Several articles criticizing the poster have appeared in the press in recent days MILKby the artist Ana Petrovici-Popescu, part of the exhibition On Her Side | On her side, organized by the Contrasens Cultural Association. The representatives of the association claim, however, that this scandal caused around the poster speaks of how contemporary art, which talks about such a sensitive subject as that of violence, ends up being thrown into a political discussion about public money.
On the poster MILK the words appear: muie-ret, muie-rie, muie-rime, muie-red and muie-reste. After the outbreak of the scandal in the public space, the artist Ana Petrovici-Popescu he made a few clarifications, mentioning that he did not receive money to realize it, the only expense left in the care of the organizer, Asociatia Culturala Contrasens, was its printing.
About the composition of the work, he says that he used the word Muiere and the word family “divided correctly into syllables to emphasize the derogatory character of the woman, and I did not approach the etymology of the word (from Lat. Mulier) but the explanations from Dex: Prostitute; according to Woman with nasty grips; bitch slum girl /
About those scandalized by his poster about language violence against women, Ana Petrovici-Popescu says that they prove the fact that they understand that this word contains an insult directed at women, “but they wanted to distort and truncate the idea of the poster, using it in the local political struggle and at the same time reacting with verbal violence against my own person, offending me and inciting violence against me, in articles published in the press in Timișoara and in Facebook posts. The distorted message in the press and on Facebook is not addressed to the people of Timișoara, Timișoara being one of my favorite cities! It is a poster that raises the issue of how women are seen in Romanian society. I wish these virulent and swift responses were also in the case of domestic violence, violence against minors or human trafficking.”
The poster was selected by a committee of five professionals from the academic environment, from 127 proposals received on the open-call. “It is a quality visual product and responds to the theme formulated by the call – transmits the Contrasens Cultural Association. Art is fascinating because it can open dialogues. This exchange of information about art and culture is exactly what we want for several years now, through all our efforts to organize exhibitions, workshops, films, publications and lessons of contemporary art. A shared space where everyone is invited and encouraged to discover, observe and critically analyze artwork or concepts.”
exhibition On Her Side | On her sideproduced by the Contrasens Cultural Association, is financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration, the Ministry of Culture, the Timiș County Council and the Timișoara Project Center, in the 2022 project competition, has a social stake and debates the topic of gender violence and the cycle of abuse against women .
“I have worked in training workshops with over 200 women who have experienced violence. Through the project, we supported the production of 31 new works of contemporary art and supported 29 contemporary artists. The artists’ works tell you to your face that violence is practiced in various ways, that there is a lot of violence around us and that there is this problem in society, a society where many female victims are afraid and ashamed to talk about this topic! “, say the representatives of the association.
The artists present in the exhibition are: Ana Adam, Liliana Basarab, Irina Botea Bucan, Ciprian Chirileanu, Claudiu Cobilanschi, Suzana Dan, Jon Dean, Simona Homorodean, Pusha Petrov, Lea Rasovszky, Renée Renard, Ioana Stanca and Iulia Toma.
The exhibition at the Timișoara Project Center is complemented by an exhibition of posters present in Piața Unirii, made by Florin Arhire, Grupul Balamuc, Oana Barbonie, Benedek Levente, cultatum, Maks Graur, Loredana Ilie, Evelyne Krall, Cynthia Loris, Raluca Paraschiv, Ana Petrovici-Popescu, George Roșu, Denis Sulințan, Sabina Suru, Jaakko Tikkanen, Andrei Tudose and Ioana Trușcă.
The exhibition, curated by Dana Sarmeș and Simona Constantin, can be visited between October 1 and 30, at the Timișoara Project Center and in Piața Unirii, from Tuesday to Sunday, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Admission is free.
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