THE RECORDING WILL AUTOPLAY ON MUTE - PLEASE CHANGE SETTINGS ON THE PLAYER TO LISTEN
Becoming Romanian was a co-created performative exhibition that took place on Thurs 21 April at 6.30pm at Centrul de Educational Theater Center Replika.
It explored the relationship of first generation migrants in Bucharest through visual art, performance and discussion and was the second in the series of happening across Europe (Becoming Czech in March 2022, Becoming Alman in May 2022 and Becoming British in June 2022)
The event was curated by Lora Krasteva and produced by Claire Gilbert. It featured the visual art work of Valera Hrishanin & Sameullah Attayee.
The sharing you can watch at the top of this page was co-created in a couple of workshops with local migrants, and contains the stories they wanted audiences to know - as all the content was created by them. They are Alexey Druz, Corina Cioflec, Deidre Matthee, Sameullah Attayee, Sidonia Doica & Zahra Attayee. The event took place in English & Romanian, featued sign language and Russian translation was made available as after the sharing there was a panel discussion with questions - chaired by Mihaela Michailov and featuring Simina Guga.
We would also like to give thanks to Bogdan Rusu, Mirabela Pana, Ana Geru, Corina Gageanu, Alexandru Gorghe & Oana Stoica as well as Luiza Mihăilescu, Viorel Cojanu, Elena Gageanu & Radu Apostol at Replika.
Valera Hrishanin, was born in Ukraine, played sports, played basketball
and dreamed of becoming an outstanding athlete, but doctors discovered a disease related to neurology, after which he accidentally started drawing. He then won a competition and got on a talent show, after which he gained confidence and participated in various projects and TV shows related to creativity. He learned to draw with both hands at the same time and invented several of his own unique styles in art. Around the space are not only his artworks but QR codes to NFTs, as much of it remains in Ukraine.
Samuellah Attayee was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and lived there until 2018, showcasing work in group exhibitions. With the help of Le Pelican Foundation he moved to France where he was supported & involved in fine art. Since 2021 he has been based in Bucharest, Romania, where he has a temporary residence permit as a refugee. Much of his work is still in Kabul - but can be seen online: http://www.artelierforeducation.ro/index.php/sample-page/nonculori-si-necuvinte/
About the artists
About the space
Replika Educational Theatre Centre is a cultural, interdisciplinary space, dedicated to the exploration and public presentation of performative artistic creations conceived by activist artists working closely with the community.
Replika wants to become a platform for pedagogical creations and participating works of art, through which marginalized audiences can selfrepresent and create their own art that defines their needs and expectations.
These presentations are happened with the support of Perform Europe as part of the Becoming [...] project.
Perform Europe is an EU-funded project aimed to rethink how performing arts works are presented across borders in a more inclusive, sustainable and balanced way by testing new touring and distribution practices and providing policy recommendations for a future EU support scheme. This 18-month journey includes a research phase, launching a digital platform, testing a support scheme, and designing policy recommendations.
Perform Europe is funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and co-managed by a Consortium of 5 organisations: IETM – International network for contemporary performing arts, the European Festivals Association (EFA), Circostrada, EDN – European Dancehouse Network, and IDEA Consult.