Mediation programme
The mediation programme of the sixth edition of the Art Encounters Biennial – invites the public into an open and fluid space where curiosity, imagination and interaction are central. Inspired by artist Luis Camnitzer’s iconic work, A museum is a school, this edition’s program reimagines the Biennial as a place of mutual learning, where the impetus for coalescing new bonds and connections becomes the epicenter of the experience.
The My Art Encounters program has been developed since the very first edition of the Biennial, with the aim of giving students and the younger generation the opportunity to discover contemporary art without the barriers imposed by the lack of formal education in this field.
This edition of the Biennial explores the historical and contemporary identity of Timișoara through the concept and idea of echo, a metaphor for how art transcends time, space and memory. In this context, My Art Encounters is transformed into a lively setting of interaction and introspection, where artworks, urban landscapes and the audience influence each other, generating a continuous dialog that goes beyond the boundaries of aesthetics and penetrates the deep layers of shared experience, belonging and social consciousness. Focusing on dialog, experimentation and play, the program invites participants to approach each encounter with an artwork as a truly special moment, an opportunity to reflect on the major themes of this edition of the Biennial, such as migration, collective memory, ecological justice and the post-communist period.
This year’s My Art Encounters mediation program invites each visitor to become a co-author of the Biennial, dissolving the boundaries between observing and creating, learning and teaching, resonating with the layered history of the city and the global realities of the present reflected in the works on display.
The Art Encounters Biennial is free and unrestricted to the general public, who are invited to discover the content of the exhibitions through the My Art Encounters programme, which offers guided contact by cultural mediators chosen by open call to the public, and through events organized daily from Wednesday to Sunday, i.e. artist walks – guided tours of exhibitions by artists, introductory courses in contemporary art, performative readings, workshops for families, children and young audiences, specially designed tours for school groups, guided historical tours of Timisoara, as well as weekend musical events with guests from Timisoara. With a continuous program and a flexible structure, My Art Encounters not only facilitates access to contemporary art, but also cultivates a deep cultural dialogue, encouraging collective engagement, critical perspective and creative participation, essential tools for understanding and influencing the world we live in.
This year, through the My Art Encounters mediation program, we are approaching the biennial as a school, and the team of mediators trained and ready to welcome classes and groups of students eager to discover a fascinating constellation of contemporary artworks, considers this moment as a special opportunity to develop a more consistent and dynamic dialogue with the school scene in Timisoara.
The My Art Encounters – schools section therefore proposes a scenario dedicated to schools, including both guided tours specially designed for different classes of pupils and various interactive tools suitable for a wide range of ages. Whether we are talking about labyrinthine games of discovery of artworks located in precise points of the locations or proposing role-playing exchanges where little ones have the opportunity to present their own versions of interpretations of their favourite artworks to teachers and parents, in addition to many other such strategies, our program is structured and organized in a light-hearted and interactive way with the intention of generating a real interest in understanding the discourse of contemporary art and its impact on society. We look forward to welcoming you in the proposed locations and invite you to fill in the form below to schedule your visit!
Visiting program for schools:
Wednesday – Friday
Hours: 12:00-20:00 -> visit for all locations of the biennial
10:00-12:00 -> visit to the Garrison Command, by appointment only
For a proper coordination we recommend to schedule visits by filling in the form or by calling (0746) 342 377.
The guided tours offered are free of charge and addressed to the general public who are invited to discover the content of the exhibitions through the My Art Encounters mediation programme, with trails guided by cultural mediators chosen by open call to the public, ready and open to welcome visitors with various information about the discourse of this edition’s biennial, guiding them through the discovery of each work presented in all three locations.
The role of these guided tours is to nuance and stimulate the public’s experience of the contemporary artworks, using mediation techniques suitable for all ages. The guided tours are maintained throughout the biennale, from Wednesday to Sunday, from 12:00 to 20:00, both at the Garrison Headquarters, Faber and the Art Encounters Foundation space.
The presentations are designed by Maria Sârbu around the Biennial’s exhibitions and artists.
Maria Sârbu is a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and Design in Timișoara. She studied art history and art theory at the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. She has been interested in contemporary art since her doctoral studies, when she conducted research on Romanian art in the post-communist period. Her collaboration with Art Encounters Foundation started in 2017 with the publication of the book “Art Guide. Introduction to Romanian contemporary art”. As a curator she realised a series of projects in collaboration with Avantpost Group, and in 2018 she founded the curatorial programme DRAFT. In 2019-2021 she was an assistant in the project ‘Gender Politics and the Art of European Socialist States’ initiated by Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Adjacent to her academic and curatorial activities, she is concerned with developing friendly methods of familiarising the public with notions and currents in art history.
These meetings will develop presentations, dialogues and debates around the phenomenon of contemporary art with its new trends and its impact on society.
What did Beuys mean by the famous expression ‘Everyone is an artist!’? Can contemporary art be considered as a tool for everyday life? Is all contemporary art politically engaged or only certain artistic practices? How do we distinguish between performance and performative? What is the current position of artistic practices based on interventions in public space and land art? How are performative actions and ephemeral art situated in relation to body politics and institutional critique? How do we develop critical thinking, systemic and analytical thinking and artistic thinking through contemporary art?
These are just some examples of the general structure proposed in these meetings with Mihai Toth.
These are just some examples of the general structure proposed in these meetings with Mihai Toth. The debate sessions take place on Wednesdays, from 18:00-20:00, as follows: 4 June (Garrison), 18 June (Art Encounters Foundation), 2 July (Faber).
The performative readings have always had the effect of conceptually reactivating a gallery – emphasising both the space and the works that make it up, offering a series of narratives that hover between the personal register, fiction and history.
Thus, the readings in the three locations of the Art Encounters Biennial Bounding Histories Whispering Tales nuance the possibilities of the three spaces: the Garrison Headquarters – a former military building, FABER – a former soap factory, and the Art Encounters Foundation headquarters – a space with an industrial and educational history. These will reveal a number of possible scenarios that connect past and present history.
The three invited poets will aim to focus on the themes of each location: war as a common experience (Garrison), the relationship between the personal and capital (FABER), the nostalgia of a childhood that is gradually industrialising (Art Encounters Foundation).
The scenario constructed by the three readings will unfold as follows: the daughter (Mădălina Aldescu), trapped in a soap factory, observes the artificiality of the world around her – a world closed in from different points of view; the veteran (Alex Higyed), reliving the transformations the war has brought him; the older brother (Nelu Antocian), who revisits with an analytical nostalgia various episodes of his childhood. The programme dedicated to this section takes place on Thursdays, from 18:00 to 20:00, as follows: 5 June at Faber (Mădălina Aldescu, in collaboration with La Două Bufnițe); 19 June at Garnizoană (Alex Higyed, in collaboration with La Două Bufnițe); 26 June at Art Encounters Foundation (Nelu Antocian, in collaboration with La Două Bufnițe).
This section is a series of unique guided tours in each of the proposed locations, led each week by a guest artist from the biennial.
Artist walks is already becoming a tradition in the Art Encounters Biennale scenario, spreading from one edition to the next in a consistent way, energising the whole experience offered to the public who wish to encounter a particular version of the exhibition route projected by the curatorial discourse. These guided tours are personalised on a case-by-case basis through spontaneity, creativity and ingenuity on the part of the artists in relation to the biennale visitors. The programme of these Artist Walks is every Friday, between 18:00-20:00, as follows: 6 June (Artist Walk with Laurian Popa within the exhibition Private Public, Jecza Gallery); 13 June (Artist Walk with Ana Adam at the Garrison); 20 June (Artist walk with Lore Ilie at Faber); 27 June (Artist walk with Mihai Toth at the Art Encounters Foundation); 4 July (Artist walk with Gavril Pop at the Art Encounters Foundation); 11 July (Artist walk with Christine Cizmaș at the Garrison).
These workshops are specially designed for children, families and teenagers, taking place in each of the biennial’s spaces in a light-hearted and energised atmosphere.
Organised and supported by artists and specialists from different fields, the materials prepared are based on interactive and creative methods with the aim of nurturing children’s fascinating imagination, but also of building fertile ground for a dynamic dialogue that will stimulate the finding of solutions and solutions to unexpected situations. The series of workshops take place on Saturdays from 12:00-14:00 as follows: 7 June at Garnizoană (Financial education workshop for teenagers with Banca Transilvania); 14 June at Art Encounters Foundation (Children’s workshop with Gavril Pop); 21 June at Faber (Children’s workshop with Ioana Bartha); 28 June on the Bega with Pelicanul (Performative workshop with ŠKART); 5 July at Garnizoană (Children’s workshop with Mihai Toth); 12 July at Garnizoană (Children’s workshop with Claudia Bucsai).
Sunday Tours are tours led by the team of mediators in a simultaneous way in each location of the biennale, every Sunday between 16:00-18:00.
These Sunday tours are designed to offer the public leisurely and relaxing walks around the biennial’s exhibition alongside our mediators eager to develop dialogues and light-hearted discussions around the themes addressed in this edition, offering key points in deciphering and understanding the artworks on display. These tours welcome groups of children, families or anyone wishing to spend quality time among outstanding works of contemporary art.
