New cultural spaces in Romania

Even as creative industries have been going through a second pandemic year and dealing with all the uncertainty around public access to events and performances, we’re seeing new cultural spaces opening up across the country.

By Oana Vasiliu

Check out this underground art gallery in Bucharest: Kulterra

In Bucharest, new cultural spaces include Malmaison, located in the former Securitate prison, AREAL, a new space dedicated to choreographic development, and private exhibition space Kulterra Gallery. In addition, the Alhambra Garden has reopened, and several subway stations have been transformed into exhibition spaces.

MALMAISON (137C CALEA PLEVNEI) AREAL (2 ANASTASIE SIMU STREET)

AREAL opened in March 2021 as a new space for choreographic development. The space provides direct support to projects initiated by its founders and aims to increase the cohesion of the choreographic sector, as well as to develop and attract new audiences for contemporary dance.

Starting in 2021, activities at AREAL space have been coordinated by a team that includes choreographers Alexandra Balasoiu, Cristina Lilienfeld, Cosmin Manolescu, and Valentina De Piante.

KULTERRA (104-106 STIRBEI VODA STREET)

Kulterra is the newest private exhibition space in the capital city, developed on the site of an older cultural space, using the entire area of about 280 square metres that occupies two floors below street level.

Thanks to the technology that was used to arrange its interior, Kulterra is a versatile, modular gallery, where several events can be organised and managed simultaneously.

ELISABETA THEATRE/ALHAMBRA GARDEN (13 CONSTANTIN MILLE STREET)

The Elisabeta Theatre started hosting cultural evenings in the Alhambra Garden, which celebrated 105 years since its inauguration in 1916. The official opening took place on August 26-27, with two events, a pop-opera concert, and a Cuban party with live music and dancing.

The Alhambra Garden is part of a set of historical monuments, along with the former Capitol Cinema. The two spaces had their moments of glory in the interwar period, when they were among the most coveted leisure

The story of the Malmaison building begins with the Barracks of the Horse Guards Regiment, built in the 19th century at the order of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, ruler of the United Romanian Principalities.

The building was later transformed into a military prison, and then, after World War II, it became a communist transit prison and investigation centre for anti-communist bourgeois intellectuals and elites.

A group of artists and art galleries have revamped the space, thus turning the Malmaison Workshops into an art community and a common space for artists, workshops, projects, and galleries in Bucharest. A former military prison is currently an art space in Bucharest

places in the city. The ensemble is preparing to enter a refurbishment process which is meant to preserve and enhance the original architecture while modernising spaces to host events.

ORASUL M (IZVOR METRO STATION)

Created and designed specifically for the Bucharest subway, Orasul M is a project dedicated to the visual arts, initiated and produced by the VAR Cultural Association, in partnership with METROREX.

Orasul M provides a new perspective for people’s usual commute, giving way to a cultural micro-universe that passers-by usually have no time to explore on the surface. By providing the spaces it owns and manages, METROREX is supporting the capital’s art scene.

The 11 participating artists volunteered their works for the projects, using various techniques (sculpture, mural painting, photography, augmented reality, etc.) and covering a wide range of social and personal themes. More archive photos are also on display at Timpuri Noi station.

THE COSMIC HOUSE (CLUJ-NAPOCA)

The Cosmic House opened last summer in Cluj-Napoca as a motivational cultural project, with the aim of supporting, building, and encouraging the artistic and creative community. The Cosmic House is designed as a cultural laboratory, showcasing art productions with music, dance, theatre, film, and visual arts.

THE CASTLE OF ARTS (DROBETA TURNU-SEVERIN)

A surprising new space is the Water Castle in Drobeta Turnu-Severin, which has been turned into the Castle of Arts, a future museum and space for exhibitions, artists, NGOs, and cultural managers.

“On November 19, we opened an old water tower, an iconic element of the city, a collaborative space for future museum and space for cultural events. It has all the necessary equipment, free access to resources (smart, immersive, interactive exhibitions, with

installations and other technologies, WiFi, presentation technology, work infrastructure, etc.). It is a space where all this local creative and cultural ecosystem can work, like in an office it may never have had before. Here people can meet, present and document ideas, incubate projects, and develop mature and creative business solutions. We are interested in harnessing this extraordinary resource, giving it a place for expression, and engaging with initiative groups to take the bull by the horns and change the face of the city,” stated Dragos Neamu, cited by news.ro.

Gradually, the Tower of Arts (former Water Tower) will be transformed into a museum and a space for interpretation and lifelong learning, with a creative interface for the expression and multidisciplinary use of topics which are specific to intangible cultural heritage and motivated by the water element.

UNIVERSALUL VECHI STORE (RESITA)

The Universalul Vechi Store in Resita also recently appeared on the map of alternative cultural spaces, through an impressive exhibition by Dumitru Gorzo, who presented over 200 works.

“Paintings with a peak and thick” was the title of the exhibition comprising old and new works by visual artist Dumitru Gorzo from Resita, within a project that took place both in the Banat Montan Museum as well as at Universalul Vechi Store, a communist building with no present utility.

The artist’s paintings and drawings were

placed all over the building’s glazed exterior and lit up from inside, thus turning the entire store into a colourful lightbox.

TIMISOARA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (TIMISOARA)

An exhibition space also appeared within the Timisoara airport, where the international arrivals terminal was turned into an art gallery.

Officials announced that the city’s airport would become a cultural hub through a partnership with the West University of Timisoara. Specialists from the School of Arts and Design and the School of Music and Theatre will organise cultural events for all travellers who pass through the “Traian Vuia” International Airport next year.