New Gallery – photography & new media

In late 2001, in a moment in which the local art scene had few exceptions of stable organization models and venues dedicated to displaying alternative or experimental art, a significant project began to take shape under the name of New Gallery, initiated by Aurora Király (then Dediu) in partnership with Gabriela Tudor – Pro Helvetia Antena foundation, and Irina Cios – CIAC (International Centre of Contemporary Art). The association itself was founded in 2003, having as its members Aurora Király, Iosif Király, Alexandra Croitoru and Adrian Armanca. But in 2001 it not only filled the void of gallery spaces promoting visual art forms beside traditional styles, in the years that followed it would provide a much needed platform and networking hub for both established and emerging artists, with the only selection criteria seemingly being that of their dedication for forward thinking photography, new media and conceptual art.

This is perhaps why, more than any listing of activities and events it ran, it’s more relevant for the discussion to give a description of how they ran and in what context. Kalinderu MediaLab / MNAC was founded the same year as Galeria Nouă, and together with other spaces like CIAC – SPACE Gallery, 2META Foundation, GAD Gallery or HT003 formed the sum of venues committed to displaying contemporary art in Bucharest at the time. None would, however, benefit from the same perfect mix of conditions supporting the flexibility and continuous activity required to generate such a strong community around it. For its space on Academiei Street 15 the gallery benefited from a lease through the Bucharest Municipality, while Pro Helvetia Antena (and initially CIAC) provided the necessary funding for events and day-to-day operations throughout most of its existence. Its success and impact, however, always laid in the very characteristics that made it an artist run space in the first place. By being part of the scene and being acquainted with a significant number of relevant players in it, Aurora Király managed to sustain a vibrant community around the New Gallery. That is to say – by being one herself, artists’ interests and needs were permanently in focus and, although she was curator and factotum for the gallery in general, a deep sense of collaboration was cultivated throughout. Many of the exhibitions, projects and activities were also developed together with Iosif Király which undoubtedly helped. The result was a project based gallery where new media artists and curators felt nurtured, freely able to experiment.

Much of the aforementioned qualities were apparent from the very first events organized between 2001 and 2002, already consisting in a multitude of innovative practices. The first of these events, TransCafé, proved quite suggestive of what would Galeria Nouă come to represent the years that followed. Curated by Dan Mihălțianu, TransCafé took its name from such buzzwords as „transculture” or „transmedia” and it showcased works authored by no less than 37 international and local artists with international reach, dealing in themes connected to Romanian culture. Similarly, there was no delay for the intergenerational approach assumed by the New Gallery to make itself felt either. Point in case the following exhibition was Photo Documents – 11 young artists in Balkon, a collaboration with Balkon magazine showing the works of what were then emerging artists Mircea Cantor, Ștefan Cosma, Alexandra Croitoru, Aurora Dediu, Cosmin Grădinaru, Nicu Ilfoveanu, Daniel Knorr, Zoltan Kovacs, Vlad Nancă, Ioana Nemeș, Gabriela Vanga. The following show, under the name of Five Stories, treated contemporary social issues via bringing together five visual narratives constructed by Anca Benera / Irina Bucan Botea, Anca Ignătescu, Dilmana Iordanova, Mihaela Kavdanska and Lila Passima. The core interdisciplinary values were evident with the next exhibition – TRACK (2002), curated by the writer Vasile Ernu.

The list could be dragged from here on and on, for while it was housed on Academiei Street between 2001 – 2008 there were frankly much too many exhibitions worth mentioning (if not all). What’s most important to note however is New Gallery’s propensity for significant partnerships and international artists and curators. For instance, in bringing in noteworthy international artists the gallery often built partnerships with their home country embassy or local cultural institute. Such was the case for video group show Pasaje / Passages (2002) curated by Irina Cios that benefited from such partners as The Netherlands Embassy, Mondriaan Stichting or Montevideo Time Based Arts, with works by Lieselot Ljsendoorn, Jeroen Kooijmans, Michiel van Bakel, eddie d, Pieter Baan Müller. Numerous solo shows also took advantage from similar partnerships: The New Painting – Elina Brotherus’ exhibition (2002) was realised in partnership with Sindan Cultural Center from Cluj, Finland’s Embassy and FRAME (Finnish Fund for Art Exchange); Ola Pehrson’s impressive solo show Selected Works (2003) had help from the Bucharest Swedish Embassy and IASPIS (Swedish Arts Grants Committee); Misha Pedan’s Monuments (2004) from Swedish Embassy and Swedish Institut; Frederico Câmara’s Sharing Solitude in 2005 with the help of Akademie Schloss Solitude and Bucharest Goethe Institut. The Bucharest Czech Centre was a partner on numerous occasions, including in Jan Kotik’s Your Money or Your Life (2006), alongside Futura Gallery from Prague, and in Staged – a double duo show of Štěpánka Stein / Salim Issa and Dita Pepe / Petr Hrubes.

It’s and impressive record of established artists for sure, but the New Gallery also often functioned as a platform for young artists and curators. To that end the Portfolios Review group shows were created, offering an imposing selection of works by young artists (many of whom are still active today), spanning four editions from 2003 to 2005. The artist run space likewise didn’t avoid offering promising curators a chance to affirm themselves, notable examples being the 2007 group shows FEMiDOM script (after the sex war) curated by Raluca Oancea & Cosmin Moldovan (works by Marina Albu, Ana Alexandra Blidaru, Alexandra Mateescu, Olivia Mihălțianu, Ioana Noveanu, Mădălina Zaharia) and With our back to the future curated by Vlad Nancă (works by Anca Benera, Daniel Gonţ, Cezar Lăzărescu, Vlad Nancă, Mircea Nicolae, Dragoş Platon, Tudor Prisăcariu, Sonokolor). Alternative events were also often part of the offering, with themed design exhibitions like NE PLACĂ CE FACI (2007), Vlad Nancă’s durational performance / exhibition Galeria Nouă Home Gallery (2007) or Anca Benera’s hybrid event Collecting Collectors (2008). The New Gallery also undertook impressive projects like that of the 2007 Fotografia în arta contemporană. Tendințe în România după 1989 bilingual publication (UNArte Publishing House) – a seminal work for the Romanian art scene simultaneously containing much of the artists, curators and writers with wich it collaborated throughout the years.

In 2008 New Gallery lost its lease from the Bucharest Municipality due to a series of ridiculous and fake motives being invoked, such as claims along the line of those that it had “too much of an international activity and not enough focus on Bucharest values” (aka what would in other normal circumstances be viewed as a plus). But it continued nevertheless to develop research, editorial and educational projects. On of these was Mărturii XXI – Revizitând trecutul. O colecție de interviuri video which ran from 2007 to 2012 and was supported by ERSTE Foundation and AFCN. Another impressive one was CitiesMethodologies Bucharest (2010), being comprised of a large group show curated by Aurora Király and Simona Dumitriu at the Scarlat Ghica House – Bucharest National University of Arts, a workshop and a number of debates coordinated by Ger Duijzings at UNAgaleria.

Looking back at all this activity one could easily forget it was coordinated by a handful of people and not an institution benefiting from ample and stable funding. It left an impressive mark on the contemporary Romanian art scene and in particular on the photography and new media one, an equivalent of which not being present ever since. In other words – just as it filled an important void in 2001 when it appeared, it left an equally jarring one after its slow disappearance. There’s really not much more to say other than this, apart from perhaps what is conveyed by photos from the 2008 protest the local community organized on its closure. It is said, after all, a picture is worth 1000 words, is it not?

 

– by Andrei Mateescu

The above text originally appeared in #54-55 of Revista ARTA’s printed edition in June 2022, on the occasion of the artist-run spaces dossier coordinated by Gabriela Mateescu.