After being exhibited at the National Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, the exhibition "Shattered/Spulberat" - Oana Maria Cajal (Canada) arrives in the foyer of the National Theater "Marin Sorescu" . The opening will take place on February 3, from 17:00 with the participation of Emil Boroghină, honorary president of the International Shakespeare Festival, actress Costinela Ungureanu and Nicolae Coande, artistic consultant of the Craiova theater. The project is dedicated to the late George Banu, who accompanied this event since the project stage, which he guaranteed with specific sensitivity and rigor.
The Romanian-born Canadian artist has invested energy in an exhibition blaming the war in Ukraine, the aggression, terror and destruction caused to the neighbouring country by the Russian Moloch. Artists from Ukraine, the US, Romania and Canada are participating with poems, along with musicians who have composed music dedicated to the catastrophe north of Romania.
Actress Costinela Ungureanu, who raised the artist's awareness through her role in the play "Woman of the Sea", directed by Andriy Zholdak, will recite some of the poems that are part of the selection of this exhibition: Ana Blandiana, Nora Iuga, Claudia Serea, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Ruth Margraff, Sylvie Simmons, etc.
About Costinela Ungureanu, Marina Constantinescu mentions: "This "Woman of the Sea" is Ellida. And the fantastic, absolutely impressive performance of actress Costinela Ungureanu. An intelligent, balanced structure, a total actress, a ballerina made of plasticine, of a thousand and one inner, emotional, physical registers, which tells, uniquely, the story of her Ellida and Andriy Zholdak." The show "The Woman of the Sea", directed by Andriy Zholdak, is performed at the Craiova National Theater on February 4 and 5, from 7:00 p.m., in the "Amza Pellea" hall.
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Oana Maria Cajal is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, visual artist and poet. She was born in Bucharest and emigrated to the United States in 1980. She is a graduate of the "I. L. Caragiale" in Bucharest and received an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California, San Diego. Oana Cajal has written numerous plays that have had successful performances in cities across America. The Last Pact/ A Theatrical Enigma was voted Best Play of 2011 by UNITER (Romanian Theatre Union). The award is sponsored by the Royal House of Romania. Her screenplay for the feature film Poarta Albă was nominated in the Best Screenplay section of the 2015 Gopo Awards competition. Oana Maria Cajal returned to graphic art in 2007 with her volume of pictopoems Solenodon. Since then she has had a multitude of solo exhibitions in Canada, America and Romania. Oana Maria Cajal is an alumna of the New Dramatists of New York, a recipient of Fullbright and NEA (National Endowment for The arts) fellowships, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the Playwrights Guild of Canada, UNITER, the Union of Filmmakers of Romania (UCIN) and the Union of Visual Artists (UAP), Multimedia.
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Artist's confession:
"The story of this project is beautiful, moving and hopeful. It began with "Woman of the Sea" staged by the Ukrainian director Andriy Zholdak, banned in Moscow, at the Marin Sorescu Theatre in Craiova. I was captivated by the moving testimony of the theatre and art critic George Banu, on the evening of the "symbolic gesture" in Paris, at a meeting of writers in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. I created the first image of the SHATTERED series, a symbolic portrait of the actress who played the character of Elida in Zholdak's play - "Prayer for The Heart", the woman of the sea with a shattered heart, in which the Ukrainian flag is embedded. We confirmed with 23 Picto Impulses, all inspired by the disaster of a world exploding into nonsense. I worked outraged, pained, horrified, overwhelmed by a heartbreaking empathy..."
ForbesLife Magazine
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"Oana Cajal devotes herself, to use the term again, to picto-impulses. This implies a quick reaction, an "impulsive" emotion, a subjectively affirmed testimony. What she thus produces is a response at the crossroads between the world and the self, a vital and assumed gesture as an immediate poetic expression to the concreteness of history, like a cry or a tear. The works exhibited are the fruit of such a gift. The gift of an artist who refuses indifference and responds to the moment. (...) This manifestation can be likened to a symbolic gesture without immediate practical effects. But it is a gesture that responds to an internal, personal and group demand. This programme captivates through collective involvement with no other motivation than that of not submitting, of resisting together. And so, out of personal "shards" a community is formed. A community of the arts and its representatives who make intransigence a condition and together form a common battlefront. Shards reunited..."
George Banu, Cultural Observatory (October, 2022)
"The Shattered/Spulberat project is the fruit of an idea by visual artist Oana Maria Cajal and the result of a complex international collaboration. Inspired by Oana Cajal's artistic vision, several poets from Ukraine, Romania, the United States and Canada contributed poems, and several musicians composed instrumental or vocal pieces, all reacting viscerally against the atrocities of Russia's war in Ukraine. The concept is simple but original: artists respond to art with new creations, while protesting the war. This multi-sensory exhibition, hosted by the National Museum of Romanian Literature in Bucharest, is the second in the series inaugurated at La MaMa Umbria International in Italy in June 2022. New openings and poetry readings are planned this fall in New York and other cultural centers. We hope that this symbolic gesture, this ever-expanding collaboration will inspire audiences who will appreciate these artists' message of solidarity and support for Ukraine's cause, reaffirming the strength with which culture connects us and ensures the survival of all that is most human."
Claudia Serea (SUA)
The Marin Sorescu National Theatre in Craiova, one of the most important theatres in the country, with a tradition of over 170 years and a prestigious international activity, has launched the international project HEKTOMERON, a universal message of hope.
The National Theatre of Craiova is a prestigious Romanian cultural institution whose long and rich 170-year history has culminated in Silviu Purcărete's legendary performances, presented at the most important theatre festivals around the world, and the huge international success of the Shakespeare Festival, which brings performances from five continents to Romania every two years.
Now, with a contemporary vision, the theatre addresses present and future perspectives, addressing an increasingly broad spectrum of audiences in line with current challenges.
