“What We Hide/ Ce ascundem” is a collective exhibition where journalism, art, and intimate testimony are transformed to be experienced directly, not just read. Stories take shape in installations, workshops, and open conversations, offering visitors a collective experience at Rezidența9. The exhibition proposes an innovative format, where information and emotion meet, creating a space in which the public can discover unexpected perspectives and hidden stories.
The artists and journalists invited to the exhibition, a concept developed by Andra Matzal, are Andrei Becheru, Augmented Space Agency, Clara Caradimu, Bogdan Dincă, Cătălin Furtună, Pia Paula Guilmoth, Maria Guțu, Toma Hurduc, Ramin Mazur, Andra Mureșan, Mara Oglakci, Adriana Preda, Andrei Raicu, Anelise Sălan, Sorana Stănescu, Ioan Stoleru, and Josephine Topolanski.
“We are very good at hiding. We do it out of fear, out of love, out of guilt, care, or shame, or simply out of habit. We hide on our own, from ourselves or from those closest to us. We hide together, in the pockets of history, according to the narratives that shape the world at any given moment. We conceal things in words or in silence, in our bodies and beliefs, while floating through a universe about which we know so little. An infinity hidden in plain sight.
Some of these hidden things are explored in Scena9 magazine #7 and in the exhibition built around it. We bring together the rigor of journalism and the vulnerability of personal histories, the openness of the arts and the power of technology, to create a dialogue—hopefully liberating. We do not seek certainties, only to befriend questions that open and connect, in a world increasingly divided and isolated.
The exhibition “What We Hide” begins in a city we would not expect to be a gateway to the Universe: Bârlad. From the Astronomical Observatory here, astronomer and museographer Ciprian Vîntdevară discovered one of the largest red novae observed in Romania, over 100 times brighter than the Sun, located 21 million light-years away. It is one of the most important astronomical discoveries in Romania, joined by over 80 variable stars, named after the city where Ciprian Vîntdevară lives.
From here, the cosmic space that surrounds us—and in which we drift from first to last breath, without often being fully aware—opens a broad exploration of space in all its forms. We traverse shared and personal space, wander through inner and underground space, and catch our breath in a safe space.
Through video, sound, photography, and virtual reality installations, the exhibition explores different forms of hiding—family trauma, migration, illness, identity, love, invisible labor, underground cultures, poetry and beliefs, fears and desires. From stories in Moldova, Iran, or Sri Lanka, to Romanian realities hidden under statistics and silences, from the safe space of confessions to the underground of freedom and transgression, the exhibition proposes a mapping of the things we shield from view.
The staging of “What We Hide” does not provide solutions, but creates a meeting place for questions, confessions, and gazes that do not look away.” (curatorial text)
The exhibition “What We Hide” can be visited until March 15, 2026. Free entrance.
