I spoke with Lena Ciobanu, an artist who has been present in the “Art and Anthropology Residency” project since the first edition. Lena has been researching the northern Dobrogean environment since the fall of 2022 when the project was only at the stage of a brave idea, and that was it. All this time, she was a basic pillar of this interdisciplinary approach.
In her artistic activity, Lena is inspired by the connections that form in protected forest ecosystems between the roots of trees, plants and mycelium (symbiosis). Thinking about the interaction between these elements and relational art, Lena decided to create through her art the occasion of intimate event spaces where people can interact, guided by certain games and exercises, where they feel listened to and which start a discussion about the phenomenon and the need to create communities and ways of mutual help among its members.

These seven questions were designed to reveal how the interactions with the natural environment and with the locals of a rural community influenced the creation and interdisciplinary perspectives of a young artist participating in the Art and Anthropology Residency in Luncavița (Tulcea).


D.P.: What were your expectations before starting residency, and how have they changed along the way?

L.C.: Before starting the residency, I only knew that I would take photographs. I missed it, and that’s what I did, but I let myself be open and carried by subjects and people, trees and cats, valleys and forests. Where I was received, I went. I was surprised that, although it is already the third time at Luncavița, it never ceases to surprise me.

D.P.: What impact has the local community had on your art? Have you interacted with the locals or integrated elements from their everyday proximity in your works?

L.C.: Photography is a mirror of space through my eyes, so I can say that there is a direct interdependence between space and my art; one without the other does not exist. And I remembered that I really like to photograph people, sit with them, and show them how much the short moments of living together mean to me.

D.P.: What did you learn from the interactions with the flora and fauna of Dobrogea? Is there a story or incident that marked you and that you have translated into your works?

L.C.: Since arriving in Dobrogea, discovering the local flora and fauna has been a continuous process. I started with the plants, reading about plaur (a type of aquatic vegetation) in Antipa’s books; these tangles of rhizomes, silt and organic matter, temporary ecosystems dissipated over time after the damming of the river in the 80s. The hikes in the Măcin Mountains also showed me, year after year, changes; I came across lichens, plants eaten by worms and the new coexistence between cicadas and their temporary homes in the roots of plants. This year, we interacted with wild herbs from the forests, like mint, lungwort, and wormwood, as well as forgotten plants found in the local gardens, such as the bean.
As for the fauna, I crossed paths with creatures I was used to, from people and their yards: dogs, cats, chickens, pigeons, cows, and bees, as well as the little ones from the woods, lizards, and the Lord’s Cow.
The encounters between us and the dogs were the most meaningful, with the grains becoming the most common thing found in our bags next to the camera.

D.P.: What is the source of your interest in interdisciplinary projects?

L.C.: I think that only interdisciplinary can deeply understand the complexity of reality, and without multiple perspectives, the richness of information and connections between them would diminish terribly. All reading layers add value in further simplification. This is the only way I feel I can work for some time.

D.P.: How did this experience change your perspective on the artist’s role in a rural space?

L.C.: The artist’s role is a complex and vague one in general, but I feel that my role is one of binder now; I collect, put together and represent, and in the meantime, I play and enhance what already exists.

D.P.: How will you use the experiences from the residency in your future artistic projects?

L.C.: The interests found here have stayed and will stay with me for a while, complementing my various personal research and creating connections. All things are delicately interconnected. For example, the plaur fits perfectly into research on symbioses in ecosystems.

D.P.: What plans do you have for this fall? Are we going to see you somewhere, and if so, where?

L.C.: Now I am working on a small experiment between book and sound, a love letter to the mountains, following two very personal experiences around the Făgăraş mountains, two years apart. It is a follow-up to the “Sounds like a Book” project and will be exhibited at Galeria Posibilă in mid-November.

Art and Anthropology is an @laborator_artistic initiative.
The Artistic Laboratory Association is a project that started in the spring of 2020 and aimed to become a viable partner for emerging artists by creating opportunities for exhibitions, learning, and experimentation through dialogue and mutual support. Until now, the association has organized collective exhibitions within the NAG 2020 edition, in the @stirbei47 space and the @spațiul Dialog on the 4th floor of the MNAC.

“Art and Anthropology Residence” is a project initiated by the Artistic Laboratory Association and co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how its results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.