In December 1989, the 25-year-long communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown by a popular movement which started in my hometown, Timisoara. Even today, this historical event leaves a lasting impression on those who witnessed this first revolution broadcasted live. Here is the memory it left in me, its emergence in a unique context. On the very evening of the breakout of the revolution, December 16, I was posing naked in the living room of an apartment building in Timisoara, Romania. (As people recall this moment, they tell me about the event they witnessed.)
At that time, the practical preparation in drawing for admission to the art academy of art had to meet certain standards: beyond the history of socialism or political science, other forms of visual propaganda were thoroughly studied in all art high schools. However, in my high school, we were largely exempt from these composition duties on the theme of socialism (painting or drawing scenes of workers in the field, etc.). So, in order to meet the expectations for admission to the Fine Arts Academy, I practiced by using myself as a photographic model, drawing myself according to the themes demanded by the party – particularly the working class that had to be highlighted alongside engineers, builders, and so on. It was necessary to “do the communist thing.” Sitting posture, counter posture, man with a hoe posture, man with a bucket posture, and various other possible tools specific to the construction of socialism, or at least its image.
This project and exercise were done as a family, as my parents were both artists and teachers, and my nudity was not an obstacle. My father took the photos with a tripod while my mother adjusted the halogen light according to the pose. At 7 p.m., at that precise moment when I was practicing reproducing the themes of totalitarian propaganda, someone rang the doorbell. I hurried to open it, only showing my head. My neighbor came to inform me that the revolution had begun. “Do you have spare pants and a shirt?” he asked.The next day, around 5 p.m., 59 people were killed and several hundred were injured.
This series offers multiple entry points into the artistic concerns that permeate my work.
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Timisoara, December 22, 1989, street protests in Opera Square.
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Military vehicles in front of the Opera, Opera Square. Timisoara, December 22, 1989
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The stairs of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Timisoara, where 43 people were shot on December 17, image from December 25, 1989.
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A train station between Timisoara and Cluj, 1991, Romania.
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Mailboxes in a high-rise building in Cluj, Romania, 1990.
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Electoral panel with Ion Iliescu, Timișoara, 1992
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The car with an amplification system, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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The courtyard of the sculpture department, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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somewhere in Transilvania, Romania, 1995
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Manastur, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Ovidiu Lupsa in a photo session in Manastur, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Manastur, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Construction of the statue of Avram Iancu in front of the Orthodox Cathedral, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Avram Iancu in a personal context, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Vegetable market, Cluj, Romania, 1990.
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Children playing with puppets from the Puck Theater, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Back when weighing weight only cost two lei, Cluj, Romania, 1990.
fragment of reality
fragment of reality
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Fragment from the ensemble of statues of Matei Corvin, Unirii Square, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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Unirii Square, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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Unirii Square, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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Szattler Roland in front of public library, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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In front of the department store, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
Poster from the premiere of the film "The Oak / Balanta" by Lucian Pintilie, Cluj, 1992.
the drunk smokers
Two smokers, Unirii Square, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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"Restaurant of Happiness", Opening hours 9-15, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
warning beware of dog
Bad dog, call.
Caritas is over
"Caritas is over", the first pyramid scheme in Romania was to close in 1994 after operating for almost two years.
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Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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"Jesus is the savior, and he comes to judge the world" Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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Free zone from neo-communism, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania, 1996.
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Dining hall of Nicula Monastery, image from the Art Camp Nicula series, 1993.
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Priest playing frisbee, image from the Art Camp Nicula series, 1993.
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Storm in the Baciu forest, an exposure of approximately 45 minutes, Manastur, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Ludmila Fratescu is rehearsing for the art history exam in the second-year graphic design studio, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Model at the entrance of the Ion Andreescu Faculty of Art and Design, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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The hallway of the Matei House, Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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"Operation Bison", an event initiated by the first and second-year graphic design sections. Part of the "Strada" student event, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Adriana Elian, working on the installation "the point of view." It is part of the Art Camp Brebu Nou series, 1994.
mannequin body parts
Part of the "Fragments" series. Cluj, Romania, 1991.
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Part of the "don't look" series, model E. B. Brebu Nou, 1993.
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Drawing professor, Radu Solovastru Calin, arranging a model for the drawing class, is part of the "life drawing session" series, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Part of the "skin hunger" series, model Malina Mandru, Cluj, Romania, 1994.
portrait
Part of the "copy & Paste" series, model Cristina Gagiu, Cluj, Romania, 1995.
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Luminita Dejeu and Laslo Bencze in the second-year graphic design studio, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Part of the "prêt-à -porter" series, model Cristina Gagiu, Cluj, Romania, 1996.
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The exit to the courtyard, Matei House, Cluj, Romania, 1996.
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Sorin Stanciu and the presidents (Nicolae Ceausescu, Ion Iliescu), Manastur, Cluj, Romania, 1992.
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Series of photographs taken by my father, Doru Tulcan, on December 16, 1989, the day I found out that the revolution had started in Timisoara, Romania.
