Alexandra Croitoru (b. 1975) is a visual artist and curator, currently teaching at the Photo-Video department of The National University of Arts Bucharest. Together with students and alumni of the UNArte Photo-Video department, Ana Conțu, Ioana Dumitrescu, Sonia Lupșa, Crăița Niga, Cătălina Pintilie and Roberta Roată, she made a series of black and white portraits, mimicking the body language and attributes of the male-dominated history of portraiture. By posing with precarious ‘armors’ made from ordinary domestic objects, they not only deconstruct the language of power of this classical genre but also inject it with a sense of playfulness and feminism. The pictures are printed on textiles, often associated with domesticity and femineity. Titled Ways to Protect Your Mind, Body and Spirit (2023), the series also refers to vulnerability and resilience in a post-pandemic world. By appropriating a visual language from the past, the artists want to propose a future based on collectivity and participation.