Timișoara Through the Lens
On the Current Usage of Photography in Timișoara’s Art Scene

By the grace of the European Union and its Capital of Culture Programme, Timișoara became in 2023 an epicenter of creative activity, both national and international. Naturally, this likewise manifested in the field of visual arts, predominantly so even, with some of the endeavors being huge in scope and planning (like the three exhibitions hosted by the Timișoara National Art Museum dedicated respectively to Victor Brauner, Paul Neagu, Constantin Brâncuși).  Curiously though, precisely through this vast amount of art events in the local scene, it became apparent the photographic medium was rarely (re)presented. Even when it was, the event rather involved artists formed in other geographical areas, other than the Banat region. Point in case, between September 21 – October 28, Art Encounters together with Switch Lab (Bucharest) held the superb “Poetics of Politics” exhibition which featured the works of artists formed, living and working in Bucharest (Michele Bressan, Alexandra Croitoru, Dani Ghercă, Nicu Ilfoveanu). The situation led to curiosity on my behalf, prompting me to probe the scene in search of the context and reasons for this status. I likewise tried to identify members of the local artistic community using photography, how many are there, to which extent they present themselves as such, or why they’re not encouraged enough by the rest of the environment in doing so.

The results were interesting, to say the least. Photographically, Timișoara exhibits some impressive journalistic-documentary endeavors, an attraction to analog experiments and a somewhat sporadic interest in the photographic image among local contemporary artists, which otherwise identify using other mediums regularly. Some of these examples are remarkable (and will be presented here), but with the exception of a few names such as Iosif Király, Cipiran Ciuclea or Alex Todirică, the number of artists in or from Timișoara who have openly embraced the photographic medium is relatively low.

Before any presentation on the current presence of the medium in Timișoara, however, I think a summary of the city’s important role in Romanian art history is in order, by extension also covering its relation to photography for the past 40 years. It’s important to note how impactful Sigma Group (Ștefan Bertalan, Elisei Rusu, Lucan Codreanu, Ion Gaita, Doru Tulcan, Constantin Flondor) was in the 1970s and how they shaped the art school and high school in the city at the time. Their alternative approach was more akin to the Bauhaus School and their collegial demeanor towards students encouraged experiment and free thought, paving the way for many of today’s renowned Romanian artists. One of these is undoubtedly Iosif Király, one of the most celebrated Romanian contemporary photographers, who went on to even form the photo-video department in Bucharest in 1995 together with Radu Igaszag, Roxana Trestioreanu and Călin Dan. Between the 1970s and 1990s the art scene flourished there, embracing alternative art forms the likes of land art, performance (which had an incredible boom in the 1990s due to Ileana Pintilie’s ZONA Festival), happenings, constructivism, op-art and interdisciplinarity in general, often defying state imposed creative directions. Many of the artists formed in that period practiced these art genres, and a few also showed a penchant for photography like Iosif Király and Călin Beloescu. But it’s important to mention most did so due to the need of documenting their artistic activity, often ephemeral in nature, as is the case for land art, performance and happenings. Once the communist oppression lifted after the 1989 revolution (initiated in Timișoara mind you) it simply appears there was no interest in photography as medium, only as tool to be employed in other artistic endeavors or appreciated only for its journalistic / documentary value (as is the case for the phenomenal photos taken by Constantin Duma during the 1989 revolution). The only notable exception seems to be the aforementioned Iosif Király, who ironically was decisive in forming the photo-video department of the Bucharest National Art University, shaping future generations of photographers there.

The reasons for this situation are hard to pinpoint, but one of the factors leading to it could be that for many years the specialized department of Timișoara’s Faculty of Arts and Design was geared more towards the technicalities and analogic processes employed in photography, rather than artistic projects and creative experiments. In recent years, however, it has made considerable progress in that regard, paving the way for future possible artists. Mădălin Mereuță is one of the members of the department and one of the proponents of the required steps. He was kind enough to answer to a few questions below:

Between the artists closely working with photography Timișoara oferred us, probably the one needing no introduction is Iosif Király. His work investigates the relationship between perception, time, synchronicity and memory through photography, installation-art, drawing and more recently, video. He has initiated, coordinated, and, together with architects, visual artists, and anthropologists, participated in research projects related to the changes having occurred in post-communist Romania: D-Platform, RO-Archive, Triaj, Tinseltown. During the 1980s, Iosif Király became active in the mail art network, an international underground movement established by Fluxus. After 1989, he exhibited both individually and within the subREAL group. A glimpse of his latest project, Echoes, can be seen on Romanian Contemporary Photography INFLUX, here.

Ciprian Ciuclea is another artist from Timișoara regularly employing photographic thought in his projects. He initially finished his studies at the graphics department of Timișoara’s Faculty of Arts and Design, but his interests always revolved around conceptual art and photography, focusing on themes relating to communication, message interpretation, supervision, astrophysics and theoretical physics. You can examine how photography is an integral part of his process in his Intervals of an Infinite Line project can be viewed on the Viewing Rooms section of the site here, where he was also kind enough to answer a few questions.

Although originally formed as an architect, Alex Todirică became a self-taught artist using photography as a tool to investigate the relationship between people and the built environment in the post-communist context from Romania. He’s currently working on the Minimarket ABC series documenting what’s left of the ground floor apartments converted into commercial premises after 1990 in Romania. His previous series – Iron Road, can be viewed here.

  1. Înainte de toate as vrea sa abordez modul in care te-ai apropiat de fotografie. Deși inițial format ca arhitect, in anii recenți te-ai reprofilat ca artist auto-didact, concentrând-te pe fotografie ca instrument de investigare a relațiilor dintre oameni si mediul construit de aceștia. Povestește-mi puțin cum a luat naștere acest interes pentru mediul fotografic.
  1. Iosif Király este probabil reprezentantul cel mai de seama, dar în mediul artistic autohton exista suficiente exemple de oameni specializați in arhitectura ce totuși practica fotografia in mod curent, la fel cum exista numeroase exemple de oameni formați ca artiști fotografi preocupați aproape exclusiv de teme aflate sub sfera arhitecturii si urbanismului. In opinia ta, de ce se ajunge frecvent la acest raport strâns? Întâlnim oare mai des acest fenomen in Romania decât la nivel internațional?
  1. In cea mai recenta seria a ta, Minimarket ABC, documentezi construcțiile vernaculare comerciale ce au împânzit parterele blocurilor romanești după 1989, acum pe cale de dispariție. Am observat de-a lungul timpului ca fotografia vestica are in continuare o oarecare obsesie fata de monumental și peisaje largi, probabil sub persistenta influență a New Topographics și a Scolii de Fotografie de la Düsseldorf. In spațiul Est-European însă, deși abordarea estetica e deseori similara, atenția e mai degrabă îndreptata spre micro-elemente din peisaj (fie el urban sau natural). Seria ta îmi pare un punct de pornire bun pentru investigarea particularităților din zona geografica ce au determinat asta, putând fi interpretat printre altele si ca un proiect despre tranziție. Spune-ne puțin despre cum ti-a stârnit interesul respectiva tema.
  1. Timișoara deține un rol impresionant in formarea a numeroși artiști, teoreticieni, curatori, istorici si colecționari de arta de renume. As aduce aici in discuție istoricul important dat de fenomene ca Festivalul Zona, influenta Liceului de Arte Plastice din Timișoara, impactul major al grupului Sigma sau deschiderea manifestata la începutul anilor 1990 către new si mied media. In ceea ce privește fotografia, in prezent pot fi identificate demersuri jurnalistic-documentare lăudabile, o atracție fata de experimente analogice si, in cazul multor artiști, un interes oarecum sporadic pentru imaginea fotografica (existând desigur câteva proiecte demne de luat in seama). Însă numărul de artiști Timișoreni ce si-au asumat in mod explicit mediul fotografiei contemporane este relativ redus. Ca una dintre excepțiile acestui context, sunt curios care crezi ca sunt factorii ce au dus la acest status-quo.

Levente Kozma is the co-founder and director of the (by now renowned) Timișoara SIMULTAN Festival and one of the initiators of the Spații în Așteptare project focused on public space interventions and interdisciplinary artistic activity. But he likewise is an avid practitioner of photography, documenting many of the spaces and buildings found in unstable and dubious limbo, on Timișoara’s outskirts and the Banat region.

Formally trained (and employed) as an engineer, fate has it that Sergiu Sas brings notable contributions to the artistic field. In recent years, from the position of an organizer, together with Mimi Ciora being co-founder of the artist-run space Indecis. In the background however, you also have a multimedia artist practice, being one of the members of the kinema ikon group and the biserika group. In his projects he frequently employs participatory public engagement, irony and humor to deconstruct social/cultural obsessions, his preferred means of expression being choose installation, photography, video, and intervention in public spaces. His projects Silkroad and Helter-Skelter although not focused on photography per se, use the medium as a starting point to interrogate histories and possible futures. He was kind enough to answer a feq questions here.

Miki Velciov’s practice can be easily refered to Timișoara’s legacy in land art and inteventions. In using these forms of art, he frequently uses photographic thought in planning and presenting them, the two mediums have always been intertwined since the inception of land art. In Velciov’s case this is even more so, as his creations are often meant to be viewed from a specific vantage point, similar to artists adept to (or following) the loosely named Vancouver School of Photoconceptualism (like John Pfahl). Presented here in the article are a few of his projects: Labyrinth, Rainfall, (UN)Parallel. He was also kind enough to answer a few questions related to his work:

– by Andrei Mateescu

  1. You finished your studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Timișoara’s graphics department. Later, however, your interest in new media and topics such as theoretical physics, astronomy, the interpretation of messages, the scientific aspects that surround society and human experience, directed you towards conceptual art, frequently documented and presented with the help of the photographic medium. Tell us a little about this journey.
  1. Navigating through your artistic projects, it seems obvious to me that photographic thinking is often an inherent part of them, from conception to (re)presentation. I am curious, however, if it started as a need to document the artistic practice, which then evolved, or if it was always a medium you felt close to in this way.
  1. I find fascinating by the scientific notions surrounding cosmology, the visible (vs. invisible) spectrum, the relativity of time perception and how these are found in the elementary particle of electromagnetism – the photon, which (at least at a quantum level) could be said to represent the object of photography, capturing it. Given your spheres of interest, I am curious if you have formed any opinion regarding these correlations between physical properties and the implicit social/philosophical qualities of Photography, with its power of analysis on (the perception of) Time.
  1. Timișoara has an impressive role in the forming of numerous artists, theorists, curators, historians and art collectors. One must not forget the important history given by phenomena such as the Zona Festival, the influence of the local Fine Arts High high school, the major impact of Sigma Group or the openness shown at the beginning of the 1990s towards mixed and new media. Today, as far as photography is concerned, commendable journalistic-documentary approaches can be identified and an attraction to analogical experiments. But the number of Timișoara artists who have taken on the medium of contemporary photography is relatively small. As one of the exceptions in this context, I’m curious to hear your opinion on it.

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This journalistic material was produced with funding from ENERGIE! Creation Grants, awarded by the Municipality of Timișoara, through the Project Centre, within the national cultural program “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023”.

The material does not necessarily represent the position of the Timișoara City Project Centre and the Centre is not responsible for its content or how it may be used.

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