New Europe College, 21 Plantelor St., Bucharest
An international colloquium convened by Salonul de proiecte in collaboration with New Europe College
Participants:
Hubertus v. Amelunxen, philosopher/art historian, European Graduate School
Michael Baers, artist/theorist, Berlin
Alexandra Croitoru, Magda Radu, Ștefan Sava, Salonul de proiecte, Bucharest
Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh, artist/researcher, Arab Image Foundation, Beirut
Tom Holert, independent writer, researcher and curator, Harun Farocki Institut, Berlin
Cristina Irian, doctoral student, The National University of Arts, Bucharest
Peter Pfrunder, director/curator, Swiss Foundation for Photography, Winterthur
This event was conceived in collaboration with Anca Oroveanu, academic coordinator of the New Europe College-Institute for Advanced Study, Bucharest, professor at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, and the holder of the archive amassed over time by her husband, Mihai Oroveanu
INFO PROGRAM
This colloquium marks the beginning of a process of assessment and multi-directional exploration of an important photographic archive which belonged to Mihai Oroveanu, a noted photographer and art historian, and also the former director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest. His lifelong interest in photography sparked, among other things, an unfulfilled project to establish a museum of photography in Bucharest, along with a penchant to gather and often rescue from disappearance or irreversible degradation troves of photographs, in all supports and formats, putting together one of the most profuse collection of images in Romania, and possibly elsewhere.
The main goal of the present colloquium is to discuss and share a number of methodological approaches linked to the work with photographic archives, as put forward in the academia, in the museum and institutional contexts, as well as in the field of contemporary art. The intersection of several perspectives is of foremost importance, hence the emphasis on expertise coming from different fields of inquiry devoted to the study of photography. At the start of this complex enterprise it is important to discuss with esteemed professionals some of the most poignant questions surrounding the photographic apparatus nowadays, linking it to the conceptualization of archives. Either through presentations focused on case studies or via interventions dedicated to theoretical considerations, it is important to learn about new instruments and modes of thinking that could indicate ways in which to grapple with the staggering diversity of this material.
Special thanks: Serioja Bocsok, Cristina Cojocaru
This event is supported by a grant of the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation – UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P3-3.6-H2020-2016-0018, within PNCDI III.
