We are excited to welcome you on June 9th, 7 pm, at the Smiling Back at Strangers - 10 years of Lateral ArtSpace book launch. The event will be hosted at 2 Coriolan Brediceanu st., 1st floor, Timișoara, in the presence of Cristina Curcan, Lucian Indrei, Jan Motyka (DE) and Dragoș Bădiță. The event will take place in English.
Smiling Back at Strangers is the first publication about Lateral ArtSpace, an artist-run initiative from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Produced in 2022, the book compiles the visual diary of the trajectory made by Lateral ArtSpace since it was founded in 2012, until the day of the publication. The book is meant to offer visibility to the invisible work behind an artist run initiative, the social engagement it sustaines and human connections it nourishes. It is only meant as a case study, not to be mistaken for a generalization of how artist-run spaces operate but an insight of a specific initiative, in a specific country, at a specific moment in time.
Dragoș Bădiță, Cristina Curcan and Lucian Indrei are the current members of Lateral ArtSpace. Lateral ArtSpace – independent platform for contemporary art – was initiated in April 2012 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, as an experimental platform for young and emerging artists which emphasizes the dialogue between local and international artists. Lateral ArtSpace assists and promotes the development of solo exhibitions and group projects, together with a program of events that includes performance, video screenings, public gatherings, books/magazine launches and artist talks. Until December 2019, Lateral ArtSpace was based at The Paintbrush Factory, a former paintbrush factory, turned into Romania’s most acclaimed independent art center.
Jan Motyka (DE) is an art director, photographer and conceptor based in Berlin. He is responsible for the graphic design of the publication Smiling Back at Strangers. janmotyka.de
All (friends and strangers) are welcome! Looking forward to seeing you!
The event is part of the The ARTIST RUN TEAM BUILDING taking place between 07 - 12 June 2023 in Timișoara.
The ARTIST RUN TEAM BUILDING project aims to strengthen the independent art scene in Romania and encourage future international collaborations, through a session of private meetings between coordinators of artist-run spaces. Through the public events within the project, the aim is to clarify the status of the artist-run initiative for the interested public.