puls20

Heartbeat 20

(new entries in the MNAC collections)
curator Călin Dan
14 05 – 11 07 2021

The National Museum of Contemporary Art – MNAC Bucharest is 20 years old. Twenty years are 20 heartbeats in the body of a young Museum. Struggling for an independent growth, MNAC had to feed its burgeoning identity with the heavy materials of a ready-made collection, inherited from times when concepts like contemporary and collecting had altogether a different meaning. In a few cautious steps, MNAC enlarged its inventory, most recently last year, when an important number of pieces (180 precisely) were added by purchase to an on-going narrative about the visual culture produced here.

A lot can be said about this assembly of works, about the almost miraculous ways in which they manage to illustrate 50 years of local art production, about the fascinating diversity of personalities united through the inspirational effort made by a jury of specialists with high standing, and with a deep knowledge about the recent history of Romania. The session of art acquisitions organised by MNAC in 2020, with the generous support of the Ministry of Culture, has not been just a mechanism of cultural politics. Through the synergy between an enthusiastic art scene (awaiting for 12 years this moment of recognition), and the expertise of the specialists within and around the museum, a remarkable act of collective curatorship has been taking place. The outcome is this exhibition, opened at the MNAC venue in Bucharest under the name 12 Years After. A Survey of Romanian Art in 180 Works, and now at Kunsthalle Bega under a more adequate title: HEARTBEAT 20.

This has been probably the most naturally growing curatorial discourse in the short history of MNAC. HEARTBEAT 20 is actually an organism, resulting from living processes of interaction, and its move around the country, started inspirationally with this invitation at Kunsthalle Bega, is proof of it.