The Poetics of Politics—The Bucharest School of Photography

The exhibition The Poetics of Politics—The Bucharest School of Photography, curated by the Belgian art critic/ curator Sam Steverlynck, is an exhibition diptych that takes place at Harlan Levey Projects in Brussels and Art Encounters Foundation in Timișoara (Romania) within the framework of Timișoara 2023—European Capital of Culture. 

Harlan Levey Projects: June 10–July 15, 2023.
Art Encounters Foundation: September 21–October 28, 2023.  

The exhibition gathers works of an emerging generation of Romanian photographers (Michele Bressan, b 1980; Dani Ghercā, b 1988; and Nicu Ilfoveanu, b 1975) who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, where most of them are still teaching. Having grown up in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1989 and firsthand experienced the sudden transition from communism to capitalism and its long-lasting effects on a social, political, economic, and urbanistic level, what unites their practice is a cautious approach towards the use of imagery for various narratives and a meta-reflexive way of dealing with the medium photography. Adhering to a conceptual approach instead of a documentary one, they reflect on a period of economic, social, and technological transition, examining the notion of the image in all its forms. Experimenting with different presentation modes, switching between the analog and digital, projected image and moving image, while sometimes also incorporating found footage and text, they want to overcome the limitations of the still image while stretching its possibilities. Though they do not position themselves as outspoken in political terms, their way of viewing society bears a political dimension expressed through a visual language that is sometimes experimental, aesthetic, and poetic.

This project is co-financed by the Romanian Cultural Institute, through the CANTEMIR Program—funding program for cultural projects intended for the international environment and, by AFCN (the National Cultural Administration Fund).