It was built by Nicolae Ceausescu, dictator of Romania from 1965 until his public execution in 1989. Construction began in 1984, but the massive structure was never completed. To clear land for it, Ceausescu bulldozed 7,000 homes and 26 churches in southern Bucharest and relocated over 70,000 people to the outskirts of the city. Utterly kitsch in its anachronistic dictatorial neo-baroque style, the palace Ceausescu wanted was never inhabited by him or his government; after the 1989 revolution Ceausescu was tried and executed. The palace was abandoned and there was talk of a possible demolition. However, in 1994 it became the site of the new Parliament of Romania. In 1998, the parliament voted to create a Romanian Museum of Contemporary Art and install it in the palace, most of which still lies empty. The museum occupies a modest 4% of the gigantic palace. Its interior contrasts sharply with the palace’s bombastic exterior: a series of stark white rooms are distributed over four floors. The gallery will promote young Romanian artists and also host travelling exhibitions from foreign museums. The opening line-up includes a show of Romanian artists who have made work on the theme of the palace itself; an exhibition of Chinese video artists curated by Swiss-born curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, which travels from the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; and an exhibition curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, director of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, that includes work by artists such as the South African Kendell Geers and French installation artist Franck Scurti. The latter two shows are sponsored by the French embassy in Bucharest. The museum’s board of trustees also reveals strong French support: it includes Mr Bourriaud, and Catherine Millet, the influential French art critic and curator. The opening exhibition, "Romanian artists, and not only, love Ceausescu’s Palace!?" (until 25 March), focuses on the controversial building and includes works by Romanian artists, beginning with portraits of Ceausescu from the museum’s collection of over 2,400 depictions of the late dictator. January 21, 2005 |
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