The Art Newspaper

All change in Bucharest

Romanian capital’s galleries look to pastures new

By Richard Unwin. Web only
Published online: 19 July 2010

The recent changes show “the volatility of the art scene in Bucharest more than its vitality,” according to Mihail, who said she had taken a break in her exhibition programme while looking for a more central space. Mihail, who’s gallery used to be located close to Bucharest’s main train station, is currently converting the former studio of artist Ion Grigorescu, where she plans to stage four exhibitions before the end of the year. The gallerist, who participated in Basel’s Liste fair in June, and will be taking part in Frieze’s Frame section – which is dedicated to emerging galleries – in London in October, said Romanian galleries were increasingly focused on international exhibitions because “the market doesn’t exist yet in Bucharest”.

H’art owner, Dan Popescu, agrees. He will replace the gallery’s city centre exhibition space this November with a “bureau”, staging exhibitions in temporary locations, rather than in a permanent gallery. He said that the lower overheads will allow him to spend more on the production of art and on exhibiting abroad. Artmark, the organisation that set up Point Contemporary and who also operate an auction house and modern art gallery, have apparently abandoned the primary contemporary market altogether, focusing instead on secondary sales.

However, one Bucharest gallery that has expanded its operation is up-and-coming Ivan Gallery. Previously based in a small, central space, gallerist Marian Ivan opened a second, larger venue in December in the south of the city, close to the National Museum for Contemporary Art.