06 May Museum of Recent Art (MARe) Bucharest
When I think of the Museum of Recent Art (MARe) in Bucharest “Non-Stop Painting” seem like the right key words. And I’m not just talking about the excellent series on cardboard Nicolae Comănescu famously painted on the 1st of June 1998 – most of them on display on my favorite corridor of the museum – but about the atmosphere of the space entirely. For anyone looking to get acquainted and fall in love with contemporary art, I always recommend a visit to MARe.
I should start by acknowledging a couple of particularities that contribute to the distinctive experience that MARe graciously provides. It is actually a private museum, and the permanent colllection features artworks by Romanian artists from mid-sixties to this day, displayed on two floors. The selection reveals the challenges and changes Romanian artists went through the last sixty years, from creating under the Communist regime, to the switch that followed and the searches of the present. There are other two floors that host the temporary exhibitions, featuring both Romanian and International artists, which usually determine me to plan Bucharest trips at a certain period of time just so I don’t miss them.
I will never forget my first visit at MARe Bucharest because I felt like a child again – all the corridors, nooks and places that looked hidden in plain sight made the interaction with the art so wholesome. It felt like an intimate affair, I was so close to the paintings, I felt like I could get lost in this beautiful maze all day long. Afterwards, I learned this building has such a rich history. I knew Nicolae Ceaușescu had his home a few minutes away – I definitely recommend you visit it at some point in your life – but the original place the museum was built on was actually the temporary residence of another Communist public figure, Ana Pauker. The architectural concept of this modern space built over its sombre past is closely intertwined with the curatorial concept. The labyrinth of rooms and corridors is vital in encouraging the visitors to interact with art closely, which is exactly the first thing that instinctively drew me in and which makes MARe one of the closest places to my heart.
I could go on and on of how difficult it is to part ways with Anca Mureșan’s “Der Schrank” every time I visit or how I always end up having a new favorite on the “Non-Stop Painting” wall, but I believe I shouldn’t go any further, just so I won’t spoil too much of your future visit. It’s a museum that keeps on giving and I wish for you to experience the immense joy I feel when I’m there.
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Posted at 17:51h, 20 May[…] Cage” would be part of a temporary exhibition at MARe (as I’ve said it before in my story about the Museum of Recent Art, you should make time for their temporary exhibitions). In fact, I hadn’t even seen that […]