On the occasion of National Culture Day, ARCUB – the Gabroveni Inn becomes the hub of contemporary artists of Bucharest who present, between 13 and 15 January, the newest and most innovative interdisciplinary projects, visual art, film and music within the second edition of the Urban Culture Days project at ARCUB.
Initiated last year as an initiative to celebrate the creative sector in Bucharest, the Urban Culture Days at ARCUB is a project of the Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB – the Cultural Center of the Bucharest City Hall and the Department of Culture, Education, Tourism of the Bucharest City Hall.
The Urban Culture days program at ARCUB 2023 includes the animated feature film “the Island”, made by Anca Damian and compared by critics to the famous “Yellow submarine” of the Beatles, and the latest documentary about Bucharest, “From morning to evening, Bucharest” an original film project, directed by Robert Antonescu, when more than 100 people contributed to capturing the current vibration of the city.
From fiddler music on flamenco to tangos, foxtrots and swings of interwar Bucharest to classical music, Urban Culture Days at ARCUB presents, between 13 and 15 January, three concerts that explore Bucharest musically from entirely different perspectives. One of the newest musical groups in Bucharest, the Taraful Flamenco shakes the boundaries between the world’s music. It creates an atmosphere like in Buenos Aires, Sevilla, and Bucharest of the last century with romances and fiddler melodies merged with traditional Flamenco songs. Miruna Ionescu and Valentin Albeşteanu reinvent the music that is listened to in the vaudeville and magazine theatres of little Paris, and the mysterious train of SoNoRo Festival – Orient Express Festival invites the public to “A musical journey from London to Bucharest”.
As a tribute to the poet Mihai Eminescu, the scores of famous romances such as “Mai am un singur dor” or “Pe lângă plopii fără soț”, performed mainly during the post and interwar period will be admired at ARCUB, Saturday January 14, between 19:00 – 21:00 in the exhibition “Partituri Eminesciene”. Over time, inspired by the musicality of Eminescian lyrics, many composers have placed the poet’s lyrics in immortal musical creations, such as romances, lieds or choral songs. The scores exhibited during the event belong to the Cultural Association of the House of Collection and date from 1890 – 1920.
This year too, the people of Bucharest have the opportunity to see at ARCUB, on the occasion of National Culture Day, a selection from the projects created in 2022 by the independent cultural sector and funded under the “Bucharest affective” Program. Thus, Save or Cancel Association brings to the Urban Culture Days from ARCUB the urban art exhibition “Artistic explorations of public space”, a continuation of the project with the same name that last year proposed to the public a series of activities to explore and regenerate the city through street art. Some of the most active and appreciated contemporary artists, Irina Mocanu, John Dot S, Livi Po, Maria Bălan, Pass, the Square Cat, Robert Obert and Sandi, exhibit at ARCUB a series of original, large-scale works. At the exhibition’s opening on January 13, visitors can experience a multidisciplinary performance by Xandru (DJ set experimental) and Alexandra Iliesco (live painting).
For the little ones, Elite Art Club UNESCO organizes painting workshops for children during the Urban Culture Days at ARCUB. The creative workshops are designed for children aged between 6 and 14. They are part of another project of the “Bucharest affective” 2022 Program, entitled “An Island of History and Art on the Dâmbovița Gorge”.
4Culture Association participates in the Urban Culture Days at ARCUB with an immersive multi-channel video installation created by Andreea Căpitănescu following the dance and performance project “Intimate Choreographies. Mapping a new reality.” After, last autumn, dancers and artists from Ukraine, together with local artists, performed a series of performative interventions in the public space in Bucharest; the spectators were invited to see the result of the project in an interactive installation. The video recording of the performative interventions in which artists and the public interacted by developing collective intimate choreographies were subsequently edited and used within the “Intimate Choreographies” installation.
For more details about the events of the Urban Culture days at ARCUB and reservations, see the website www.arcub.ro.
Participation in the “Urban Culture days at ARCUB” events are free of charge, subject to the available seats. Access to film and concert screenings is made by online booking on arcub.ro website, in the online tickets section.
Urban Culture Days. Contemporary Romanian artists in the foreground: Program
ARCUB – Gabroveni Inn
FRIDAY, January 13, 2023
15:00-16:30 – the Great Hall / screening animated film „ISLAND” (RO-FR-be 2022, r. Anca Damian). Duration: 60 min.
17:00-21:00 – column Hall / Exhibition: Multi-channel immersive video installation “INTIMATE CHOREOGRAPHIES. MAPPING A NEW REALITY” / 4 Culture Association
18:00-20:00 – Gabroveni Hall / Vernisaj Urban Art Exhibition “ARTISTIC EXPLORATIONS OF PUBLIC SPACE” & multidisciplinary performance feat. Xandru & Alexandra Iliesco / Save or Cancel Association. Duration: 60 min.
19:00-20:00 – Grand Hall / Concert “A MUSICAL JOURNEY FROM LONDON TO BUCHAREST” (from the program of SoNoRo Orient Express edition) / SoNoRo. Duration: 60 min.
SATURDAY, January 14, 2023
15:00-16:30 – Library Hall/children’s painting workshops „AN ISLAND OF HISTORY AND ART ON THE DÂMBOVIȚA GORGE” (with artist Nadeja Lungu) / Elite Art Club UNESCO. Duration: 90 min.
16:00-16:30 – the Great Hall/screening of the documentary film “FROM MORNING TO EVENING, BUCHAREST” (RO 2022, r. Robert Antonescu) / National Foundation “some peasants”. Duration: 30 min.
17:00-21:00 – Gabroveni Hall / Urban Art Exhibition “ARTISTIC EXPLORATIONS OF PUBLIC SPACE” / Save or Cancel Association.
17:00-21:00 – column Hall / Exhibition: Multi-channel immersive video installation “INTIMATE CHOREOGRAPHIES. MAPPING A NEW REALITY” / 4 Culture Association
19:00-21:00 – Foaier / Exhibition “Eminescu Sheet” / Cultural Association House of collections
20:00-21:00 – Big Hall / Concert “THE STORY OF BUCHAREST FROM THE PAST” / Miruna Ionescu & Taraful Valentin Albeşteanu. Duration: 60 min.
SUNDAY, January 15, 2023
16:00-17:30 – Library Hall/children’s painting workshops „AN ISLAND OF HISTORY AND ART ON THE DÂMBOVIȚA GORGE” (with artist Nadeja Lungu) / Elite Art Club UNESCO. Duration: 90 min.
17:00-21:00 – Gabroveni Hall / Urban Art Exhibition “ARTISTIC EXPLORATIONS OF PUBLIC SPACE” / Save or Cancel Association
17:00-21:00 – column Hall / Exhibition: Multi-channel immersive video installation “INTIMATE CHOREOGRAPHIES. MAPPING A NEW REALITY” / 4 Culture Association
19:00-20:20 – Big Hall / FLAMENCO TARAFUL Concert (Romania-Argentina). Duration: 80 min.
