Ana Lupaş's Humid Installation: Ephemeral Monuments from 1966 Transylvania to Global Reinterpretations
In 1966, Romanian artist Ana Lupaş developed the Humid Installation in the Grigorescu area of Cluj, later expanding the project in 1970 with the help of 100 villagers from Mărgău, Transylvania. This piece, which showcased wet linen drying, highlighted the significance of women's work during the era of communist collectivization. Lupaş revisited this theme as Symbol for Peace at the 1973 Young Artists Biennial in Paris and later as Rag Monument in Bucharest's University Square in 1991, where dark fabric was used instead of the original white linen. The installation has been examined for its textile politics and memorial significance, appearing in Lupaş's 2008 retrospective in Innsbruck and in discussions within Arta journal and Daniel Grun's 2020 anthology. Lupaş is represented by P420 gallery.
Key facts
- Ana Lupaş created Humid Installation first in Cluj, Romania in 1966
- The 1970 version in Mărgău involved 100 village participants, mostly women
- The work was reinterpreted as Rag Monument in Bucharest in 1991 after anti-government protests
- Metal versions were exhibited in Dunkerque, France (2019-20) and Székesfehérvár, Hungary (1998)
- Lupaş's 2008 retrospective occurred at Taxispalais in Innsbruck, Austria
- The artist is represented by P420 gallery in Bologna, Italy
- Scholarship includes Alina Șerban's analysis in Daniel Grun's 2020 anthology
- The work engages with textile traditions during Romania's collectivization period
Entities
Artists
- Ana Lupaş
- Mechtild Widrich
- Silvia Eblmayr
- Alina Șerban
- Ramona Novicoc
- Daniel Grun
- Carlo Favero
- Gabriel Felezeu
- Marina Lupaş
- Dan Perjovschi
- Olivia Nițiș
- Piotr Piotrowski
- Maria Alina Asavei
- Alexandra Urdea
- Magdalena Buchczyk
- Anca Arghir
- Izabel Galliera
- Wanda Mihuleac
- Matthew Jesse Jackson
- Ilya Kabakov
- Mihai Drişcu
- Magda Cârneci
- Caterina Preda
- Amy Bryzgel
- Ileana Pintilie
- Gail Kligman
- Katherine Verdery
- John Michael Montias
- Tudor Pamfile
- Mihai Lupescu
- Radu Anton Roman
- Sebestyén Székely
- Aida Šehović
- Edit András
- Miška Mandić
- Kuba Dorabialski
- Mladen Miljanović
- Ilona Németh
Institutions
- ARTMargins Online
- Taxispalais
- P420 gallery
- Young Artists Biennial
- National Theater Bucharest
- St. Stephen Museum
- Frac Grand Large – Hauts-de France
- Dunkerque Triennale
- Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania
- Village Museum Bucharest
- Muzeul Astra (National Museum Complex ASTRA)
- Central European University
- Arta journal
- Archive of Women Artists Research & Exhibitions (AWARE)
- Soviet Publishing House
- Cornell University Press
- Princeton University Press
- MIT Press
- Manchester University Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Routledge
- Berghahn
- St. James Press
- Tauris
- Reaktion
- Les Presses du réel
- The Economist
Locations
- Cluj
- Romania
- Mărgău
- Transylvania
- Innsbruck
- Austria
- Bologna
- Italy
- Paris
- France
- Bucharest
- University Square
- Jiu Valley
- Székesfehérvár
- Hungary
- Dunkerque
- English Channel
- Budapest
- Sibiu
- Lublin
- Chile
- Moscow
- Chicago
- New York
- Oxford
- London
- Ithaca
- Princeton
- Cambridge