The Dacia-Romania Palace in Bucharest's Old Center is host to the 9th edition of the well-known culture and art event called Art Safari. Art Safari already has its own audience, from Bucharest, from all over Romania, and all over the world, as one of the great art events in Eastern Europe. Here, the contemporary meets the Classical, the modern, the retro, avant-guarde, and famous artists, which is a good depiction of the 2022 edition.
We spoke about the exhibition with Art Safari director, Ioana Ciocan:
“The 9th edition of Art Safari has six exhibition pavilions, which are open for visiting for three months. After that we take a small break, during which we of course change exhibitions, and on September 21 we open our door for the 10th edition, and anniversary edition, which itself will last three months. This year, very interestingly, we have six months worth of exhibition, three by three months, and visitors will be able to experience all kinds of art. The five exhibition pavilions are 'Irina Dragomir', a contemporary art pavilion dedicated entirely to this young artist. We refer to her as the superstar of contemporary art, she has very happy works, in vivid colors. In fact, this exhibition, curated by Alexandru Radvan, is called Red, Yellow, Blue, and it is very lively, very youthful, inspired by American pop art, with many self-portraits, but also with characters populating Irina Dragomir's dreams. The second pavilion, also within the bounds of contemporary art, has been brought over from Germany, authored by Barbara Klemm, one of the most important photography artists in the world, with an impressive career of over 70 years. The works brought from Germany are black and white photos, historic photos made when the Berlin Wall was brought down. They are also celebrity photographs, such as Madonna, Alfred Hitchcock, or Andy Warhol, but also photos that artist Barbara Klemm took during her two visits to Romania, in the '70s and the '90s. And, to stay in the area of international friendships, we move to the second story of the Dacia-Romania Palace, in order to introduce the third pavilion of the exhibition, the pavilion which is half from Israel, half from Romania. This is an exhibition dedicated to Marcel Iancu. This major exhibition presents architect Marcel Iancu, but also Marcel Iancu the visual artist. In fact, this exhibition contains the most valuable work of Art Safari, financially speaking, it is a work coming from the National Art Museum of Romania, and is worth 300,000 Euro. My favorite, an exhibition that comes from Spain, with the help of the Spanish Embassy and the Cervantes Institute, is dedicated to the two sacred monsters of 20th century universal art, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. The two are represented in Bucharest by graphic art, which represents their stage design for their the ballet The Three Cornered Hat, by their co-national Manuel de Falla. Romania's patrimony is represented by the works of Maestro Theodor Amman. This retrospective is curated by Elena Olariu, and is made in partnership with the Bucharest Municipal Museum. It will represent Maestro Theodor Amman in an original way, because we start the exhibition with the ballroom scenes, which were very fashionable in the 19th century. This is a marathon, which continues at night, because Art Safari closes its doors at 9 PM, only to open them at 10 PM, in order to receive the visitors that want a guided night tour.”
Let us mention that Marcel Iancu (1895-1984) was a famous Romanian-Israeli painter, architect, and essayist, of Jewish extraction. In 1917, he graduated the Zurich Architecture Academy. He studied painting under the great Romanian painter Iosif Iser. He was one of the founders of the Dada movement. Ioana Ciocan also told us about the partnerships that Art Safari 2022 is part of, partnerships that continue the tradition of the event, or which are beginning just now, a beginning that promises to increase the fame of the event:
“We already have a trusted partner in the Bucharest Municipal Museum. We made two exhibitions together so far. Surely, your listeners recall the one last year, at the Gabroveni ArCuB Inn, called Seduction and Triumph in Art, with works that came entirely from the Bucharest Municipal Museum. Now we have our second extended collaboration with the museum, thanks to Adrian Majuru, director of the museum, and the exhibition this year includes an expanded partnership with 16 museums around the country. This partnership is extremely important, the collaborations between museums are, in fact, the great retrospective exhibitions, such as the Theodor Amman this year. Also as a first time, Art Safari can say proudly that it is a cultural project financed by the Ministry of Culture.”