Romanian Vistas: The BB7 Travel Agency
Running up to the Bucharest Biennale 7
Onomatopee, Eindhoven
May 8 – May 29th, 2016
Artists: Andrea Faciu (RO), SPEEDISM (BE) and Allard van Hoorn (NL)
Curators: Niels Van Tomme & Charlotte Van Buylaere
The BB7 Travel Agency offers a sneak preview of the 7th Bucharest Biennale (BB7), through exclusive, “happy-consensus”, city trips to Romania’s vibrant capital. Don’t miss this special glimpse of this highlight of Bucharest’s contemporary art events and book your best travel deal in advance at Onomatopee!
Romania, a fascinating country located in the Far East corner of Europe, shows off a great mix of unspoilt nature, far-off (medieval) villages and a boisterous, anarchic city life in the nation’s capital. In Bucharest one may find dynamic urban vibes, curious public art and endless underground parties. Through these wide-ranging scenes, the post-socialist city produces cosmopolitan happiness and compelling cultural activities. Every two years, the city’s lively contemporary art community converges during the Bucharest Biennale. In May 2016 the biennale happily announces its seventh edition under the title: What Are We Building Down There?, curated by Niels Van Tomme. Taking Bucharest as a model city perpetually in-the-making, BB7 will address the capital as an architectural representative of urban privatization processes worldwide. As a radical consequence of this concept, a selection of twenty international artists will display their tailor-made ar tistic contributions on billboards that are dispersed across the city. This ubiquitous inscription of the Bucharest Biennale within the city fabric will immerse visitors in an extraordinary contemporary art experience.
At Onomatopee three of the participating artists will preview their contributions to the Bucharest Biennale. Andrea Faciu, SPEEDISM and Allard van Hoorn are revealing a glimpse behind-the-scenes of the BB7. Their work stresses the concept of urban and societal privatization, dealing with matters such as hyperreality, surveillance and urban ecologies. This exhibition discloses a “making of” of the interwoven curatorial and artistic concepts, and highlights the accelerated growth of wide-ranging and deep-rooted capitalist interventions in Romania’s capital, as well as suggests ways in which they can potentially be navigated, remodeled, and translated in a global context.
The exhibition is organized with Romtour, Druten, and made possible thanks to the Municipality of Eindhoven, the Mondriaan Fund and the Bucharest Biennale 7.