Art in Timisoara, by Gabriel Buturka

Art in Timisoara

  

Timisoara turned in October into the Romanian capital of contemporary art.That's because it was the first edition of Art Encounters.Specifically, in Timisoara came more than 100 artists, dozens of exhibitions, a lot of performances, conferences and more. Thousands of people  came in the first 10 days of the  event. Art Encounters debuted on October 3 and  continued until the end of the month.

  The event was based on promoting Romanian contemporary art, being the host of  over 100 major artists in the domain.The residents of Timisoara showed that they were very interested in the many exhibitions and performances they attended in great numbers: over     8 000 visitors in the first 10 days.

However, Art Encounters also wants to have an educational component, so the organizers prepared different workshops for children but also for adults who wanted to develop their cultural horizon. Various activities that taking place at the Art Museum, The Revolution Memorial, Timco Halls and the Calpe Gallery were organized for the children. Their program was divided into four groups: kindergarten, primary school, middle school and high school. For each age category a special program was prepared which would meet the needs of young people as well olders.For example, young children learned different games and they received an amateur artist passport full of interesting information. Finally there were also activities for adults consisting in guided visits, which took place every Wednesday at 17, with the departure in front of The Art Museum.

Art Encounters addressed to the teachers, too, so a special day was organized just for them.The teachers had the opportunity to better understand the concept of the event and to plan visits with their students.

The young people had access to free educational materials. The visits were organized every day from Tuesday to Friday.The president of Art Encounters Foundation, Ovidiu Sandor declared that “ The event is unusual for Romania, due to both its exhibition design and to its educational component, which will facilitate the understanding of contemporary art to general public.”