The Jury for the 2024 edition
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DIANA MARINCU
She is curator and art critic, Artistic Director of the Art Encounters Foundation Timiศoara, member of AICA and IKT. She received her PhD at the Bucharest National University of Arts in 2017, at the Art History and Theory department, with a research on the curatorial discourses about identity and From 2012 to 2018 she worked with the Plan B Foundation from Cluj and with the Paintbrush Factory. Between 2015-2017she co-curated with Anca Verona Mihuleศ the project in six parts The White Dot and The Black Cube, The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest. Within the programs created for Art Encounters Foundation, Diana Marincu aims to strengthen the link between the regional artistic scenes, to establish artistic connections based on co-production, and to support the young generation of artists.
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DARIA GHIU
Daria Ghiu holds a PhD degree in Art History and Theory with a thesis on the history of the Romanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (UNARTE Bucharest). She is an art critic and historian, journalist at Radio Romรขnia Cultural and, occasionally, a curator. In November 2015, IDEA Publishing House published her volume โรn acest pavilion se vede artฤโ, as a result of her doctoral research. Between 2016 and 2023 she was an associate lecturer at CESI - Center for Excellence in Image Studies. She is the producer of the radio shows โArte frumoaseโ and โOraศul vorbeศteโ (Radio Romania Cultural). Since 2007, she has been writing art chronicles in various cultural and art publications in the country and abroad.
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SANDRA DEMETRESCU
With an academic background in both art history and theory and photography and video, she curated exhibitions in museums, galleries and independent spaces across Romania and abroad and contributed in, or co/edited various art publications. Over the years, she has produced, independently or in collaboration, a series of exhibitions with varied themes and stakes, from large retrospectives to group exhibitions with complex themes.
Sandra is since 2022 Director of Exhibitions and Programmes at MNAC โ The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, where she works since 2014.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ.๐.๐ฉ.๐. - ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ:
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Natalia Silaghi - 1st place winner
She graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Design, Painting Department, in Timiศoara. Her artistic interests revolve around the environment. She expresses herself through both painting and installations. She is drawn to color, the banality of everyday objects, and nature.
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IOANA MARIA DAN - 2nd place winner
For her, the most important aspect is the process through which a piece of work is created. She aims to view her works objectively. She wishes to find a way to maintain, throughout her life, the meditative state she awakens to when creating, without being dependent on the creative process itself.
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IRINA MOTROC - 3rd place winner
She is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Bucharest. A graduate of the National University of Arts in Bucharest, from the Graphics Department, Irina is engaged in an artistic practice that employs mediums such as graphics, photography, video, and installation.
About P.E.V.A. from the 2024 jury
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โA commendable initiative, the Ecaterina Vrana Awards contribute significantly to the development of that part of the local art community where supporting younger generations takes centre stage. Focused particularly on female artists, participating in the first edition of this project was a real pleasure, and I hope that, in the future, these awards will become established as a benchmark for good practices and, at the same time, an encouragement for the generations who are โ with dedication and courage โ just starting out.โ
Sandra Demetrescu, The Director of Exhibitions and Programmes at MNAC and member of the 2024 P.E.V.A. jury
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โI have always had an issue with awards and hierarchies, whether I was on the side of the examined or the examiner. The vertical perspective in any field gave me a sort of inner chill, the thought of some being unlucky, while others were fortunate. On the other hand, my entry into the art world as an adult came with great excitement, mixed with the occasional inability to clearly discern talent and value. I believe that young graduates need such benchmarks, a placement within a context where they can understand both their strength and vulnerability. I am increasingly beginning to believe that awards are necessary, to clearly mark certain names in public discourse, to mobilize, and to provide support at the beginning of a journey. This is even more important for female artists. And even more so, the need for a workspace, the dream of any graduate. The name of the late artist Ecaterina Vrana brings with it precisely what best defines the meeting between an emerging artist and an established one: the tireless work ethic, the enthusiasm, the search, but also the fragility of the former and the tenacity and confidence (often accompanied by restlessness) of the latter. As a member of the jury, it is a great joy to take the pulse of young art, to better understand where we stand, and to know that there is an institution that, through an award, is close to them.โ
Daria Ghiu, Cultural journalist and member of the 2024 P.E.V.A. jury
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โThe Ecaterina Vrana Awards for Young Female Artists in Romania hold significant meaning for several reasons: on one hand, they acknowledge the need for support that emerging female artists require at the beginning of their careers; on the other hand, they keep alive the memory of a remarkable artist, a model of independence, nonconformism, and honesty to the very end, no matter the risks or costs. In short, authenticity, as a supreme value, is further encouraged by this award, which I hope, over time, will reflect the complexity of the local female art scene.โ
Diana Marincu, Curator and member of the 2024 P.E.V.A. jury