ZONA
In 1993, the "ZONA 1" performance festival was held in Timișoara, Romania with brave artists who all had an urgency in their works and used their bodies as raw and radical material for their art. Those artists include Dan Perjovschi, Lia Perjovschi, Teodor Graur, Gusztáv Üto, and more.
In 2023, several artists from the original festival revisited their works in Timișoara as part of the "ZONA &" festival with the participation of contemporary artists as well. The event was part of the European Capital of Culture - Neverending Timișoara 2023.
Manuel Pelmuș and I got the opportunity to look through the archives from the original performances and research how the material resonates in a very different context, different time, different body. With intergenerational transmission as our scope, we worked with how dance, choreography, and performative elements could help us remember "ZONA 1" in our contemporary context.
It was an incredible experience to be part of, and I am indescribably grateful for all of the beautiful and important encounters that this opportunity included. I will never forget those few days in Timișoara.
All photos on this page are by Petre Fall.
ZONA has been performed at MX - The Museum of Public Transport "Corneliu Miklosi” in Timișoara (RO), Salonul de proiecte in Bucharest (RO), and Norma-T in Oslo (NO).
“For ZONA &, Manuel Pelmuș presents a new work made in collaboration with performer and choreographer Anton Skaaning Thomsen, starting from the archive of installations and performances related to Pământul [The Earth] (1992) and Zona 1 (1993). Interested to explore the notion of the transmissibility of memory, to question the possibility of transnational and trans-cultural sharing of knowledge regarding events which took place thirty years ago, Pelmuș brings into the present, with acuity and empathy, a series of arguments about regionality, identity and corporeality. The performance set-up is made by artist Adrian Ganea, who builds for this occasion a podium made up of recycled materials (leftovers and other fragments or unused elements) which resulted from the production of exhibitions organised in the context of Timișoara Capital of Culture 2023.” from timisoara2023.eu
“The Zona Festival, held between 1993-2004 în Timișoara, marks a peak moment in Romania's performance festival scene, alongside the AnnArt Festival near Lake Sfânta Ana and Periferic Festival in Iași (later transformed into the Periferic Biennial). The Zona Festival, conceived and organized by curator and art historian Ileana Pintilie, gained momentum during the years of freedom following the political regime change in 1989. It also revealed the disillusionments brought by the new democracy forming in a social and political space marked by numerous conflicts and a rapid reconfiguration of the categories of winners and losers in the early days of "transition." Despite often relying on a deficient infrastructure, the festival energetically mobilized artists from diverse generations, activating various unconventional spaces (including public spaces). The Zona Festival made Timișoara a dynamic center of contemporary art, gaining recognition beyond Romania's borders.
The exhibition includes a comprehensive presentation of a set of materials - videos, documents, photographs, artworks - which provide a representation of the Zona Festival archive, highlighting each edition individually. The exhibition design forms an architectural landscape that performs a long line connecting all the editions of Zona Festival and permeates areas of performance for contemporary alliances and the agora space for discussion around performance art.
Artists: Alexandru Antik, József Bartha, Sándor Bartha, Ștefan Bertalan, Rudolf Bone, Geta Brătescu, Nenad Dančuo, Oskar Dawicki, Biljana Klarić Klara & Nataša Teofilović, Suzana Fântânariu, Ion Grigorescu, Karen Kipphoff, André Stitt & Roddy Hunter, Dan Perjovschi, Lia Perjovschi, Eugenia Pop, Ütö Gusztáv & Kónya Réka, Artur Tajber, Sorin Vreme
The exhibition is extended through an intensive performance program on 8-9th December 2023. Revisiting key moments in the festival's history, reinterpreted in a performative context by the original participants, are accompanied by contributions from contemporary artists interested in bodily expression, including artists from the choreographic field. These issues will be visible through performances by SERAFINE1369, ILYICH, Elvisey Pisică, QUARTO and Manuel Pelmuș in collaboration with Anton Skaaning Thomsen.
Dan Perjovschi, Lia Perjovschi, Teodor Graur, Ion Grigorescu revisit their contributions to the Zona Festival following consultations with art historian and curator Ileana Pintilie, proposing new interpretations and even new works, recontextualizing their own practice and their relationship with performance as an art form today.
Curators: Corina Oprea and Magda Radu
Event designed in collaboration with curator and art historian Ileana Pintilie
Space Design: Atelier Ad-hoc
Production: Radu Leșevschi (Solitude Project)
Special thanks: Galeria Plan B, Ștefania Ferchedău (Institute of the Present), Florin Arhire, Alin Rotariu (Simultan)
This event is part of the programme "Neverending Timisoara 2023", funded by the Municipality of Timișoara and organised by the Center for Projects Timișoara.”
from timisoara2023.eu
Concept, research, choreography: Manuel Pelmuș
Research, choreography, performance: Anton Skaaning Thomsen
Scenography: Adrian Ganea
Curators: Corina Oprea and Magda Radu
Light and sound, lead technician: Justin O' Shaughnessy
"ZONA &" was designed in collaboration with: Ileana Pintilie
Space Design: Atelier Adhoc Arhitectura
Photographer: Petre Fall
Production: Radu Leșevschi (Solitude Project)
timisoara2023.eu