In preparation for the anniversary edition, “ARTmania in context” is launched, offering to ARTmania participants a series of unique performances and cultural collaborations held in heritage spaces
by July 22, 2024This Friday and Saturday will offer ARTmania Festival participants a series of unique artistic manifestations and concerts brought together under the “ARTmania in Context” umbrella, a project whose official launch will take place on Saturday, July 27, in the Large Square of Sibiu, before the KORN show, being crowned on Sunday, July 28, by a series of concerts held in a heritage space.
“ARTmania in Context” is a new cultural project that emphasizes the fusion of traditional artistic forms with new, innovative and experimental expressions from Sibiu.
The cultural dialogue, international cooperation, exploration of new technologies, cultural, economic and social sustainability of art, music export, as well as the valorization of local cultural acts are key areas addressed by the project. All these aspects aim to strengthen the local community and maintain culture and art as unifying elements of the identity and emblematic features of the city of Sibiu.
“ARTmania in Context” will explore the contextual art with the help of an exceptional team coordinated by the artistic director Bobi Pricop, the main director, and strengthened by the perspectives of the stage offered by the scenographer Oana Micu. Their collaboration brings a unique artistic experience and a complex vision to the project, helping to harness art and creativity in an engaging and innovative way.
The addition of Paul Breazu and Cătălina Stanislav (writers), together with the choreographer Filip Stoica, brings an additional dimension to the “ARTmania in Context” project. Their collaboration within the team strengthens the artistic experience and enriches the complex vision of the project, promising an engaging and innovative approach to contextual art.
Also, the involvement of Alexei Țurcan in the creation of the original music and in the music editing part brings a distinctive touch to the project, completing the artistic experience and strengthening the captivating atmosphere of the “ARTmania in Context” events. Through the contribution of each team member, the project promises to be a perfectly balanced environment between creativity, talent and innovation, with memorable results for the involved public.
The concept of “contextual art” explores the relationship between the work of art and the context in which it is created or received, emphasizing the external influences that contribute to the understanding and interpretation of the work of art. This approach is characterized by a direct connection between the artwork and its environment, highlighting the artist’s vision and intentions without intermediaries or filters.
By creating an interactive and innovative setting, “ARTmania in Context”, a cultural project funded by the Ministry of Culture, aims to create a memorable experience for ARTmania participants, giving them the opportunity to interact directly with art and connect with the artistic vision presented during the festival.
The project follows two chronological narrative threads
The first narrative thread will be able to be experienced by festival-goers right in the Large Square of Sibiu, on the Main Stage, on Saturday (July 27), before the show of the well-known American band KORN. Here festival-goers will have unique projections specially created for this occasion with the help of a multimedia installation and the chance to watch live a contemporary dance show inspired by the rock concerts hosted by ARTmania.
“On the second ARTmania festival day, a new project adjacent to the festival, «ARTmania in Context» will be launched, through a show directed by Bobi Pricop – a series of related artistic interventions that complement the main event through exhibitions, performances, live – new events, book launches, talks etc., activating the various spaces of the city and generating new cultural flows of it.
This new dimension begins this year, in preparation for the 2025 anniversary edition, with the original performance held on the main stage of the festival just before Korn’s show, and will further continue to be developed from next year’s edition onwards.
The team coordinated by Bobi Pricop – which includes Oana Micu (scenography and art direction), Alexei Turcan (music), Cătălina Stanislav and Paul Breazu (script), Filip Stoica (choreography), Nichita Teodorescu (lighting design), Philip Goron ( percussion), Emitter (visual effects), Iustin Surpanelu (image), Costi Simion and Florin Boicescu (video mapping and video direction), Bogdan Zamfir, Alexandru Snopovschi, Dima Roșca (dance, acrobatics) – proposes a representation of «ARTmania in Context» through an intervention that mixes multimedia techniques and supports and contemporary performance, appealing to the idea of an open community and its cultural course.
The artwork for the image of this new component, «ARTmania in Context», is made by the artist Dan Perjovschi”, expains the director Bobi Pricop.
The second narrative thread, focused on music and interdisciplinary collaborations, will be experienced by the participants on the third day of the festival (July 28) in a heritage space: at Altemberger House – Museum of History, part from the Brukenthal National Museum.
This component, which will bring together music and interdisciplinary collaborations, will bring to fans: Alternosfera (MD), REVOLTER (RO), Denorm (MD) and SPD (MD).
The artistic performance, the intense performances, the overflowing energy and the large number of fans present at the concerts helped Alternosfera (MD) become a “benchmark” for the Romanian alternative rock scene. Over time, the band has held hundreds of concerts both in Romania and in the Republic of Moldova, releasing 6 albums and an EP to date. Alternosfera, a name that needs no introduction, was established in 1998, being in the early years a musical project that searched for its theme and style, that experimented with various instruments, accumulating experience and recording its first demos.
The first album, “Orasul 511” was released in May 2005, its name coming from garage no. 511, where the band had its rehearsal room, the material including the song “Wamintirile”, a single that “invaded” radio stations and television in Romania. Two years later, Alternosfera released “Dreamers with lead in their eyes or the last letter for the Nordic woman” („Visători cu plumb în ochi sau ultima scrisoare pentru femeia nordică”), an album through which the band put an end to the period of lyrical romanticism in its creation, releasing in the fall of 2008 the EP “Flori din gropa Marianelor” . “Architect of Babel” („Arhitectul din Babel”) is the band’s sixth album, which was released in 2019 through a show of proportions at Romexpo, material that includes songs such as “Lucis”, “Fântânile” or “Amanet”.
The creative journey continued over the years bringing to light new successful material, such as “The Architect of Babel” (the band’s sixth album, released in 2019 with a major show at Romexpo), the “THEATROLL” project (with which the band changed the festival and club scene to a theater stage, where the lights, set and costumes helped them build, together with the audience, a new universe) or like Alternosfera Unplugged, the first acoustic tour in the band’s history.
Denorm (MD) always succeeds in taking their listeners on a journey that reaches unsuspected depths, with the help of intense reverbs and epic synths combined in an intimate balance. Their music is described as a surprising mix of synthwave/ retrowave vibes with a metal backbone and personal approaches to dealing with themes of loss, grief and human emotions.
Formed in 2018 in Chisinau by Jin and Spaceman (Evgeny Bereckelea and Evgeny Oleinic), the band quickly filled out their lineup and released their first set of live recorded tracks, followed by live sessions, shows and EPs.
Denorm‘s music videos often include CGI and post-processing, being done by the band members, who learned these skills to be able to turn the artistic inspiration into reality in terms of sound, lyrics and image.
Self Programmed Deaf or S.P.D. (MD) is a band that is not afraid to combine features from different genres of heavy music such as groove metal, hardcore or deathcore and explore through lyrics deep themes that touch on complex psychosocial topics, that promote simplicity in attitude, open visions and sincerity. All of these are combined in a sincere and energetic stage performance which has allowed the band to have concerts and perform over the years at many festivals from Moldova, Ukraine and Romania.
Revolter (RO) returns to the festiva’sl line-up just two years after they first appeared on the ARTmania stage. Launched in 2015, when they were practically children, the band, originally called “Revolver”, soon managed to compose their own songs. All its members are from Sibiu and have many things in common, like skating. But what really connects them is the passion for metal music.
In the last 4 years, the band has formed a loyal audience by supporting no less than 31 concerts, on the stages of the most important rock festivals in the country or in various concert spaces in Sibiu, Timișoara, Brașov, Bucharest, Vâlcea, Bistrița, Craiova and Cluj. All these years since they arrived on the local music scene, the band members have successfully matured towards instruments and music in general, coming to identify more and more with the message and powerful riffs of the song “Revolter”. Which led to a bold decision: to change his name to “Revolter“. And from here “sky is the limit”.
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About ARTmania Festival:
ARTmania Festival, the first Romanian festival that has brought on the local market the concept of combining the art with entertainment, is a platform dedicated to promoting all forms of artistic expression inspired by rock culture.
With each edition, ARTmania has consolidated itself as a major regional promoter of contemporary music. However, ARTmania Festival does not simply refer to shows of famous international and local bands. Music is the main component from which everything emerged, but it is only a part of the experience the festival was designed to offer to Romanian and foreign art lovers.
Since the very beginning, ARTmania has been designed as a cultural platform meant to offer the public various events and ways to experience different forms of artistic expression, such as concerts, exhibitions, book launches or film screenings. This common meeting place of artists with the public at the level of sound, colours, images or letters, hosted by the Square and the medieval fortress, creates the space of fairy tale and magic which is essentially comprised in the spirit of the festival.
Being the longest-lasting and largest rock festival in Romania and one of the longest-standing traditions of the regional cultural scene, ARTmania has shaped its own identity through a bold concept and a special ambience: the Large Square of one of the most beautiful fortresses medieval times in Eastern Europe.
ARTmania is constantly exploring new directions, building on the experience of previous editions, when a number of important artists and bands went on stage, international names like: Meshuggah, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, Peter Hammill, Serj Tankian, Emperor, Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Opeth, Wardruna, Die Toten Hosen, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Apocalyptica, HIM, The Gathering, The Sisters of Mercy, Anathema, Apocalyptica, Lacuna Coil, Helloween, Lacrimosa, Poets of the Fall or Deine Lakaien among many others.
