La Maison Française, the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, and the Embassy of Romania
to the U.S., are proud to present, in the framework of the 2011 Francophonie Cultural Festival,
the U.S. premiere of an exhibition of northern
Romanian (Maramureş) handcrafted rugs, from
March 28th to April 15th, 2011.
In the region of Maramureş traditional handcrafts are still very much alive today; you can
find authentic woodcarving, pottery and wool
crafting. This show presents some of the most
enchanting rugs made by Victoria Berbecaru over
four decades, some of them still being used at the
local church.
The exhibition was initiated and curated by
the Romanian (Paris-based) artist Mircea Cantor,
whose work is known for its subtle commentary
on contemporary society, across diverse media.
His approach is not that of an ethnographer or
anthropologist. The object is not to document,
but to emphasize the authenticity of this art, giving viewers an opportunity to enjoy the pieces, as
they would any work of art.
Victoria Berbecaru, one of Maramureş’ most
accomplished weavers, revived the tradition of
weaving rugs in the 70’s when she arrived in
Botiza, a village in Maramureş. Together with the
old ladies from the village she started to record
the old techniques of natural dyeing, reintroducing motifs that were in use in the recent past
but were about to disappear due to the lack of
interest and continuity through the younger
generation. She maintained this tradition for over
four decades by helping younger women see its
profound cultural value and by teaching them the
compositions and motifs.
“Looking at an authentic Maramureş rug,”
says Mircea Cantor, “resembles eating jelly
from grandmother’s larder. It spreads both energy and visual force hidden within its ancient
symbols, as well as forms crossing over time,
generation by generation until the present
day. Its themes and motives are inspired by
the labor on the fields, by religious or agrarian feasts and by different customs and beliefs.
Their composition and choice of colors offer
them their strength and life: the lord-and-ladies, the flower, the fir, the gate, the rider, the
bat, the reeler, the stag, the Maramureş round
dance, the wolves’ teeth, the snake, the rake,
the water wave. The wool is handcrafted, colored with natural dyes, made from St. John’s
wort, onion peels, nut rinds, buckthorn, and
plum tree bark.”
Along with the traditional rugs in the exhibition, one can see a flying carpet (Airplanes and
Angels), which is the work of Mircea Cantor.
This piece resulted from his encounter with
Maramureş rugs during the artists’ trips to the
region in the winter of 2007, during which he
eventually ended up at Victoria Berbecaru’s
gate. Cantor commissioned Berbecaru to make
”Airplanes and Angeles,” which is woven with
the figures of airplanes and angels in subtle
grays, ochres and creams, while Cantor himself
designed the color scheme and the pattern, based
on a mixture of traditional and contemporary
motifs. The composition is inspired by traditional rugs from the region and features a central
ground with distinct borders of decorative bands
symbolizing water flowing, wolves’ teeth, butterflies and the sun and moon. In the center of
the carpet is a radiating pattern of geometric
motifs meant to symbolize rams’ horns. Within
the remaining field, Cantor introduced the more
recent flying figures, which he translated into
graphic form using Photoshop.
The carpet embodies two distinct forms of
investment, that of the time and knowledge of
the carpet makers, evident in the weave and
texture of the finished object, and the degrees of
significance we might ascribe to the aerial forms,
be they agents of intercession or destruction. The
scenario pitches the viewer somewhere between
allegory and reality. In describing the process
of making the carpet and its possible meaning
Cantor notes:
“With the carpet my interest was not to copy
an existing tradition, but rather to update it
with my own vision. For this reason I drew in
the airplanes and the angels. You will never
see airplanes or angels in Romanian rugs. It
was more like the dichotomy between two realities, the visible and the invisible. On top of
this, you have the association of the Oriental
flying carpet. Ideals of flying and traversing space are deeply rooted in humankind’s
aspirations. From birds, butterflies and other
creatures we’ve always tried to symbolize and
copy in a very concrete way their freedom of
movement. Today when flying UFOs are no
longer taboo, and angels are far more mythical creatures, airplanes seem more meaningful to us. But is it really like this?” (Excerpt
from Susanne Cotter: Mircea Cantor. The Need
for Uncertainty, book edited by Modern Art
Oxford, Arnolfini, Bristol, and Camden Arts
Centre, London)
Schedule of events
The exhibition opens at La Maison Française, 4101
Reservoir Rd NW, Washington D.C., on Monday, March
28, at 6:30 pm, and runs through April 15th by appointment only: 202 944 6091. Free admission.
The exhibition will be accompanied by traditional
weaving workshops for children held by Victoria
Berbecaru, and hosted by La Maison Française on
March 29th.
Before this unique exhibition opens in Washington, D.C., visual artist Mircea Cantor and traditional
rug-maker Victoria Berbecaru stop on March 24 in
New York for a conversation about the exhibition and
their work. The event is presented and hosted by the
Romanian Cultural Institute in New York (200 East
38th St., New York, NY 10016) and starts at 7:30 pm.
Free admission.
About the artists
Victoria Berbecaru is a teacher and weaver from the
Romanian village of Botiza, Maramureş. She has rediscovered and mastered traditional carpet-making
and natural wool coloring. She has held workshops
and has exhibited her work throughout Romania and
in Vienna, Strasbourg and Berlin, with solo exhibitions at Parma Castle, Italy, and Peruwelz Cultural
Centre, Belgium.
Mircea Cantor (born 1977, in Romania, lives and works
in Paris, France) is a visual artist who has received
wide acclaim for his subtle commentary on issues
of contemporary society. This includes, on a larger
scale, the positives and negatives of globalization. On
a more specific scale, this includes characteristics of
Romanian folk traditions such as with his photograph
“’Hiatus”’ (2008) which presents scaled-up version
of traditional wool spindle or his other monumental work the “’Arch of triumph”’ (2008). Cantor’s
choice of media is diverse, in that he has employed
video, animation, sculpture, drawing, painting, and
installation in his practice. Cantor’s 2005 video work,
“’Deeparture”, which was on view in the contemporary galleries at The Museum of Modern Art, features
a deer and a wolf together in a pristine white box
environment which works to heighten the palpable
tension. His visual effect is often ambiguous - often
left for the viewer to make sense of. Cantor’s work
is included in prestigious public collections such as
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Wash-
ington, DC; MoMA, New York; Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis; Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Israel
Museum, Jerusalem; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France;
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid;
Museum Abteiberg, Monchengladbach, Germany;
Magasin 3, Stockholm, Sweden, as well as in other
collections worldwide. Mircea Cantor is represented
in Paris by Yvon Lambert Gallery, in Tel Aviv by Dvir
Gallery and in Rome by Magazzino.
www.mirceacantor.ro
The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York aims to
promote Romanian culture throughout the US and
internationally, and to build sustainable, creative
partnerships among American and Romanian cultural
organizations. The Institute acts as a catalyst and
proponent of initiatives across artistic fields, striving
to foster understanding, cultural diplomacy, and
scholarly discourse, by enriching public perspectives
of contemporary Romanian culture.
La Maison Française is the cultural center of the
Embassy of France in Washington presenting films,
concerts, exhibitions, conferences, and more! In
2010, La Maison Francaise organized over 100 events
and welcomed more than 200 French artists.
The Francophonie Festival 2011 is co-organized by
the French-American Cultural Foundation, and the
Smithsonian Associates in partnership with the
French-speaking embassies in Washington, D.C., the
Alliance Française, and La Maison Française.
www.francophoniedc.org
La Maison Française
Embassy of France
4101 Reservoir Rd., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
www.la-maison-francaise.org
Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
200 East 38th Street (at 3rd Avenue)
New York, NY 10016
www.icrny.org
The Traditional Maramureş
rugs of Victoria Berbecaru
and Mircea Cantor’s Flying Carpet
March 28 – April 15, 2011
La Maison Française in Washington D.C.
March 24: Preview and Conversation with the artists
Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
Mircea Cantor
Three weavers working in sync for Airplanes and angels
Botiza, March 2011.
© 2011 by Mircea Cantor
Old lady weaver making “The week’s seven days”
Botiza, March 2011.
© 2011 by Mircea Cantor
“The week’s seven days” by Victoria Berbecaru
Hand woven carpet, wool, natural dyes.
© 2011 by Mircea Cantor
Handwoven carpet by Victoria Berbecaru
2008, Hand woven carpet, wool, natural dyes, 150 x 220 cm
© 2011 by Mircea Cantor
“Airplanes and Angels” by Mircea Cantor.
Exhibition view at Modern Art Oxford, April 2008.
Hand woven wool carpet, made by the weavers from Botiza and Victoria Berbecaru, 198 / 300 cm
© Photo by Andy Keate. Courtesy the artist and Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris
Handwoven carpet by Victoria Berbecaru
Hand woven carpet, wool, natural dyes
© 2011 by Mircea Cantor