QUOTE
“No place in Bucharest attracts me if there is no story behind it. The photos I took with you on the terrace of the National Theater remind me of one of the most beautiful stories of my life.
It was a Thursday, during summer; it was hot. I was sitting at a table with a few friends, at Motoare, and we were talking about the entrance exam for the Theater and Film Academy, later known as UNATC. That Thursday the admission results were to be released and someone came up to me at the table – one of the candidates that year, who had seen me at the exam – and told me the results were out. I got up and raced to the faculty. It was pretty late; the public transport was no longer running. A trolleybus that was making its last ride of the day stopped; the driver asked me where I was going and told me to join him in his cabin. As the trolleybus was making its way to Vatra Luminoasă it dropped me right in front of the entryway of the Theater Faculty and the driver waited to see whether I had passed the entrance exam.
When I told him I had, he left honking, while I walked back to the National Theater, at Motoare, and stayed there until morning.”
CITAT
“Niciun loc din București nu mă atrage cât timp în spatele lui nu se află o poveste. Pozele făcute pe terasa Teatrului Național îmi amintesc de una dintre cele mai frumoase povești din viața mea.
Era într-o joi, vară, cald. Stăteam la masă cu câțiva prieteni, la Motoare, și vorbeam despre examenul de admitere la Academia de Teatru și Film, mai târziu UNATC. În joia aceea urmau să apară rezultatele admiterii și cineva a venit la mine la masă – unul dintre candidații de atunci, care mă văzuse la examen – și mi-a spus că s-au afișat rezultatele. M-am ridicat și am fugit spre facultate. Era destul de târziu, nu mai circula niciun mijloc de transport în comun. Un troleu care se retrăgea a oprit, iar șoferul m-a întrebat unde merg și mi-a zis să urc în cabina lui. Cum troleul se retrăgea la Vatra Luminoasă, m-a lăsat fix în fața gangului de la Facultatea de Teatru, iar șoferul a așteptat să vadă dacă am luat sau nu examenul de admitere.
Când i-am spus că am luat, a plecat claxonând, iar eu m-am întors pe jos la Teatrul Național, la Motoare, și am stat până dimineața.”
ABOUT THE PROJECT
I have invited 37 artists to take part in this project, and to choose a place in Bucharest to be photographed and to write a text about their relationship with the city. This idea would have remained only an idea without the support of ARCUB. Artists involved: Mircea Albulescu, Coca Bloos, Dragoș Buhagiar, Ștefan Câlția, Mihai Constantin, Corvin Cristian, Alexandru Darie, Ruxandra Donose, Vivi Drăgan Vasile, Tudor Giurgiu, Ilinca Goia, Adrian Ilfoveanu, Sorin Ilfoveanu, Vlad Ivanov, Doina Levintza, Ovidiu Lipan Țăndărică, Marius Manole, Irina Marinescu, Medeea Marinescu, Răzvan Mazilu, Horațiu Mălăele, Dan C. Mihăilescu, Horia-Roman Patapievici, Oana Pellea, Florin Piersic jr., Răzvan Popovici, Marian Râlea, Victor Rebengiuc, Analia Sellis, Răzvan Suma, Tiberiu Soare, Dorin Ștefan, Roman Tolici, Andi Vasluianu, Gheorghe Visu, Dorel Vișan and Aurel Vlad.
This is an extract from “Bucharest Portrait of an Artist” album published in 2015. I would like to thank Andi Vasluianu for taking part in this project. More information can be found here.