In connection to Tatiana Fiodorova’s exhibition When a book becomes a message, part of the Future Museum program launched by the Czech Centre in Bucharest, ODD invites cultural critic Vasile Ernu to propose a screening revealing to the public, aspects of the Soviet underground in the 80s and 90s.
The 80s is home to the last generation of young communists, who no longer wish to build the “bright future”, and instead break it apart through various means. The underground is a central element of this generation boycotting the regime through insubordination and constructing various survival techniques: from work to music, from visual arts and literature, to sports and black economy. Ernu will paint the picture of this generation, telling its stories and playing films, videos and music.
The event kicks off with a commented selection of shorter tapes, videos and other documents, followed by a longer discussion with Ernu and Fiodorova. The evening ends with a feature film, which we will reveal in due course. Stay tuned!
Biography
Vasile Ernu
Vasile Ernu was born in the USSR in 1971. He graduated the Faculty of Philosophy (Al. I. Cuza University, Iași, Romania, 1996) and has a master’s degree in philosophy (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, 1997). He was one of the founding editors of Philosophy&Stuff magazine and associated editor of Idea arts + society magazine. He was an active member of Idea and Tranzit Foundations, of Idea Publishing House and of Polirom Publishing House. Since 2006 he has permanent columns at România Liberă, HotNews, Noua literatură and Suplimentul de cultură. He is one of the founders and coordinators of the leftist platform CriticAtac.ro. Ernu is the author of: Born in the USSR (Polirom, 2006), The Last Heretics of the Empire (Polirom, 2009), That which separates us (Polirom, 2010, together with Bogdan Stanescu), The Russian Intelligentsia today (Cartier, 2012), I am a Leftist (Cartier, 2013), The Sectarians. Small trilogy of the marginals (Polirom, 2015), The Illusion of Anti-communism. A Critical Interpretation of the Tismaneanu Report (Cartier, 2008, together with Costi Rogozanu, Ciprian Şiulea and Ovidiu Ţichindeleanu), Ukraine live. The Ukaine crisis: from Maidan to cicil war (Tact, 2014, together with Florin Poenaru).