Thursday 11 December 2008

Red Spot

There is nothing new in the statement that Bucharest is hiding treasures that nobody bothers to dig for. We pass by old homes, left to turn into ruins every day and don't even take one look at them. But even if we did that, it would be hard to see the treasure behind a layer of dirt and debris.

I Love Bucharest is an innovative programme focused on the regeneration of the public space in our capital through artistic and public art projects proposed and carried out by artists, aiming to trigger the civic responsibility and participation of citizens in the process. In this European Intercultural Dialogue, I Love Bucharest initiated an event called Red Spot: an art project designed to be a signal, a warning and awareness call for the Bucharest's residents and authorities, civil society and private companies.
By starting the Red Spot, I Love Bucharest tried to show us some of the wounds of our city. Starting Nov. 27, for three nights, between 6p.m. and 7a.m., red spots were projected on the front of 11 neglected and damaged buildings holding a well-known aesthetic and historical value in downtown Bucharest. During the day, they were marked with a sticker. The project continues with an exhibition at the Peasant's Museum, between Dec. 9th and Dec. 15th. The exhibition includes black and white images of buildings condemned to "self-demolition" and video with interviews with residents.

Red Spot is a call to overcome the ignorance concerning our own history, its past and present, to overcome the indifference towards our own future. The purpose is to draw the attention of the Bucharest dwellers, to make them look up and accept the presence of these old buildings, which are part of the town's history and could make Bucharest a beautiful city with an original architectural style . Let's hope that things will evolve and we will do more than just accept their presence, and the authorities will take care of their protection and restoration.

2 comments:

caluad said...

I don't understand why people don't want to know about their past, why they don't respect the old heritage, why they don't look up to ancient styles. It might envy, selfishness. But what I'm sure it is is ignorance.
Thje problem is that many people don't want to get rid of this ignorance.
The idea is creative and good, may you be lucky bringing out awareness.

ivasil said...

It's selfishness, you are right. And greed- money is spent for other things. And laziness.
As you said, one only learns what he WANTS to learn.
The nice part is that young people are interested in saving those buildings- there is a similar initiative of the students in the Architecture School, called "Case care plang" , Houses that weep. I think I already posted about it last year.