The transformation of Europe through the eyes of Romanian visual artists 

Four Romanian artists are uniting for a new exhibition in Berlin to unpick Europe’s changing geography and identities.

New East Poetistas combines photography by Ioana Cîrlig, Larisa Crunțeanu, and Patricia Moroșan, and sound installations by Jasmina Al-Qaisi.

Their works were chosen to reflect the shifting perceptions of central and southeastern Europe, following the lives and occupations of those living in the region.

In her photo series Remember Europe, the Berlin-based Moroșan takes the emotional pulse of seven Eastern European countries, all of which pride themselves on being the geographical centre of the continent.

Meanwhile, Bucharest-based Cîrlig’s series Postindustrial Stories traces the economic decline of the mining industry in Romania since the early ‘00s, with its resulting depopulation. Her second series, Zâne, gives a glimpse into the lives of women working in agriculture in rural areas of Romania, interweaving their biographies with local myths and superstitions.

Femininity and masculinity are also domineering themes. In a sound installation created specifically for this show, Jasmina Al-Qaisi features the words of nine women on the expectations they feel they have inherited from their mothers and grandmothers. Larisa Crunţeanu, on the other hand, reflects on masculinity amid the mass economic emigration of Romanian women. Her video, Jealous of the Forest, presents a day in the life of a professional folk singer based in the small south eastern Romanian town of Ploiești, Traian Frâncu.

The exhibition is running until 23 August at Alte Feuerwache – Projektraum in Berlin.