Circular Tradition

In May and June, the Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest is playing host to an exhibition of contemporary collaborative art entitled Circular tradition (Connected to nature), in the form of an encounter between established contemporary artists and traditional artisans who are keeping ancient crafts alive, in a nutshell a blend between innovation, technology, art and craft. We talked to the manager of the Romanian Peasant Museum Virgil Nițulescu about the concept of the exhibition and how it took shape:

"Indeed, it's a somehow different exhibition than what we normally host at this museum. The concept is based on an initiative from 2017 called Romania's Creative Traditions and which was launched by a former manager of this museum Vintilă Mihăilescu, together with Teodor Frolu. The initiative was aimed at bringing together contemporary artists who are particularly interested in Romanian traditional culture. This time, the exhibition Circular Tradition draws on a workshop held by the Romanian Peasant Museum by six contemporary artists and six traditional artisans. The six artists are Teodor Graur, Mircea Cantor, Marius Alexe-Bean, Oláh Gyárfás, Virgil Scripcariu and Dan Vezentan, and the six artisans are Viorel Gheorghe, Tănase Burnar, Adrian Mihaiu, Melinda-Maria Andras, Csaba Balint and Csaba Racz. Each of the participating artisans specialises in a different craft, such as pottery, textiles, leather, carpentry, and each has inherited their craft from earlier generations and is going to pass it on to the next generations. Ultimately, it's an exchange of experience, because they learn from the contemporary artists new techniques and ideas that circulate in the Romanian contemporary art world, and, more importantly, the contemporary artists are learning from the artisans, so as to tap the traditional world in their art. The artists involved in the project are aware of the fact that you cannot be original and have a distinct voice on the international scene unless you start from that which is characteristic to the community you were born in."

One of the co-organisers and initiators of the project from 2017 entitled Romania's Creative Traditions that formed the basis for this new exhibition, the architect and creative industry entrepreneur Teodor Frolu told us about the workshops, the involvement of the artisans and of the contemporary artists, and about the fine line that separates a visual artist from a traditional artist. Teodor Frolu:

"The workshops that brought together the artisans and the artists lasted a week, but many have been collaborating for many years and our intention is to show just how contemporary and relevant traditional crafts are and how they can be transformed by the contemporary artists in works of art of great artistic value and become part of private collections. Artists like Mircea Cantor, Teodor Graur, Dan Vezentan, Oláh Gyárfás and Virgil Scripcariu are already drawing on traditional crafts in their work, while someone like Bean, Marius Alexe from the group Subcarpați, has already made a traditional instrument like the kaval flue known among young people by incorporating it in his music. They recently set up the Subcarpați cultural centre and each is trying in their contemporary art works to enhance the visibility of traditional crafts. So this is in fact a meeting between an artisan who is also an artist and an artist who is also an artisan. Artists are, if you will, contemporary artisans themselves, they work directly with the material, are using different techniques and are very good in what they do with their hands and their imagination."

We also caught up with one of the artists involved in the exhibition, Mircea Cantor, a visual artist living in Paris and one of the most recognisable names in Romanian contemporary art. In 2011, he won the Marcel Duchamp prize at the Paris International Contemporary Art Fair. Cantor told us about the role of traditional art in his work and his constant collaboration with traditional artisans:

"I think this is a unique moment in the history of this museum, this collaboration between artists and artisans. For me, however, it's a natural process working with artisans and acknowledging their contribution to my art. It's important to give credit to and admit that you're working with an artisan, whether it's someone who works in leather or with wool. These things should take place naturally and everyone stands to gain from it. It's a form of mutual support and recognition, both professional and financial. The public also benefits from this collaboration. I also believe the public should be more informed about this, including children, through education programmes in schools designed by the ministry of education, and through financial programmes, they should know that they can do things they enjoy and also make a living from them. There's a living to be made from these traditional crafts that I discovered here at the Peasant Museum. I think this may have a domino effect in the long run, which would be positive for everyone, for artists and artisans alike, for civil society, and for education."