More than 100 artists, one industrial site, a colorful city and a lot of street art: Artown Now, the 5th edition
Every year, Artown NOW is getting bigger. And better. And more colorful. And that’s because in the city of Ploiești, more and more street artists are coming to paint the grey buildings, the walls, the parks, to transform an entire industrial factory in a museum. I loved my visit last year in the Romanian city of street art and I wanted to see what’s new. (I wrote here about the murals in the city – they are still there and ready to be instagrammed.)
#ArtBlogger #FashionBlogger #Exhibition #English
Artown NOW 5th edition – 18 September – 4th of October.
More stories and the pictures – on @artown.now & artown-now.ro
UZUC – (CONtra)TEMPORARY Museum – at UZUC Factory, Ploiești
More than 100 artists transforms UZUC Factory in Ploiești
At UZUC, artists draw inspiration from what the factory offers. Sculptures, installations, and text-and portrait-based interventions are crafted from parts salvaged from the factory. Brazilian artist Adriano Bohra, known as Robolito, carves and paints three industrial cylinders, while Spenser Little (USA) shapes metal Misha Diaconu (Romania) sculpts and welds metal, while Ploiești-based ceramicist Liliana Maria complements the piece with porcelain. Italian architects Andrea Ariano and Pietro Dalbianco transform materials found in the factory into chairs, benches, a stage, and a DJ booth, while Canadian artist Aurelia Bizouard and local poet Ciprian Apetrei collaborate on an installation within one of the factory halls. Additionally, Italian artist Giovanni Magnoli brings “Iconosaik” to Ploiești – a spectacular technique producing hand-painted works that precisely replicate the look of ancient and Byzantine mosaics.
Why CONtra)TEMPORARY Museum?
At UZUC, a museum that exists only as long as it is inhabited. While artists and visitors are present, the factory transforms into a museum, only to return to its operational rhythm afterward. It is temporary, functioning as a museum solely for the duration of the event; it is counter-temporary, as the traces left behind – murals, sculptures, interventions – remain permanent; and it is contemporary, bringing together artists and practices from today’s art world. The UZUC factory boasts a history spanning over 120 years and covers an area of 100,000 square meters, making it the only industrial site in Romania to be reshaped by art on such a scale.
New: Continuous Studio #11 Dumitru Gorzo’s studio moves into the factory
For one month, artist Dumitru Gorzo is relocating his studio to UZUC. Continuous Studio is part of a traveling project Gorzo initiated in New York in 2019: a temporary studio that moves from place to place, transforming each time into a vibrant space for work, encounters, and dialogue. Ploiești marks the 11th stop on the tour, spanning the entire month of September (September 1–30). Here, the public can meet Gorzo as he works in one of the factory halls.
