The exhibition took place on September 12, 2008, at 22.00, within a home gallery set up in a typical block of flats living room. It consisted of two projects by Elena Ciobanu.
CCTV - An exercise in serial photography turns into a critique of Western society. Standing for half an hour at the window of a hotel in London, Elena Ciobanu takes photos of the people who are trying to cross the street. Because of the starting point of the observation when the photographer assumes the role of the surveillance cameras placed in public space (CCTV), each one of passers-by becomes a potential suspect. Terrorism, crime, violence in the public space, as well as individual rights, the body as private space and the indiscretion of police systems are some of the meanings floating around the images from this project.
Scars - A series of photos accompanied by texts provide a documentation of major or minor physical traumas suffered by a number of people during childhood, or youth. These are rendered visible by the marks left on the skin by different events, but are also made present through the use of stories, which explain images that would otherwise lie outside any interpretation. Thus, the skin records these stories, which can only be brought to life by the one carrying the marks on her own body.
The two series of photos accompanied by text were distributed towards two public segments. Half of the exhibits were given to those attending the opening through a tombola procedure. Because of the limited space, access was invitation based only. You can find some photos of the exhibition here.
The other half was given to the members of the incepem internet group, through a tombola which took place in the night of the exhibition. The announcement was also open to those who lived outside Bucharest, as the gallery could afford covering expenses for mail tax and envelopes. Out of 500 enlisted members, only three people participated in the tombola. They were automatically declared winners.
The low interest for the initiative raised my doubts about this public segment and after one more exhibition I gave up on this forum of Romanian contemporary art as a means for distribution. From the fourth exhibition onwards, galeria 29 started a collaboration with feeder.ro, a web page covering commercial and underground music events in Bucharest.
