art works from the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art and from private collections.
The TWIST is a crucial conceptual mediator for the morphological and symbolic exchanges between spiritual and material cultures, a perspective applied here to the millennia of civilisation developed on the territory conventionally named “the Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic space”.
The show tracks the cultural and temporal trajectories of the different regions belonging to this territory that has been, during the long history, the contact zone between the margins of various empires (Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Hungarian, Austrian, Russian, Soviet, etc.). While being formally or informally under the influence of diverse geo-political ambitions, these provinces have developed in time a resilient identity of intersection that gives the notion of “provincial” a dignified significance.
The exhibited objects are both a testimonial of imperial impulses, of their long-cast shadows and of this chemistry of assimilation. Within an unfolding spiralled movement, these echoes have been altered in time and space, and have in their turn been integrated, then abandoned, then rediscovered again at various moments in the history of these provinces, paradigmatic for the conglomerate of Southeastern-Eastern-Central Europe.
The exhibition display creates a space where this intellectual argument unfolds visually: a metaphor for human existence, the TWIST develops on multiple levels and in infinite variations.
The concept is illustrated through an unconventional assemblage of archaeology, applied arts, apparel, ethnographic and industrially mass-produced products that establish meaningful dialogues with contemporary art works from the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art and from private collections.
The TWIST is a crucial conceptual mediator for the morphological and symbolic exchanges between spiritual and material cultures, a perspective applied here to the millennia of civilisation developed on the territory conventionally named “the Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic space”.
The show tracks the cultural and temporal trajectories of the different regions belonging to this territory that has been, during the long history, the contact zone between the margins of various empires (Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Hungarian, Austrian, Russian, Soviet, etc.). While being formally or informally under the influence of diverse geo-political ambitions, these provinces have developed in time a resilient identity of intersection that gives the notion of “provincial” a dignified significance.
The exhibited objects are both a testimonial of imperial impulses, of their long-cast shadows and of this chemistry of assimilation. Within an unfolding spiralled movement, these echoes have been altered in time and space, and have in their turn been integrated, then abandoned, then rediscovered again at various moments in the history of these provinces, paradigmatic for the conglomerate of Southeastern-Eastern-Central Europe.
The exhibition display creates a space where this intellectual argument unfolds visually: a metaphor for human existence, the TWIST develops on multiple levels and in infinite variations.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Cătălin Davidescu, Răsucirea. Triumful provinciei, amurgul imperiilor, România literară nr. 12/2025
S-a deschis noul sezon expozitional la Muzeul National de Arta Contemporana, 14 June 2024, urban.ro
Un nou sezon expozițional la MNAC – vara 2024, 13 June 2024, e-zeppelin.ro
Maria Munteanu, Sezonul de vară MNAC debutează joia aceasta, 11 June 2024, propagarta.ro
Summer exhibition season 2024 National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, e-flux Announcements, 12 June 2024
Patricia Marinescu, Nou sezon la MNAC – Sculpturi monumentale și lucrări new media, la aniversare, curatorial.ro, 3 June 2024
Cătălin Davidescu, Răsucirea. Triumful provinciei, amurgul imperiilor, România literară nr. 12/2025
S-a deschis noul sezon expozitional la Muzeul National de Arta Contemporana, 14 June 2024, urban.ro
Un nou sezon expozițional la MNAC – vara 2024, 13 June 2024, e-zeppelin.ro
Maria Munteanu, Sezonul de vară MNAC debutează joia aceasta, 11 June 2024, propagarta.ro
Summer exhibition season 2024 National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, e-flux Announcements, 12 June 2024
Patricia Marinescu, Nou sezon la MNAC – Sculpturi monumentale și lucrări new media, la aniversare, curatorial.ro, 3 June 2024
MY PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT
Ana Maria Micu, Alexandra Constantinescu, Radu Constantinescu, "No title" (2022)
In this collaborative work Ana Maria Micu presents video recordings, on fragments from which, Alexandra Constantinescu and Radu Constantinescu intervene with 3D animation, advancing their own concepts.
A large quantity of raw video material was recorded by Micu, during a seasonal chore, at the beginning of winter, of bringing indoor, to shelter, plants that were growing on the exterior windowsill. The 3D animations interrupt the gardening activities in such a dramatic manner that they build, from the ground up, a complete parallel world, that holds its own, with no plants, no sunlight, no tutelage, and only a single male character inhabiting it.
It is through the performance of intentional actions that what is considered artistic is captured, preserved, and revealed. The combinations of mediums and the collaborative working method are purposely employed to mark the way an image is able to change in its roles, supporting multiple narratives, both realistic and imaginary.
The 3D animation scenes explore waiting not as a conscious and voluntary evasion from events or interactions, but rather as an obvious manifestation that reaches or fails to reach a certain level of expectation. It is important to realize that waiting is an action in itself, even if it implies standing still.
Ana Maria Micu, Alexandra Constantinescu, Radu Constantinescu, "No title" (2022)
In this collaborative work Ana Maria Micu presents video recordings, on fragments from which, Alexandra Constantinescu and Radu Constantinescu intervene with 3D animation, advancing their own concepts.
A large quantity of raw video material was recorded by Micu, during a seasonal chore, at the beginning of winter, of bringing indoor, to shelter, plants that were growing on the exterior windowsill. The 3D animations interrupt the gardening activities in such a dramatic manner that they build, from the ground up, a complete parallel world, that holds its own, with no plants, no sunlight, no tutelage, and only a single male character inhabiting it.
It is through the performance of intentional actions that what is considered artistic is captured, preserved, and revealed. The combinations of mediums and the collaborative working method are purposely employed to mark the way an image is able to change in its roles, supporting multiple narratives, both realistic and imaginary.
The 3D animation scenes explore waiting not as a conscious and voluntary evasion from events or interactions, but rather as an obvious manifestation that reaches or fails to reach a certain level of expectation. It is important to realize that waiting is an action in itself, even if it implies standing still.
No title, 2022, collage of raw video footage and 3D animation, 1920 x 1080 px, 2m49s continuous loop, audio
Ana Maria Micu - concept, raw video footage
Alexandra Constantinescu, Radu Constantinescu - concept, 3D animation, and editing
Ana Maria Micu - concept, raw video footage
Alexandra Constantinescu, Radu Constantinescu - concept, 3D animation, and editing
