Full House And Full Spirit at the 10th pulzArt Festival

Those who visited Saint George last week found themselves in a vibrant cultural hub, as the town simultaneously hosted the 10th pulzArt contemporary arts festival, the Design Week and the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland.

Held between 11–13 October 2024, pulzArt explored the intersection of High-tech X Low-tech, examining how timeless, traditional solutions can be reintroduced in an age of technological advancement. In this spirit, robots emerged in the world of Greek myths, artificial intelligence staged a theatre performance, a clarinet swayed with a turntable, used advertising molinos were reborn under the needle of the sewing machine, jazz and electronics shook hands, and vinyl records made a comeback at the record fair boasting hundreds of items. 

The full-house performances and crowd-favourite programmes once again proved how important the fresh energy of pulzArt is for Saint George. International exposure is essential for the local community to become aware of global trends in contemporary art and for the town to become not only a recipient but an active participant in the world’s contemporary art discourse.  The feedback made it clear that the audience appreciates bold experimentation and new, boundary-pushing creations. At the same time, the invited artists highlighted that Saint George is an excellent host, with great energy and an attentive and open-minded audience.

International Artistic Encounters

The international dimension of pulzArt was anchored by Barcelona-based Insectotròpics theatre company, Polish orchestra KLAWO, and musician-producer Alizarina from France.

Insectotròpics‘ Orpheus was both futuristic and archaic, an exciting fusion of visual technologies and elements of classical theatre. The meeting of a mythological story brought to life on stage with modern technical solutions offered a multidisciplinary experience that went beyond the traditional theatrical context. 

To the varied music of KLAWO, alternating between jazz, electronic sounds, and playful atmospheres, not a leg was left unmoved under the chairs. The five young adventurers definitely captured the hearts of the pulzArt audience with their easy-going spirit and humour.

Local Actors, Local Experiments

One of the biggest hits of this year’s festival was a local production. The Teatrum, already a crowd favourite in Saint George, once again sold out. The demand for innovative and daring productions by local creators and performers shows no sign of waning. The performance titled P!NG!, featuring Boróka Göllner, Dezső Derzsi, Bence Kónya Ütő, Tibor Pálffy, and ChatGPT, along with the audience’s roaring laughter, became another joyful, quintessentially “saintgeorgian” example of theatrical experimentation.

Craftsmanship and Community

The bag-making workshop of Hungarian company medencebag became a space for creative expression, where participants created unique, eco-friendly bags from repurposed advertising molinos. The two-day workshop was filled to capacity, and its popularity showed that the desire for both practical and aesthetic experiences remains strong. Participants greatly enjoyed the creative process, with many hoping to see the medencebag team return in the future.

Another exciting moment was the workshop of visual artist Ferenc Gróf, the accompanying programme to the exhibition entitled An Iceberg of One’s Own, where participants could learn about the reproduction techniques used by Ferenc Gróf and Zsófia Gyenes. The exhibition was organised in the framework of the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland and the workshop was coordinated by the pulzArt team in collaboration with MAGMA Contemporary Art Space. So this time, in addition to interoperability between art genres, a nice precedent was set for interoperability between events.

Sonic Art

The Romanian poetry and music performance Intermediate Light, the Phonexoscope soundscape journeys, and the Encode, decode sound exhibition were all interdisciplinary programmes that engaged both our senses and emotions.

At the literary music evening, Dan Sociu, poet and novelist from Botoșani, explored the delicate harmonies between worlds, leading the audience through the crossing between contemporary poetry and music. His poetry, described by Grigore Chiper as “happening simultaneously with life,” was accompanied by performer Victor Nicolae Ciobanu from Saint George, who played Middle Eastern instruments, including the Turkish saz, qanun, oud, and Indonesian drums.

The Phonexoscope soundscape journey immersed participants in a musical world composed of the city’s noises. The sounds and noises recorded both in real time and in advance, were synthesised into a meditative composition, providing the listener with an artistic interpretation of the city’s everyday life.

The works of visual artist Levente Albert from Saint George could not only be viewed but also listened to. The visual shapes were transformed into sound with the help of technology, creating a new sensory experience for the recipient.

Party and vinyl at Babel

The Vinyl Fair was held in Babel, attracting a huge number of visitors. For three days, hundreds of brand new and second-hand records were on offer, from classics to new releases from today’s most celebrated bands, in all genres.

The late-night pulzParties were nothing short of electrifying. French-Belgian Alizarina was barely allowed to leave the DJ pulpit by the dancing crowd, who were enchanted by the fusion of clarinet and electronic beats, and of course by the artist’s theatrical performance.  Infragandhi from Budapest created a vibrant atmosphere with his eclectic set, while local artists like Magor Bocsárdi and the Prezeng electroacoustic ensemble also supplied some sweet tunes. Küb_beat and Tengrila presented an exciting project inspired by David Cronenberg’s cult film eXistenZ, where characters connect to a virtual reality game through organic devices attached to their bodies. The performers evoked the film’s eerie mood with a new soundtrack blending vinyl sounds and digital effects, followed by a vinyl party to delight the audience.

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The organisers of the pulzArt contemporary art festival are: the Municipality of Sfântu Gheorghe, Andrei Mureșanu Theatre, Prospero Cultural and Youth Association. 

Co-organisers: Bod Péter County Library, MAGMA Contemporary Medium, Tamási Áron Theatre

Partners: Háromszék Dance Ensemble, M Studio, Bábel Kiskultúr, Fond

Sponsor: MOL New Europe Foundation – Summer Without Borders program