28 Oct WHISPERERS – CLUJ FUTURE OF WORK EXHIBITION
Conceived by Ionuț Caras, University Lecturer and actor of the National Theatre in Cluj, the performative installation THE WHISPERERS is designed to artistically respond to questions about the future of how humans work. The art work – presented within the Work Upside Down exhibition, is part of a creative initiative by Cluj Future of Work and the Cluj Cultural Centre, financed by the European Regional Development Fund through Urban Innovative Actions and Cluj-Napoca City Hall. THE WHISPERERS is a Texte Bune în Locuri Nebune project and brings together students and alumni of our faculty.
We live in such times when certain works of art tend to be questioned. Books are barred, sculptures are demolished, paintings are censored and writers are banned. And this either in the name of political correctness, or by invoking other issues: obscenity, violence, anti-establishment discourse, political message, a critical attitude towards the church or even religion, etc. Of course, this has happened before, throughout history, it is not the first time.
We believe the artist to be a free, inquisitive and necessary spirit. His voice must be heard, even if some people might find his message upsetting. If we are to imagine what the actor of the future would be like years from now and how his mission would change, then we think it’s safe to assume that the actor will become a repository of lost texts, of forbidden words. As if the guerrilla actor were capable of spreading notions, stories, forgotten or buried truths, through a secret battle with all forms of censorship. His mission will be to speak, to have a voice, albeit a whispered one.
It is an encounter with oxymoronic value: we are close but at a distance, together but apart, we communicate through whispers. A sort of self-irony disguised as performance, about the actor’s mission and one of his possible future attributions. In the end, the artist/actor has a duty to speak. We are the ones who choose what to do with his words.
Director, script, concept: Ionuț Caras
Costumes, objects: Zsófia Gábor
Video: Raul Stan, Vlad Braga
Sound: Radu Dogaru
Graphics: Mircea Ioan Pop
Cast: Salomeea Rusu, Christian Har, Francesca Fülop, Ștefan Liță, Alexandra Cheroiu, Dragoș Ioniță, Sabina Lazăr, Robert Ioan, Sara Pongrac, Adelin Tudorache