Excerpt

Dan Perjovschi in conversation with Alex Mirutziu. Triggered by his retrospective Romania – A Retrospective 1985–2025 in Timișoara, the dialogue revisits four decades of work at the crossroads of art, journalism, and activism. With the precision and irony of his trademark line, Perjovschi reflects on the evolution of his visual language, the risks of being absorbed by the system he critiques, and the fragile balance between usefulness and autonomy. The result is a portrait of an artist-citizen who draws not for beauty, but for lucidity—one wall at a time.

Timișoara reasserts its place on the map of contemporary art in Eastern Europe as it hosts the 6th edition of the Art Encounters Biennial, taking place from 30 May to 13 July 2025. Under the theme “Bounding Histories. Whispering Tales,” curators Ana Janevski (MoMA New York) and Tevz Logar offer a reflection on the city’s past, activating three emblematic venues: the Garrison Command, FABER, and the Art Encounters Foundation. The opening weekend (30 May – 1 June) features guided tours, performances, workshops, and meetings with artists and curators.

At Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig, ORIGINS: Life's Epic Journey brings art and science together in a breathtaking immersive exhibition tracing existence from the birth of the universe to the emergence of life on Earth. Through cutting-edge digital art and scientific visualisation, complex natural phenomena unfold as an awe-inspiring sensory experience.

Guided by managing director Paolo Löffler, we explored this world premiere and gained valuable insight into its artistic vision and scientific depth. Renowned for its leadership in digital and immersive art, Kunstkraftwerk once again captivates audiences with this ambitious project. Open until June 29, ORIGINS invites visitors on an unparalleled journey into the genesis of life.

Eco-cultural Tides (Submerged Narratives of the Danube and Oslo Fjord) is a cross-disciplinary initiative that bridges artistic and scientific exploration, linking the Danube River and the Oslo Fjord through collaborative research. The project highlights how environmental, cultural, and historical narratives shape—and are shaped by—these two interconnected aquatic ecosystems.

We spoke with Ovidiu Șandor—entrepreneur, director of the Art Encounters Foundation, and Timișoara-based collector—in an interview funded by the Timișoara Project Center, exploring how his multifaceted roles inform one another. Our discussion touched on his contributions to the Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture program, last year’s landmark exhibitions (including those of Constantin Brâncuși and Victor Brauner), the relationship between collectors and artists, and the foundation’s collaborations with major institutions such as Kunsthalle Praha, New Budapest Gallery, Mulhouse Kunsthalle, Centre Pompidou, and the Craiova Art Museum. Welcoming us into his home, Șandor offered generous insight into the ethos behind his initiatives and his ongoing commitment to Romanian contemporary art.

Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán – UnWorlding opens a deep inquiry into the ecological entanglements between nature and culture, urging us to rethink the boundaries traditionally drawn between them. Continuing themes central to their recent practice—nature’s militarization, resource extraction, and ecological crisis in the Anthropocene—the artists use their new work UnWorlding to position art as a mediator between the natural and the constructed. The exhibition proposes a renewed understanding of how these worlds intersect, collide, and co-produce one another.

I spoke with Diana Marincu, curator and artistic director of the Art Encounters Foundation in Timișoara, in the welcoming setting of the Două Bufnițe bookstore, to explore the questions and research shaping her current projects. Our discussion touched on the 2023 European Capital of Culture, the influence of Constantin Brâncuși on contemporary art, and the curatorial challenges of the post-digital era. Diana reflected on working with artists, building exhibitions, and the perspectives that define her generation. We also addressed her views on political correctness, the relationship between historical and aesthetic truth, and how these dynamics shape language and communication.

Kunsthalle Bega is an alternative and experimental art space founded in 2019 in Timișoara by Alina Cristescu, Liviana Dan, and Bogdan Rața through the Calina Foundation. Dedicated to supporting artistic production and addressing current challenges in the creative field from a curatorial perspective, it awards the Bega Art Prize to a Romanian curator who significantly reshapes curatorial practice. Actively involved in educational projects with diverse communities, Kunsthalle Bega also promotes the crucial role of art publications.

Born in Auckland in 1982 and based in Berlin, Simon Denny creates works that act as vigilant social lubricants, uniting technological pathways with cultural references and interactive environments. From Thatcher to EU Parliament and the Parco Polo Airport project in Venice, Denny extrapolates, reorders, and imposes structure upon the chaotic fabric of contemporary experience. His works infiltrate our modes of behaviour in an effort to grapple with complex political and cultural themes. What follows is an account of his intellectually provocative recent output.

A discussion shaped by conversations in and beyond Alex Mirutziu’s studio in 2019.

Between Too Soon and Too Late, Alex Mirutziu’s first UK solo exhibition (Delfina Foundation & European ArtEast Foundation, 2018), examines how meaning is formed and delayed. Drawing on his research into Iris Murdoch’s late, unfinished writings—shaped by the onset of Alzheimer’s—Mirutziu reflects on the “tiny space” where meaning remains tacit, suspended between “too soon” and “too late.” Through new and existing works, the exhibition explores this indeterminate zone, resisting resolution and inviting viewers into a space where interpretation remains open and unresolved.

Andrei Arion and Alex Mirutziu at Kunsthalle Bega offers an intimate look at Andrei Arion’s artistic approach as observed during the preparation of his first solo exhibition, Trying to Move Without a Push. The text traces the author’s personal connection with Arion—from an early encounter in Cluj to witnessing his working process in Timișoara—highlighting the artist’s resistance to fixed definitions and his search for forms that balance freedom and responsibility. Influenced by a dialogue with sculptor Bogdan Rața, Arion’s works emerge as fragile, incisive objects that function like tools—simultaneously aiding and wounding. Rather than illustrating ideas, his sculptures embody them, revealing states of tension, uncertainty, and introspection that challenge viewers to confront their own vulnerabilities.

Ioana Maria Sisea’s Harvest Time at Kunsthalle Bega transforms personal loss into a powerful reflection on collective trauma. Drawing on the remnants of her grandparents’ house, she dismantles nostalgia through a precise, almost brutal reconfiguration of domestic fragments—suspended drawers, fabrics, and objects stripped of memory. Rather than aiming for sentiment, Sisea exposes how destruction can become a form of salvation, offering viewers a stark, tactile encounter with the difficulty of carrying the past into the future. Harvest Time resonates as a monumental gesture not because it illustrates trauma, but because it teaches us how to live with it—inviting a deeper, unsettling clarity about what must be released in order to move on.