3
Galeria Casa Matei
Str. Matei Corvin nr. 6

VOICES OF YOUTH Urban Comics from ArtiViStory Collective

MULTIMEDIA


Tip eveniment
DESCHIS si la NAG
Perioada Expozitie
21.09.2022 - 02.10.2022
The Voices of Youth exhibition (made with the support of the Botnar Foundation) at Casa Matei Gallery investigates the results of the mediation program that took place in March 2022 as part of the Imagining Futures exhibition organised by ArtiViStory Collective at the Museum of Art in Cluj-Napoca. The current exhibition is thus an artistic representation of the problems expressed by the young visitors, problems that have been carefully documented, analysed and interpreted by ArtiViStory Collective. A puzzle consisting of 360 triangular pieces and 114 one-page comic strips (My Inner Hero in Cluj) drawn by the participants of the exhibition in the museum is the starting point of the current phase that imagines a playground for young people as an interactive experience, a space for discussion about the different problems faced by young people in Cluj and a creative exploration of the solutions they offer to these problems. The themes addressed in the exhibition refer to trauma and healing, loneliness vs. unity, level of social involvement, trust and distrust, family, education and other concerns that play a major role in the personal development of young people around us. In recent years, urban comics have become a creative, narrative, contextual, collaborative and dynamic practice used in various research. Their sequentiality makes them an ideal medium for rendering the process, but also for rethinking and imagining cities, communities and urban spaces. Thus, the artistic approach of ArtiViStory Collective aims to contribute both to interconnection (bringing visibility to stakeholders and their actions within an ecosystem) and to civic activation (by catalyzing community energy into acts of cultural participation). The artists of the ArtiVistory Collective (Evelina Grigorean, Melinda Ureczki Lázár, Lucian Barbu, Teodora Predescu, Horatiu Coman) map situations and contexts, interpret and discuss the puzzle pieces in visual forms, focusing on the voices of young people, and construct character models as heroes who support and encourage young people to express their inner voice and develop self-confidence and community. Along with the works of the artists of ArtiVistory Collective, the exhibition also includes a series of 30 comic strip publications with the theme My Inner Self in Cluj, made by students participating in the comics and animation courses of the Bachelor of Fine Arts - Graphic Design program at UAD Cluj-Napoca, as well as 96 one-page comics on individual or social themes made since 2019 by former students of the Comic Strip and Animation Master program at the same institution.