State of the Arts? Working in the cultural sector in Romania

A conversation about the socio-economic conditions of cultural work and the policies and support structures for culture in Romania. We analyse the main challenges that artists and organisations face and explore the models and practices that enable their resilience.

Corina Bucea is a cultural worker, one of the founding members of the contemporary art space The Paintbrush Factory, where she worked as an executive manager and project coordinator in projects from visual to performing arts, education and training. She collaborated with local and international organisations - festivals, support programmes for artists, audience development projects and arts production. She worked as a project manager at different editions at the Romanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and is currently working at Cluj Cultural Centre. Currently, the main focus of her work is arts education and mediation.

Iulia Popovici is a performing arts critic and curator based in Bucharest. She has published extensively about the alternative performing arts scene, collectives and artists in Romania and Eastern Europe, the social challenges of contemporary arts and the shifting in working practices. She is one of the founders of ATIC (Association of Trans-sectorial Independent Cultural Workers), an advocacy organisation for self-employed cultural workers.

Raluca Iacob is a cultural manager and public policy specialist, president of Asociatia MetruCub (based in Bucharest). Since 2007 she was involved in cultural planning at local and national level, has done research about the misuse of European funds, the evolution of the independent cultural sector and the local public administration’s competences in culture, and has developed communities of practice integrating the arts in education.

Rariţa Zbranca is director and cofounder of AltArt Foundation. Her work experience include cultural management, programming, research and policymaking. She is also Programme Director at Cluj Cultural Centre and co-founder of Fabrica de Pensule an independent collective space for contemporary arts in Cluj-Napoca. Her areas of focus include culture and urban development, culture and well-being and working in culture. She is a member of the Strategy Group of the “A Soul for Europe” initiative, member of the European House for Culture, and a board member of the Balkan Express network.