Anton Roland Laubs’ exposition ‘Mobile Churces’, curated by Sonia Voss, combining photographs with archival material, reveals a lesser-known yet fascinating urban and political face of Rumunia.
Bucharest in the 1980s. Ceausescu’s ‘systematisation’ programme is in full swing in the Romanian capital: one-third of the historic centre has been wiped out to make way for imposing edifices and wide avenues intended to honour the regime. Despite Ceausescu’s particularly dogged approach towards the churches, seven are spared and undergo a process as incredible as it is absurd: they are lifted and placed on rails then moved and masked by housing blocks. Other sacred places, such as the Great “Polish” Synagogue, are hidden behind socialist panel constructions. Withdrawn from the cityscape, these buildings live secret lives, interpolated in the disparate architecture that shapes Bucharest’s urban landscape today.
Exhibition is supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture.
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