ABOUT THE VENUE
Contemporar is a pilot space for research, dialogue, learning and exhibiting, dedicated to the contemporary art scene in Cluj, Romania.
Initiated by Cluj Cultural Centre and hosted by the Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, the space is a testing ground for the flagship project European Centre for Contemporary Art, one of the most ambitious legacy projects born out of the city’s candidacy for the European Capital of Culture and assumed on the long term by Cluj Cultural Centre.
The European Centre for Contemporary Art (ECCA) is proposed with the aim to discover and foster artistic ideas for the future, emerging from three areas of artistic and curatorial work: researching, learning and creating. ECCA follows a constellation model of research methodologies and collaborative curatorial and artistic practices to create new artistic knowledge.
While ECCA is an institution in the making, we aim to test its embodiment in different forms – the first physical form being Contemporar, conceived as a platform for the contemporary art scene, gathering its players and reflecting on its dynamics. Contemporar will function as a flexible programme experimenting various formats – exhibitions, debates, workshops, events, accompanied by a mediation component.
The programme is coordinated, on rotation, by a curator invited by Cluj Cultural Centre to conceive a time-limited series of events, who will be working with the local arts community, involving key players from the scene, and activating themes and formats which gradually build both a discourse and a practice of the future institutional construction. Through accumulation and guided reflection, the programme aims to identify potential roles of the future institution, to test its relation with the community, and to open new ways of art production.
Contemporar is located in the historical building of the Academic College of the Babeș-Bolyai University in the heart of Cluj, Kogălniceanu 5.
Managed by Cluj Cultural Centre in partnership with the University, the space aims to function as a platform involving artist run spaces, galleries, institutional players as well as independent initiatives and individuals from the contemporary art scene in Cluj, who will be actively contributing to the programme or participating in the many formats it aims to experiment.
VENUE TEAM
Strategy: Corina Bucea
Marketing: Corina Brândușan
Art Director: Paul Bucovesan
With the contribution of: Mihai Pop (founder Galeria Plan B, member of the Board of Directors of Cluj Cultural Centre), Horea Poenar (Vice-Rector UBB, responsible for the relationship with society and socio-cultural component, member of the Board of Directors of Cluj Cultural Centre)
Custodians: Sergiu Man, Gelu Teampău-Luca (Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca)
PROJECTS
‘Contemporary’ is a project that proposes a contemporary art program, including exhibitions and adjacent events, hosted in a dedicated space at the Babeș-Bolyai University. It serves as a laboratory for the development of an artistic program for the European Centre for Contemporary Art (ECCA), planned by the Cluj Cultural Centre for the next decade.
The first part of the program is realized with the curatorial contribution of the Young Actions and Abstractions Association, and the space and program are curated with the support of Mihai Pop, member of the Board of Directors of the Cluj Cultural Centre and founder of Galeria Plan B.
Objectives of the project:
- to develop and present a contemporary art program comprising 3 exhibitions and 3 public talks between November 2024 and February 2025.
- to stimulate bilateral collaboration and co-production by involving an artist from Romania and an artist from Norway in a one-week artistic residency.
- strengthening international cooperation through the participation of two cultural professionals from Romania and one from Norway in an exchange visit to Norway.
The total amount of funding is 621.946,21 lei, equivalent to 124.979,14 euro. The total amount of grant support from EEA and Norwegian grants is 100%. The project runs from October 28, 2024 to February 28, 2025.
About EEA and Norway Grants
The EEA and Norway Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA and Norway Grants amount to €2.8 billion More details are available at: www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro.
About RO-CULTURE
RO-CULTURE Programme is implemented in Romania by the Ministry of Culture through the Project Management Unit. The Programme aims to strengthen social and economic development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. The total budget amounts to approximately 34 million EUR. For more details: www.ro-cultura.ro.
PROJECT TEAM
Project manager: Florin Moroșanu
Contemporary art specialist: Rarița Zbranca
Assistant manager: Gabriela Lupea
Communication manager: Claudia Cacovean
Financial manager: Ana Zotea
Purchasing manager: Paula-Xenia Feșnic
CONTRIBUTORS
Young Actions and Abstractions
Aluvial
Plastic
Lateral ArtSpace
MATCA ArtSpace
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Monica Roșca, Mihai Jula, Paul Stoie, Alexandru Damian,
Darius Mocan, Pavel Curagău / YAP Studio, Eva Luca, Daniela Domuța,
Teodora Ungurean, Cosmina Buraga, Ana Caterina, Camelia Bonda,
Helga Thies, Teodora Macarie, Andreea Grigoraș
ORGANIZERS
PARTNERS
