Alex Mirutziu included in Romania's first participation at the Havana Biennial

OUT OF PLACE - CROSSING BORDERS

The 15th Havana Biennial

Centre of Contemporary Art Wifredo Lam

Havana, Cuba

November 15, 2024 - February 28, 2025

Curator

Belu Simion Făinaru

Artists

Ciprian Mureşan, Ion Grigorescu, Alex Mirutziu, Irina Botea Bocan, Sebastian Moldovan, Simion Cernica, Pavel Braila, Răzvan Anton, Şerban Savu, Cristian Opriş, Bogdan Rata, Ştefan Liviu-Florian and Daniel Knnor

The exhibition Out of Place - Crossing Borders, curated by Belu Simion Făinaru, graces the 15th edition of the Havana Biennial, unfolding in the heart of Cuba's vibrant capital from November 15, 2024, to February 28, 2025. Featuring the works of 13 Romanian artists, this marks a historic moment—Romania’s inaugural participation in the renowned Havana Biennial, which has been shaping the global art landscape for over four decades.

Out of Place - Crossing Borders explores the fluid and complex interplay of identity, place, time, and individuality within the ever-evolving currents of global culture. The exhibition offers a thoughtful critique of local identity and cultural belonging, set against the backdrop of today’s rapidly transforming world.

At its core, the exhibition aspires to forge a dialogue—an open space where voices meet without the need for victors or vanquished. It is a reminder of our entanglement in the global crisis unfolding around us: we are both shaped by it and bear the power to shape its resolution. In this sense, the exhibition becomes a mirror of the times, reflecting our collective responsibility in the face of change.

Offering an alternative platform, Out of Place - Crossing Borders highlights the cultural impact of local processes, focusing on community-oriented art - art that transcends borders and unites diverse peoples and cultures. Through its innovative approach, it underscores the vital role of art in creating connections across geographical, political, and cultural divides.

This exhibition is a landmark collaboration between the Havana Biennale and the Mediterranean Biennale, celebrating a first: for the first time in 40 years, Romanian artists are participating in the Havana Biennale, marking a historic chapter in the cultural exchange between nations.

Belu Simion Făinaru, an artist and curator born in Romania, is the visionary behind this project. Făinaru is also the founder and director of the Mediterranean Contemporary Art Biennale in Israel, where he has nurtured cross-cultural dialogue through art. A professor at the University of Haifa, Israel, Făinaru represented Romania at the Venice Biennale in 2019, in a groundbreaking collaboration that fused his Romanian-Israeli identity.

Alex Mirutziu included in Brukenthal Museum collection

The 2024 acquisition session of the Brukenthal Museum was dedicated to Romanian-born artists, both those currently living and active in Romania or the diaspora, as well as the rightful heirs of contemporary Romanian artists who have worked in Romania or abroad.

The Ministry of Culture’s 2024 acquisition session took place simultaneously at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Brukenthal National Museum, and the Iași Museum of Art, with each institution receiving a budget of 500,000 lei from the Ministry of Culture.

“The session aims to expand the collections of these three museums, thereby enhancing Romania’s cultural heritage. The acquisitions will serve as an incentive for artistic production, with procedures focusing on original, innovative, and relevant works that contribute to the canon of contemporary art. These works belong to prominent recent history artists from Romania or the diaspora, as well as to the younger generations. We are interested in works from all media that meet the criteria established by museum specialists, reviewed by the jury, and whose condition allows for preservation, display, recontextualization, and both local and transnational mobility” stated the Minister of Culture, Raluca Turcan.

“This is a historic event that should occur annually at the Contemporary Art Museum in Sibiu. We are only two national contemporary art museums in Romania: the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest and the Contemporary Art Museum within the Brukenthal National Museum. Over 600 proposals with artworks were submitted to the Brukenthal National Museum. Selected works include painting, sculpture, textiles, photography, and installation.

I believe these acquisitions will stimulate current artistic production, particularly post-1990, with procedures focusing on original, novel, and relevant works that contribute to the contemporary art canon, including those by notable recent history artists from Romania or the diaspora and younger generations. Early next year, we will organize an exhibition featuring the acquired works and will also publish a catalog.

I would like to thank Minister Raluca Turcan for including the Contemporary Art Museum within the Brukenthal National Museum in the contemporary art acquisition project, as well as the artists who submitted projects, the jury, and my colleagues who worked hard on this first stage, with further procedures to follow as scheduled” said Alexandru Constantin Chituță.

The final list of artists selected for contemporary art acquisitions at the Contemporary Art Museum within the Brukenthal National Museum includes:

Ioan Sbârciu, Sofian Albert, Gabriela Culic, Ştefan Radu Creţu, Răzvan Botiş, George Dragomir Turia, Paul Baraka Marat, Adrian Stoleriu, Dorina Hotărău, Silviu Bogdan Vlăduţă, Radu Pulbere, Carmen Marin, Anca Boeriu, Liviu Bulea, Vladlen Babcineţchi, Roland Pangrati, Daniela Palimariu, Daniela Constantin, Iulian Gospodin, Ioana Patricia Teodorescu, Mirela Ivanciu, Ileana Ştefănescu, Maria Bordeanu, Ştefan Ungureanu, Darie Dup, Claudiu Ciobanu, Peter Jecza, Alex Mirutziu, Cătălin Bădărău, Felix Aftene, Ana Golici, Geanina Ionescu, Irina Dragomir, Laurenţiu Alexandrescu and Anca Coller.

Sesiunea de achiziţii 2024 a Muzeului Brukenthal a fost dedicată atât artiştilor de origine română, în viaţă, activi în România sau în diaspora, cât şi moştenitorilor de drept ai unor artişti contemporani de origine română care au activat în România sau în străinătate.

Sesiunea de achiziţii 2024 a Ministerului Culturii s-a desfăşurat simultan în Muzeul Naţional de Artă Contemporană, Muzeul Naţional Brukenthal şi Muzeul de Artă Iaşi, fiecare bugetate de Ministerul Culturii cu câte 500.000 lei.

"Sesiunea urmăreşte dezvoltarea colecţiilor celor 3 muzee şi, prin aceasta, creşterea patrimoniului cultural al României. Achiziţiile vor constitui un stimulent pentru producţia artistică, iar procedurile vor viza operele de artă originale, inedite, relevante pentru constituirea canonului artei contemporane, opere aparţinând atât artiştilor de referinţă ai istoriei recente, din România sau diaspora, cât şi tinerelor generaţii. Sunt de interes lucrări din toate mediile, care îndeplinesc criteriile formulate de specialiştii muzeului şi analizate de către membrii juriului, şi a căror stare de conservare şi rezistenţă în timp permit depozitarea, expunerea, recontextualizarea şi mobilitatea locală şi transnaţională", a transmis Ministrul Culturii, Raluca Turcan.

"Este un eveniment istoric care ar trebui să se întâmple anual şi la Muzeul de Artă Contemporană din Sibiu. Suntem doar două muzee naţionale de artă contemporană în România: Muzeul Naţional de Artă Contemporană din Bucureşti şi Muzeul de Artă Contemporană din cadrul Muzeului Naţional Brukenthal. Au fost peste 600 de propuneri cu lucrări de artă depuse la Muzeul Naţional Brukenthal. S-au selectat lucrări de pictură, sculptură, textile, fotografie şi instalaţie. Consider că achiziţiile vor constitui un stimulent pentru producţia artistică curentă, realizată după anul 1990, iar procedurile vor viza operele de artă originale, inedite, relevante pentru constituirea canonului artei contemporane, opere aparţinând atât artiştilor de referinţă ai istoriei recente, din România sau diaspora, cât şi tinerelor generaţii. La începutul anului viitor vom realiza o expoziţie cu lucrările achiziţionate şi vom tipări şi un catalog. Mulţumesc doamnei Raluca Turcan, Ministrul Culturii pentru includerea Muzeului de Artă Contemporană din cadrul Muzeului Naţional Brukenthal în proiectul de achiziţii de artă contemporană, mulţumesc artiştilor care au depus proiecte şi juriului şi colegiilor mei care au muncit pentru această primă etapă, urmând conform calendarului realizarea celorlalte proceduri", a transmis Alexandru Constantin Chituţă.

Lista finală a artiştilor finalişti pentru achiziţia de artă contemporană la Muzeul de Artă Contemporană din cadrul Muzeului Naţional Brukenthal:

Ioan Sbârciu, Sofian Albert, Gabriela Culic, Ştefan Radu Creţu, Răzvan Botiş, George Dragomir Turia, Paul Baraka Marat, Adrian Stoleriu, Dorina Hotărău, Silviu Bogdan Vlăduţă, Radu Pulbere, Carmen Marin, Anca Boeriu, Liviu Bulea, Vladlen Babcineţchi, Roland Pangrati, Daniela Palimariu, Daniela Constantin, Iulian Gospodin, Ioana Patricia Teodorescu, Mirela Ivanciu, Ileana Ştefănescu, Maria Bordeanu, Ştefan Ungureanu, Darie Dup, Claudiu Ciobanu, Peter Jecza, Alex Mirutziu, Cătălin Bădărău, Felix Aftene, Ana Golici, Geanina Ionescu, Irina Dragomir, Laurenţiu Alexandrescu și Anca Coller.

Alex Mirutziu in LES FLEURS DU MAL group exhibition

Les Fleurs du mal, as the title of the exhibition, evokes not only the symbolism of Charles Baudelaire, but also the subtle toxic influences that insidiously creep into the life of every creator, as the author said, intensifying the burden and drama of the artistic journey. Charles Baudelaire's reflections on the clash between an ideal world and the theater of falsehood that dominates social interactions remain valid today.

14 artists explore in varied media – painting, sculpture, photography, installation and new media – big themes such as alienation, disalienation and identity issues.

The themes of identity are intertwined with the exploration of death, seen not only as a physical finality, but also as a symbolic death, a kind of repetition for death, a rehearsal with an audience, in which there is an attempt to embrace a possible end point of life through an existence in accord with one's own soul. Whether it be a self-alienation, existential, social or cultural, these artists navigate against the unseen winds of an eternally dissatisfied world.

The accelerated pace of evolutionary trends generates a society with ever more demanding imperatives; thus, the contemporary artist is forced to navigate a socio-professional landscape supersaturated with expectations and constraints.

Social alienation, in this context, is manifested by the rupture between the artist and the society that imposes roles and identities that alienate him from himself. Under this pressure, he finds himself facing a dilemma: how can he remain free and authentic in an atmosphere where conformism is still a precondition for validation?

The artists experience a cultural tension that causes them to fluctuate between being true to themselves and meeting cultural demands to become a product for the art market.

Even if it is an alienation of different causes, on different levels, it is a subtle one, similar to the one that Jean-Paul Sartre describes in ”Being and Nothingness” , where man is ”condemned to freedom” and at the same time to the burden of creating his own meaning in the world.

In this context, one can also notice a kind of emotional dysmorphia, in which the artist perceives his creative identity through a distorted lens, feeling that he is never valuable or authentic enough to live up to social expectations.

The artists showcased here are forced to define their place in a system that often pushes them to painful compromises. Their art is not only a response to this pressure, but also a refusal to think in hierarchical terms.

Similarly to those who are locked up in logic of expectation in a state of Beckettian suspension, others choose to regain their personal power and artistic integrity by opposing the process of alienation, regardless of its level of manifestation.

It takes a lot of courage to escape the trap of mediocrity and invent your own identity, the latter assuming to walk on risky paths – but only from the point of view of society. The quest for a more authentic identity is constantly accompanied by subtle forms of self-alienation, where the distinctions between the true Self and the context-imposed mask are becoming more difficult to distinguish.

”The Flowers of Evil” represent not only the corruption of the soul, but also the possible rebirth through suffering, the expression of a dialogue between the forces that constrain and those that liberate, art becoming the channel through which these artists choose to keep in front of the mirror of the world.

Flowers are born in the chaos of urban experiences including social and cultural alienation, and artists are building gardens with new forms of freedom that transcends the limits imposed by the outside and capable to liberate other people willing to think.

Les Fleurs du mal x-rays both the vulnerability and the power of the artist in a context in which friendships, alliances and social pressures can determine his trajectory. Thus, each work featured in this exhibition becomes a personal manifesto – a declaration of freedom in front of a system that can no longer induce alienation.

A certain kind of understanding is born, and all concepts of how we should be, live, or what we should do are dissolved. This transcendence of alienation, be it social, cultural or existential, becomes the core of the new identity claimed by these artists. They move right into the interior of existence, the only strangers remaining those who seek outside of themselves the validation of their artistic or personal identity. Alienation is now a catalyst for redefining the self, culture, and society in this landscape, not just a destructive force but a starting point for redefining the self, culture and society.

LES FLEURS DU MAL

Constanța Art Museum

October 11 - November 30, 2024

Curator:

Nora Cupcencu

Artists:

Olimpiu Bandalac, Irina Cîmpeanu, Nora Cupcencu, Matei Emanuel, Dumitru Gorzo, Petru Lucaci, Alex Mirutziu, Gili Mocanu, Denis Nanciu, Răzvan Neagoe, Magdalena Pelmuș, Bogdan Pelmuș, Beniamin Popescu, Alexandru Ranga

muzeuldeartaconstanta.ro

Short film 'The Tempest' in BIEFF competition

”Furtuna” de Alex Mirutziu, selectat în cadrul Competiției Naționale de Scurtmetraj BIEFF 2024

Proiecție: 27 septembrie 2024, la Cinemateca Eforie, București

Este al patrulea an în care experimentele cinematografice autohtone cuceresc marile ecrane din București, în cadrul Competiției Naționale de Scurtmetraj a BIEFF. Unsprezece filme aparte, ale unor cineaști și artiști vizuali care provoacă ecranul, concurează anul acesta pentru Premiul Competiției Naționale de Scurtmetraj.

„Ceva se întâmplă cu cinemaul românesc. Nu cu mult timp în urmă, o competiție națională a BIEFF ar fi fost greu de crezut; o ediție ca aceasta, cu 11 scurtmetraje în Competiția Națională și cinci lungmetraje românești prezentate în diferite categorii, ar fi fost de neînchipuit.

Festivalul a ajuns deja la a patra ediție a Competiției Naționale; 2021, anul (pandemic) de început, pare să fi fost o cu totul altă epocă. De atunci și până acum, BIEFF face ceva într-adevăr neobișnuit pentru cultura română – privește cu mare atenție video eseuri, filme coregrafice, experimente în animație, suite foto, filme jurnal, artă video, found footage, nonficțiune și non-narațiune și le înțelege, cercetează și, mai ales, sărbătorește ca fiind cinema. Anul acesta, mai mult ca oricând, cinemaul Competiției Naționale ia tot atâtea forme câte filme“, spune Călin Boto, curatorul Competiției Naționale BIEFF 2024.

Selecționate din peste 85 de filme românești înscrise la această ediție, cele 11 scurtmetraje autohtone din competiție vor putea fi urmărite în cadrul a două programe distincte, ambele programate la Cinemateca Eforie, în datele de 27 și 28 septembrie.

În primul program competițional, publicul va putea vedea scurtmetrajul documentar ”Despre imposibilitatea unui omagiu”, în regia Xandrei Popescu, care a avut premiera mondială în cadrul Festivalului de Film de la Locarno. Xandra Popescu se întoarce la BIEFF cu portretul lui Ion Tugearu, unul dintre cei mai mari dansatori și coregrafi români, denumit „prințul baletului românesc”, prim-solist al Operei Naționale care de aproape 60 de ani dansează, coregrafiază și formează artiști din zona baletului, dar și a dansului contemporan.

În ”Furtuna”, artistul Alex Mirutziu provoacă noțiunile de limbaj și reprezentare printr-un film sincron culturii contemporane a teaser-elor, reflectând asupra naturii tandre și maleabile a fizicului masculin. Un film care se află la granița dintre fenomenul contemporan al teaser-elor și moștenirea stilului vizual al Germaine Dulac, punând accent pe libertatea absolută în imagini și analogii. Ritmul său alert contrastează cu elemente de camp nesofisticat, interpretări exagerate și reflecții percutante asupra mortalității și singurătății. Scenele funcționează atât ca concluzie, cât și ca preludiu, prezentând secvente rapide și impactante, precum și flash-uri de text care surprind un stoicism brut, imersat în complexitatea renunțării la control. Am încercat să îmbin anxietatea cu tendințele impulsive, evocând un sentiment de demnitate care pare să emane din fiecare cadru. Obiectivul meu, la nivel teoretic, a fost să dizolv atmosfera densă prezentă în timpul creației, eliminând superficialitatea și constrângerile limbajului, îmbrățișând un sine mai liber, care ignoră normele societății și preocupările materiale. Textul și vocile din film reflectă o luptă pentru controlul asupra corpurilor și dorințelor, expresiile lor contamineza esența filmului. Această lucrare este profund legată de circumstanțele în care a fost creată, reflectând experiențele și identitatea mea personală. Explorează teme precum permeabilitatea, natura tandră și maleabilă a fizicului masculin, înclinația sa de a se abate de la plăcerile convenționale dictate de orgasm și satisfacția derivată din erodarea unor granițe specifice ale corpului.

În scurtmetrajul nonficțional ”Vakhtanguri”, Valeriu Adimei urmărește povestea unui cuplu queer din Tbilisi și încercarea lor de a găsi un loc căruia să îi spună acasă în Bruxelles.

”Lucky Girl Syndrome” surprinde un moment specific din viața autoarei Raya al Souliman, relocarea în altă țară și relația cu noul oraș, iar în ”Adio, încredere”, Mădălina Zaharia face o analiză a noțiunii de „încredere” descompusă în termeni vizuali și lingvistici.

În cel de-al doilea program competițional dedicat filmelor românești, spectatorii se reîntâlnesc cu Teona Galgoțiu, câștigătoarea de anul trecut a Premiului Gopo pentru cel mai bun scurtmetraj (“Vreau să sparg sera”), care revine la BIEFF cu cel mai nou scurtmetraj al său, ”Clare’s Decision Not to Get Up”, un protest împotriva nevoii de mișcare permanente. 

În filmul lor coregrafic ”Repetiții pentru pace”, artiștii vizuali Anca Benera și Arnold Estefan ne introduc în viața performativ-cotidiană din Cincu, un sat din centrul Transilvaniei, unde o bază militară NATO coexistă cu peisajul pastoral și modul de viață arhaic. Inspirat din istoria rețelelor de internet dintr-un orășel din România, ”Surge of Transference” al lui Geo Barcan își imaginează sfârșitului capitalismului târziu și începutul unui viitor peer-to-peer offline, neguvernat de niciun software sau hardware. Cu ”A Dying Leaf Should Be Able to Carry the Weight of the World”, Thea Lazăr invită privitorul într-un tur al „Grădinii celor cinci continente” din Cluj-Napoca, acolo unde istoria neștiută a plantelor ne poate spune la fel de multe atât despre trecut, cât și despre viitor. În ”Asfalt”, filmat în format Super 8, Bogdan Georgian Alexandru documentează munca de o viață a unui fost asfaltator, așadar povestea drumurilor pe care le parcurgem zilnic, iar în ”Saint George” al cineastei Alle Dicu facem cunoștință cu trei tinere femei care, fascinate fiind de „peisajele” hazardului de pe suprafețe de marmură, se învață reciproc cum să privească. 

Juriul care va evalua filmele incluse în competiția națională a BIEFF 2024 și va desemna câștigătorul premiului pentru cel mai bun scurtmetraj românesc va fi compus din Aleksandra Lawska, curatoare independentă de origine poloneză specializată în lucrul cu filmul de scurtmetraj și fostă colaboratoare a unor a unor festivaluri precum Short Waves Festival Poznan, Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal, Glasgow Short Film Festival, Lago Film Fest, Michel Rensen, programator de film și consultant de scenarii de origine olandeză, actualmente coordonator de program al festivalului Go Short Nijmegen și fost colaborator al unor festivaluri precum Cork International Film Festival, Leiden Shorts, Encounters Film Festival, și Radu Pervolovici, director al Fundației Culturale META, coordonator al  Rezidenței internaționale de creație audiovizuală de la Slon, precum și al proiectului MagiC Carpets România, care se desfășoară sub forma unei rezidențe internaționale de creație experimentală audio-video.

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”The Tempest” by Alex Mirutziu, selected in the National Short Film Competition of BIEFF 2024

Screening: September 27, 2024, at Eforie Cinematheque, Bucharest

This is the fourth year that Romanian experimental cinema has graced the big screens in Bucharest as part of the National Short Film Competition at BIEFF. Eleven unique films by filmmakers and visual artists who challenge the screen will compete this year for the National Short Film Competition Award.

"Something is happening with Romanian cinema. Not long ago, a national competition at BIEFF would have seemed hard to believe; an edition like this one, with 11 short films in the National Competition and five Romanian feature films presented in various categories, would have been unthinkable.

The festival has already reached its fourth edition of the National Competition; 2021, the (pandemic) year of its inception, seems to have been a different era altogether. Since then, BIEFF has been doing something really unusual for Romanian culture - it takes a close look at video essays, choreographic films, animation experiments, photo suites, film diaries, video art, found footage, nonfiction and nonnarration and understands, investigates and, above all, celebrates them as cinema. This year, more than ever, the cinema of the National Competition takes as many forms as there are films" says Călin Boto, curator of the BIEFF 2024 National Competition.

Selected from over 85 Romanian films submitted for this edition, the 11 short films in the competition will be screened in two distinct programs, both scheduled at Cinemateca Eforie on September 27 and 28.

In the first competitive program, the audience will see the documentary short film ”On the Impossibility of an Homage”, directed by Xandra Popescu, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Xandra Popescu returns to BIEFF with a portrait of Ion Tugearu, one of Romania’s greatest dancers and choreographers, known as the "prince of Romanian ballet," who has been dancing, choreographing, and training ballet and contemporary dance artists for nearly 60 years.

In ”The Tempest”, artist Alex Mirutziu challenges notions of language and representation through a film synchronized with the contemporary culture of teasers, reflecting on the tender and malleable nature of the male body. A film straddling the contemporary teaser culture and the legacy of Germaine Dulac’s visual style, emphasizing absolute freedom in imagery and analogies. Its brisk pace contrasts with sloppy campness, overacting, and sharp reflections on mortality and solitude. Scenes serve as both conclusion and prelude, featuring quick, impactful visuals and text flashes that encapsulate a raw stoicism immersed in the complexities of relinquishing control. I aimed to blend anxiety with impulsive tendencies, evoking a sense of dignity that seems to seep from every pore. My theoretical objective was to dissolve the dense atmosphere prevalent during its creation, shedding the superficiality and constraints of language, and embracing a more liberated self that disregards societal norms and material pursuits. The text and voices in the film reflect a struggle for control over bodies and desires, their expressions permeating the film's essence. This work is deeply intertwined with the circumstances of its creation, a reflection of my experiences and identity. It explores themes of permeability, the tender and pliable nature of the male physique, its inclination to deviate from conventional pleasures dictated by orgasm, and the satisfaction derived from the erosion of specific bodily boundaries.

In the non-fiction short film ”Vakhtanguri” Valeriu Adimei follows the story of a queer couple from Tbilisi and their attempt to find a place they can call home in Brussels.

"Lucky Girl Syndrome" captures a specific moment in the life of author Raya al Souliman, her relocation to another country, and her relationship with the new city, while in "Bye, Bye Confidence”, Mădălina Zaharia analyzes the notion of "trust" broken down into visual and linguistic terms.

In the second competitive program dedicated to Romanian films, viewers will encounter Teona Galgoțiu, last year's winner of the Gopo Award for Best Short Film ("Vrea să sparg sera"), who returns to BIEFF with her latest short film, "Clare’s Decision Not to Get Up" a protest against the constant need for movement.

In their choreographic film "Rehearsals for Peace”, visual artists Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan introduce us to the performative-daily life in Cincu, a village in central Transylvania, where a NATO military base coexists with the pastoral landscape and archaic way of life. Inspired by the history of internet networks in a small Romanian town, Geo Barcan’s "Surge of Transference" imagines the end of late capitalism and the beginning of a future peer-to-peer offline, ungoverned by any software or hardware. With "A Dying Leaf Should Be Able to Carry the Weight of the World” Thea Lazăr invites the viewer on a tour of the "Garden of the Five Continents" in Cluj-Napoca, where the unknown history of plants can tell us as much about the past as about the future. In ”Asphalt”, filmed in Super 8, Bogdan Georgian Alexandru documents the lifelong work of a former road worker, thus telling the story of the roads we travel daily. In Alle Dicu’s "Saint George" we meet three young women who, fascinated by the "landscapes" of chance on marble surfaces, teach each other how to look.

The jury that will evaluate the films in the BIEFF 2024 National Competition and select the winner of the Best Romanian Short Film Award will consist of Aleksandra Lawska, a Polish independent curator specializing in short film and former collaborator with festivals such as Short Waves Festival Poznan, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, Glasgow Short Film Festival, Lago Film Fest; Michel Rensen, a Dutch film programmer and script consultant, currently the program coordinator of Go Short Nijmegen and a former collaborator with festivals like Cork International Film Festival, Leiden Shorts, Encounters Film Festival; and Radu Pervolovici, director of the META Cultural Foundation, coordinator of the Slon International Audiovisual Creation Residency, and the MagiC Carpets Romania project, which operates as an international experimental audio-visual creation residency.

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Alex Mirutziu is currently working at Workshop Foundation Budapest

In the frame of Life Long Burning / Creative Crossroads platform 4th year funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, Alex Mirutziu will work on a new multimedia project entitled LIMP CAPITAL.

Currently in residence at Workshop Foundation, Budapest (April 8-28, 2024), his next presentation of intent will take place on April 24, 7pm at the headquarters of Workshop Foundation (1094 Budapest, Liliom street 41).

Workshop Foundation was founded in 1992 with the aim of providing support for independent artists, encouraging their artistic development in order to facilitate the development of the Hungarian contemporary dance scene as a whole. Its main strategic objective is the encouragement of border-crossing – both geographically and among artistic disciplines.

At this time the artist is rehearsing in the facilities offered by Trafo House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest.

Alex Mirutziu is the artist selected for a 2-year support and development programme as part of the Creative Crossroads project Life Long Burning (LLB) - Futures Lost and Found.

LIMP CAPITAL operates within protocol events. It lays claim to the mind-fuck-be-your-embarrassing attitude of the operator, where speech is drooling, where speech is fetish.

The operator subscribes to no impulse, no fact, opting to turn off their brain and reinforce the subtle capital of ignorance. Its jump-cut structure advocates for the looser-self, for dance without analysis. The body becomes limpified, ornamental, where limp represents the compression of antithesis, embracing resistance in action and edging toward capital. What is anticipated is the expression of an advanced masculinity detached from the virile forms of pleasure.

The protocols are governed by a type of achievement through abandonment and surrender of sovereignty. The goal is to achieve a type of meaning that resolves itself, releasing from speculation and interpretation, owing to its serious blurring effect whose difficulty in delivering a product becomes capital.

***

Producer, partner Romania: Asociația 4 Culture Project co-funded by LIFE LONG BURNING - FUTURES LOST AND FOUND (LLB3) of the European Union - Creative Europe Programme.

Media partners: Radio România Cultural, Modernism, Zeppelin Magazine, ARTA Magazine, Feeder, IQads, România Pozitiva

LIMP CAPITAL - public presentation

April 24, 7pm

Workshop Foundation, 1027 Budapest, Jurányi street 1-3. building B 4th floor