Exhibit opening, screening, & talk

Tuesday August 2, 2011, 7:30 PM

Moderated by Anna Van Lenten, curator, Half King Photo Series

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Pressing ahead towards a united Europe, Romania began breaking down its physical and intellectual barriers, while tiny enclaves of human communities remained lying deep in its timeless corners. The historic will aimed to shorten a physical and intellectual distance, while these micro-communities continued to live their austere, disciplined lives by keeping to their ancient traditions and adjusting to the severity of nature’s laws. When Romania was generally preparing for change during the years preceding its 2007 accession to the European Union, in the regions sentenced to remain unchanged I was able to witness the eternal power of food shared together, a haystack piled up together and the existential reality of animals driven home together–how deeply rooted the community of fate is where the joint salvage of a flooded house, life shared in a single room and bidding a communal farewell to the dead represent bonds of affinity woven with resolute integrity. These images document the invisible moments of a country today referred to as a member state in official EU diplomat-speak and as “the tattered and fantastic land of hope” by the Hungarian writer Péter Esterházy.

 

All photos © Tamas Dezso.