Retrospective of the pulzArt7 Contemporary Arts Festival

Since 2013, Covasna county’s community has had the opportunity to enjoy, edition after edition, the pulzArt Contemporary Arts Festival, which has established itself as a representative event for all that means innovation and nonconformism in art. Through the diversity of its programs, by opening up to new and experimental, pulzArt fills an artistic vacuum in the region and establishes a bridge to international contemporary art, eliminating the risk of capping and maintaining an uninterrupted relationship between the artistic world in the country and the one beyond the borders.

The seventh edition, held between 19th and 22nd of September, focused particularly on young people, 2019 being designated “Year of the students” at Sfântu Gheorghe. They were able to participate in events, thematic meetings and workshops through which they made their ideas known and came in contact with new ideas. The events of the festival had, above all, the merit of eliminating the gap between the generations, giving the opportunity to the elders to get closer to the young people, to know and understand them better, but vice versa.

The Ishmael Ensemble of the UK, known for their melodious combinations of different rhythms, is an example in this regard. Refusing to go on the pattern imposed by the mainstream music industry today, young people in Bristol prefer to combine the new, respectively electronic music, with rhythms of a much older “genre”, such as jazz. The British actors of the Pickled Image company, who in the theater show “Coulrophobia” brought before the public two captive clowns in a cardboard world from which they did not know how to save themselves, surprised by both the exceptional professionalism and the high level humor, as well as by the ability to make audiences of all ages gather in the same place and laugh together, again creating a bridge between generations – a bridge that only art and its forms of expression can truly create.

In the same line of the fusion between the new and the old, between the young and the youngest, there was the concert “Live with Strings”, from the last day of PulzArt7, presented by the composer and performer with Georgian and Swiss origins, known as “Kordz”. By doing so, the young artist assumes the great risk of making the educated public to consume classical music to open to modern, new, completely different rhythms of chamber music. At the same time, he promotes classical arrangements among the young and very young, harmoniously combining each sound.

Memorable to the public from PulzArt7 was the show “Limite”, produced by the Replika Educational Theater Center, which amended the hibiscus of the educational system in Romania, while still maintaining that positivism that only humor can give. Corruption, carelessness, aggression and all the evils in the Romanian schools were brought under the spotlight by the very talented actress Maria Rădescu, who managed to portray the personalities that make up the school world in which we were educated and in which we continue to educate our children.

Important to mention is the fact that the workshops in the seventh edition of the festival focused particularly on the young generation, although among them there were many not so younger people. The latter were entertained side by side with the little ones, with the children, for whom Hungarian artists from Pécs presented the “History of Aviation” in a non-verbal show that sparked laughter and created a good and infectious mood.

Throughout the festival, free entrance exhibitions, such as the one at the Magma Hall, called “Invisible Presence 2.0”, which consisted of works that allow the proximity of contemporary art, trying to connect two geographically distant collections, were also watched. Or the photographic exhibition “Reflection Mania”, by Pereszlényi Erika from Hungary. The collage workshop, held by Benedek Levente in the lobby of the “Tamási Áron” Theater, whose exhibitions delighted the audience at the events, proved to be extremely interesting also.

The three public installations in the Main Square were also a source of joy and pleasure, both for the ordinary passers-by and for all those who love the PulzArt festival and did not hesitate to attend this year’s events.

Given all these aspects, it can be said that PulzArt is a festival that does not fall apart, which manages to keep the attention of art lovers captive, which always raises new questions and demonstrates that art is inexhaustible and that people’s imagination is a creating miracle that must manifest itself continuously. That is why pulzArt has the obligation to continue the line started and not to stop from its reckless endeavor to bring the local people – and not only – always close to the contemporary artistic phenomenon everywhere.

***

The seventh edition of the pulzArt Contemporary Arts Festival had a total of 30 events and 5 workshops, held in 15 different locations, for which almost 1,400 tickets were sold. Details and information about the entire program offered this year are available on the website www.pulzart.ro.

Thank you for participating. See you at the 2020 edition.

PulzArt team