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.