· From September 6, a new Art Safari edition opens, at the Dacia-Romania Palace on Lipscani. The new season is dedicated exclusively to women with an impressive contribution to Romanian art and culture, but also to representations of the feminine ideal.
· The great artists of the last century, Regina Maria and Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck, the first female art teacher in Europe, are at the center of extensive exhibitions of art and objects, brought together from major museums in the country and private collections.
· The public is invited to discover the new wave of contemporary artists: from Millenials to representatives of Generation Z, the art of our times in a 100% fresh and feminine vision – Young Blood – special edition!
· A bold exhibition brings together a diverse range of representations of breasts in Romanian art, from 1880 to the present. And it responds to a wider European and international initiative to question social and cultural expectations related to the female body.
· The exhibition program of the new edition is completed by a legend of contemporary photography, Sibylle Bergemann, published by the New York Times, Der Spiegel and other prestigious international titles.
With the beginning of the new season, a new series of special events begins: guided night tours for students, seniors and other art lovers, creative workshops for children – Art Safari Kinder – and brunches. The new season will include 6 permanent exhibitions plus other surprise temporary exhibitions, which will be announced along the way.
The full program of the edition:
1. Maria of Romania, queen and artist, together with “Women Painters and Sculptors”
An incursion into the life and art of Maria of Romania, the queen who remained in history not only through her heroic deeds during the Great War, but also through the artistic side of her being. His work enriches the national heritage. Passionate about gardens and nature all her life, she will exclusively paint flowers – lilies, poppies, irises, water lilies – in a manner specific to the Art Nouveau style. Queen Maria was also attracted to furniture design, and many of the pieces she designed decorated the interiors of Pelișor Castle. A part of his creation can be seen in the present exhibition, made in collaboration with the Peleș National Museum, the Brukenthal National Museum and the Cotroceni National Museum, but also with important private collections.
A distinct chapter in the exhibition is the one dedicated to the “Women Painters and Sculptors” Association, which was founded in 1916, in Bucharest, by the artists Cecilia Cuţescu-Storck, Olga Greceanu and Nina Arbore, under the patronage of Queen Maria. The exhibition highlights the work of artists active in the first half of the 20th century. Being in contact with academic European art, but also with modern and avant-garde art, in a period of maximum cultural effervescence, they trained alongside talented teachers, with whom they acquired and developed their mastery.
Among the great artists evoked in the exhibition, we mention: Olga Greceanu, Lucia Dem. Bălăcescu, Irina Codreanu, Micaela Eleutheriade, Margareta Sterian, Ligia Macovei, Rodica Maniu (Mützner), Nina Arbore, Milița Petrașcu, Magdalena Rădulescu, Lola Schmierer Roth. Chapter curated by Alexandra Ilniţchi-Ardelean, from the Brașov Art Museum. Exhibition design by Diana Nicolaie.
2. Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck. The first female art teacher in Europe
Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck (1879-1969) has the great merit of having become the first female art teacher in Europe. Educated in Munich and Paris, he enjoyed great international success and exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Barcelona and Paris. He traveled to Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Istanbul, considering travel a necessity, which gave him the opportunity to connect to the new directions of European art. She was likened to Paul Gauguin, from whom she was probably inspired in making her pastels on paradisiacal themes.
Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck animated our culture and greatly enriched the artistic life. He opened the way for monumental art and created the most inspiring and valuable secular murals of his time. The concern for mural painting left its mark on its own house, today the “Frederic Storck and Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck” Art Museum, part of the Bucharest City Museum.
The curator of the exhibition made in partnership with the Bucharest City Museum is Drd. Ana Maria Măciucă-Pufu, museographer – Art Gallery of the Bucharest City Museum. The scenography is made by Cosmin Florea.
3. Breasts
Throughout the history of art, breasts have been an inexhaustible source of fascination and conflict. From the academic influences of the 19th century, to modern and contemporary experimentation, the nude has crossed formal and conceptual idealizations, abstract, hybrid or politicized approaches, captured in themes such as motherhood, eroticism, censorship or aestheticism.
“Breasts” brings together a diverse range of representations of breasts in Romanian art, from 1880 to the present, thus offering a broad perspective on the transformations of this artistic motif in visual culture. The exhibition responds to a wider initiative to question social and cultural expectations related to the female body in the contemporary artistic and societal context, joining other international exhibitions such as Boobs in the Arts (Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Berlin, 2023), Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat (Kunsthalle Vienna, 2023) or Breasts (Venice, 2024).
In the Art Safari exhibition, visitors can see works by artists Nicolae Tonitza, Theodor Pallady, Iosif Iser, Camil Ressu, but there are also works of contemporary art, such as those signed by Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu, Ondine Slimovschi, Alexandru Rădvan, Dumitru Gorzo or Roman Tolic
4. Young Blood 3.0. The new wave of contemporary artists (September 6 – December 15 at Art Safari and Promenada Mall: September 19 – November 17)
From painting to augmented reality, fashion design, ceramics, glass, sculpture, photography, textiles or jewelry, the creations of artists born after 1980, present in the exhibition The new wavetraverses the most surprising subjects, themes of interest and trends that mark the preoccupations of art today. Social roles, intimacy, memory, the absurd, transgenerational trauma, the environment as a sacred space, the human condition, utopian worlds and dystopian narratives, the digital environment and the confluence of art and technology, as well as the aesthetic object in contemporaneity. The curator of the exhibition is Călina Coman.
5. Sibylle Bergemann. Fashion, art, culture – through the lens of a woman.
The exhibition provides an overview of the entire oeuvre of one of Germany’s most important contemporary photographers, Sibylle Bergemann (1941-2010). Her photos have appeared in famous international publications. Exhibition made in partnership with ifa and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Romania.
6. Hair Stories by Elseve L’Oréal Paris. Let your hair tell your story
The cultural history of hair is a fascinating method of researching the relationships between human biology, status and social norms, standards of beauty. Starting from this fascinating history, the exhibition Hair Stories presents the works of 20 contemporary artists from Romania, in which hair is the main motif.
The poses of femininity are captured through various techniques and through approaches that go from dreamlike to symbolic, from works inspired by the imaginary of TikTok to the problematization of any female prototype (especially the “fairy” look with long and curly hair). Hair Stories by Elseve L’Oréal Paris it is, in fact, an exhibition that shows us that the way we wear our hair speaks about us both socially and individually.
About Art Safari: Safari Art, upgraded by Georgeis supported by Lidl, L’Oréal Elseve, Glo, Porsche, Kinder, Promenada Mall, Catena, Schweppes, Dove, Brâncoveanu, Regina Maria – Rețeaua de sănătoare, Peroni, Voxility, Rosé Verité, Yamaha, Profiart – is specialized in making of exhibition pavilions. The annual organizer of the Bucharest Art Pavilion – the largest conglomerate of art exhibitions in Romania – now in its 15th edition, carries out, in partnership with Romanian and international art museums and private collectors, extensive retrospective exhibitions that aim to recover heritage values. With a strong educational side, its mission is to bring art closer to the public and educate new generations by organizing art workshops for children, guided tours and contemporary art exhibitions in unconventional spaces, such as Henri Coandă Airport or the Bucharest metro . Art Safari is a strategic national cultural project and is carried out in partnership with the Bucharest City Museum. In the 14 editions so far, it has recorded approx. 570,000 visitors. More details: artsafari.ro.
Press contact: Cristina Lica, Communication Director, 0740.051.749, [email protected]
