TRAVELS, PHOTOGRAPHS, FRIENDSHIPS. LEE MILLER, LENA CONSTANTE, ELENA PĂTRĂȘCANU
24.04.2025 - 08.06.2025

Curators: Magda Radu and Alexandra Croitoru


Historical contextualization by: Diana Mărgărit and Adrian Cioflâncă

Opening: Thursday, April 24, 19.00

The project stems from the intersection of three women with distinct artistic trajectories whose paths crossed at a pivotal moment in Romania’s history – the period immediately following the end of World War II. The protagonists are Lee Miller, the renowned photographer who visited Romania twice – first in 1938, then again in 1946, before and after the war; Lena Constante, an artist known in particular for her innovative contributions to textile art; and Elena Pătrășcanu, a scenographer, promoter of puppet theater, and active participant in left-wing political movements.

The starting point of the project is a series of photographs taken by Lee Miller in 1946 in Bucharest, depicting Lena Constante and Elena Pătrășcanu collaborating on puppet-making for theatre performances. One of the most charged images captures Lena Constante lifting a puppet of Adolf Hitler towards the camera – a gesture with strong symbolic value in a context where left-wing artists and intellectuals, united in anti-fascist ideals, operated within networks that transcended national and cultural borders. Beyond this politically charged scene, the exhibition includes a selection of photographs taken by Miller in Romania that reflect her deep interest in local folklore. Accompanied by ethnomusicologist Harry Brauner, Miller explored these themes in a manner that diverged from conventional ethnographic reportage, offering instead a nuanced and dynamic perspective focused on the representation of women and their essential role in the spiritual and communal life of the rural world.

This encounter, which took place at a time of political instability and major historical transformations, becomes an opportunity to reflect on transnational female solidarity and the ways in which women have managed to influence and reshape artistic languages, despite their frequent marginalization. The destinies of the three protagonists were deeply marked by both the traumas of war and the ideological polarization of the postwar period. Although driven by anti-fascist ideals and the fight for freedom, their lives were marked by persecution, political detention and unimaginable suffering. Lee Miller never fully recovered from her experiences as a war photographer having accompanied Allied troops during the liberation of Europe, with Romania marking the final stop of that dramatic journey. Both Lena Constante and Elena Pătrășcanu, despite their leftist convictions, were imprisoned after the communist regime was installed because of their links with Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu – a communist intellectual who fell victim to internal party infighting.

The curatorial discourse unfolds on multiple levels, combining visual-aesthetic dimensions with conceptual and discursive frameworks. The historical contextualization constructs a narrative that traces the moments of convergence and divergence in the lives of the three protagonists, resulting in a compelling scenario through which the past engages directly with the present. The exhibition offers an incursion into the biographical paths of the three protagonists and proposes a reflection on how these individual trajectories have managed to reconfigure themselves and preserve their relevance over time, despite attempts to erase their professional contributions – especially in the case of Lena Constante and Elena Pătrășcanu – and to reduce their public presence to collateral roles in official historical narratives.



Exhibition design: Larisa Sitar

Image: British Pathé Archive (left); The Library of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest (center); “I. L. Caragiale” National Theatre Library, Bucharest (right)

Collections and archives: Lee Miller Archives, East Sussex, UK; Romanian Academy Library; National Museum of the Romanian Peasant; New Europe College, Bucharest; Ovidiu Șandor Collection, Timișoara; Cristinel Popa Collection, Bucharest; Ethnological Archive of the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant; “I. L. Caragiale” National Theatre Library, Bucharest; Romanian Radio Archive; National Center of Cinematography Archive; Romanian Television Society Archive; Central National Historical Archives, ISISP Fund; National Council for the Study of Security Archives Archive; British Pathé Archive; Vogue Archive

Special thanks to: Dana Andrei, Ami Bouhassane, Mihai Burcea, Lelia Ciobotariu, Adrian Silvan Ionescu, Adrian Silvan Ionescu, Eduard Kupferberg, Veronica Mincic, Virgil Nițulescu, Nicolae Noica, Lila Passima, Beatrice Păruș, Cristinel Popa, Robertina Stoica, Alexandru Solomon, Ovidiu Șandor, Iris Șerban, Suzana Vasilescu, Mihaela Verman, Mirela Vișan, Anca Vitan

This event is organized by the Salonul de proiecte Association, as part of the project “Mobilizing Patterns: transnational female solidarities.”

Cultural project co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund

The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grantee.

Partners: National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Radio Romania Cultural, “George Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania

Sponsor: Corcova Roy & Dâmboviceanu