We start with the much-anticipated moment of the month, which will take place in three performances, first on July 20th, at 4:00 PM, and July 21st, two performances, at 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM: Comedie infernală /The Infernal comedy, starring the famous actor John Malkovich, twice nominated for the Oscars, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA awards. The National Theatre of Timișoara continues Anotimpurile FEST-FDR with a unique event, an absolute premiere for Timișoara and a peak moment of the European Capital of Culture. The Infernal Comedy is a show that its author, Michael Sturminger, who also signs the artistic direction, wrote specifically for the famous actor, constructing a dialogue between spoken language and sung language, the sound universe, punctuated by the music of Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Weber, Gluck and Boccherini and supported by the sopranos Susanne Langbein and Chen Reiss and the famous Wiener Akademie Orchester, conducted by Martin Haselbock, the creator of the musical concept of the show.
We continue with the tenth edition of the Ceau, Cinema! film festival, which will open its doors with a cine-concert. Thus, on July 12th, in the Capitol Hall of the Banatul Philharmonic, you will be able to discover a masterpiece of Norwegian silent film: "The Wedding Party in Hardanger"/ "The Bridal Party in Hardanger"/ "Brudeferden i Hardanger" (1926), directed by Rasmus Breistein. The film will benefit from an original soundtrack, composed and performed live by the Timișoara artist Petre Ionuțescu, known under the stage name "Trompetre". Also, on July 12th, there will be a book launch: Ceau, Cinema!Din spatele scenelor. Still in the film category, but in another manner, within the project Ne vedem la cinema?! – Rolul cinematografelor de artă şi al festivalurilor de film în epoca platformelor online (See you at the cinema?! - The role of art cinemas and film festivals in the era of online platforms), a program funded by the EEA and Norwegian Grants, the Association Pelicula Culturală organizes four discussion panels about film festival funding, attracting the audience to festivals, the role of cinemas in the platform era and about the importance of film education programs.
Returning to film, on July 13th, you can watch the movies presented in the Competition Ceau, Cinema!: Victim, a suspense-filled drama about a woman seeking justice in a racist society, torn between her family and the search for truth; Bread and Salt, a film inspired by actual events and played by non-professional actors; and Gritt, a movie about the artist Gritt who struggles for relevance and belonging in an unwelcoming society, but then goes through a process of radicalization in the name of art. Focus Norway, Eclipsa, Cel mai tare șef, and Încă două lozuri are three more films in the Ceau, Cinema! Competition that can be watched at the Summer Garden.
Another top event of July is the show Tinerețe Fără Bătrânețe și Viață Fără de Moarte, which will occur between July 25th and July 30th. Tinerețe Fără Bătrânețe și Viață Fără de Moarte is a puppet theatre show with giant puppets and live music. Inspired by the eponymous story collected by Petre Ispirescu in 1862, the play tells an account of the Romanian folk supernatural about mythological philosophy, immortality, happiness, life, and death. From the mythological characters specific to Romanian fairy tales to the arrangement of the audience, the show manages to highlight the well-known Romanian fairy tale with all its implications but also to bring to the forefront the importance of its interpretation in contemporaneity. Organized by the Prin Banat Association, the show "Tinerețe Fără Bătrânețe și Viață Fără de Moarte" is one of the central moments of the Cultural Program Timișoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture.
In chronological order, the cultural program for July includes circus and dance performances, art films, plays, maritime expeditions, and sculpture exhibitions. Thus, on July 6th, Le Plus Petit Cirque du Monde, an important circus and dance company from France, presents in Traian Square, together with the renowned contemporary dance company Unfold Motion, a show that acts as a laboratory where artistic, urban, and civic initiatives come together for the benefit and enrichment of all. Also, on July 6th, at Cinema Victoria, the Art Encounters 2023 Contemporary Art Biennale presents a selection of art films that follow the narrative threads of the edition titled My Rhino is Not a Myth: Streams of Navigation | Art Encounters Biennale 2023. Additionally, the Antagon Association will present the fifth Muzicon showcase with Generale and OCVCP at Codru Urban Garden (Cazarama U) on July 6th. On the same day, a concert of klezmer and gypsy music will take place in Traian Square, featuring Erik Slabiak, the founder of the group Les Yeux Noirs, who in 2019 embarked on a new musical adventure alongside five other musicians, under the name of Josef Josef. From original compositions and traditional melodies to Yiddish and gypsy songs, mixed with current rhythms, Josef Josef's repertoire is a true musical journey through the Balkans and Eastern Europe, in the heart of Jewish and Roma cultures.
July 7th concludes the Architecture Workshop with a workshop in the Prayer House of the Fabric Synagogue. Also, it brings an anniversary vernissage, The Secret Garden: Wonder and Reverence for the Natural World, at the 1306 Nursery in Victory Square. Also on July 7th, the German State Theater of Timisoara proposes the event Destine Dunărene, a different kind of guided tour of the capital of Banat. As part of this city tour, guided by actors, the audience will meet personalities from different eras of Timisoara's history, learning unknown and unusual details about their lives and the city’s history. Also on July 7th, the Distant Realities / Realități Îndepărtate exhibition closes, a surrealist exhibition of artist Tincuța Marin, curated by British curator Mark Gisbourne and displayed at the Jecza Gallery. A workshop dedicated to refugee mothers from Ukraine and their children, O estetică a (Im)perfecțiunii, will also take place on July 7th at the Casa Tineretului.
The Impuls Festival organized in the Fabric District, which started on June 22, concludes on July 7 with a redefinition of the common imaginary about the city and its inhabitants, and connecting beyond social and geographical barriers. A complex street art festival, with multimedia performances, circus and contemporary dance performances, circus workshops, immersive dance, participatory architecture workshops, and an extraordinary concert by the band Josef Josef, ends on July 7 in the hope of continuity into the next season. Also, in Traian Square, between July 7 and 8, Fabricultura will take place, a small festival through which we will rediscover the charm of the Fabric District through majestic sculptures made from recycled wood, cutting-edge visual elements, and augmented reality. Also, we are invited to delight in the culinary treats and hospitality of the Traian Traders!
From the category of UVT guests, Nobel laureates, an important event for Timișoara will take place between July 6 and 7 in the Aula Magna of the West University of Timișoara: a conference by economist Eric Maskin, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2007, entitled Financial crises: why they happen and what to do about them, moderated by the chief editor of Forbes Romania, Ionuț Bonoiu, an important voice of the press in the field of financial and economic analysis, a publicist with visibility in the Romanian public environment.
On July 8, the first performance of the summer season at the Basca Theater brings Casa cu maimuțe, a theatre show aimed at exploring various stories from the Fabric district of Timișoara, drawing from urban legends and both documentary and archive materials. Set against the backdrop of the historic buildings of the Fabric district, particularly the Ştefania Palace, known as the "house with monkeys" due to the four statues on its façade, the show focuses particularly on the relationship between individuals and their connection with history. This show can also be viewed on July 20.
Between July 8th and 9th, a Sustainable Design Workshop will take place, organized by the HEI - House of European Institutes team. The workshop invites contemporary craftswomen and product designers from Timișoara to participate.
From the contemporary dance sector, the Summer School of Contemporary Dance, which brings together young people passionate about contemporary dance from the region and the country in a creative and formative environment, ends on July 9th in Timișoara. Also, on July 9th, the play Ce-am avut. Ce ne-au dat will take place, an artistic/documentary research of the phenomenon of migrants and the waves of refugees who have arrived in Romania not only recently, with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, but also in the last years. The text talks about migration and the destinies of refugees, based on real stories written by Romanian and Ukrainian playwrights. The music and choreography of the show are signed by artists from Ukraine, who joined the team at the Basca Theater. In Saint George Square, on July 9th, the Association Noi Re-Creăm will present the show of the 30 young people passionate about contemporary dance who collaborated for 10 days under the guidance of choreographers Lavinia Urcan and George Pleșca. Also, on July 9th, the Circular Catalysts program closes, a program meant to generate new collaborations between Romanian and British designers, artists, and craftsmen, and to facilitate fertile conversations around sustainable production practices and processes. This initiative will surely leave a strong impact on the local creative community and stimulate further exploration of sustainable practices.
July 10th is the last day you can visit Laboratoarele memoriei at the Casa cu iederă, a concept initiated by Renée Renard in 2017. This concept starts from the premise that any space (natural or man-made) is not just a silent and ever-present witness of human existence, but also a complex collage of histories and events, a true repository of memory. The new series of Laboratoarele memoriei, presenting the stories of houses in Timişoara, begins with the mysterious Casa cu iederă, which was inaccessible to the public for many years. Continuing through July, George Pleșca from the Contemporary Creative Dreamers dance company in Bucharest comes to Timişoara with a premiere contemporary dance performance, What remains. This is an original production dedicated to the Cadre&Forme 2023 event, which will take place at the Casa Tineretului on July 11th.
Until July 14th, you still have time to visit the HIPERESTEZIA project at Bastion 2, which addresses the interference between the classical understanding of the world and the impact of technological art that brings with it an enriched sensory experience.
Also on July 14th, starting at 20:00, you are invited to a unique dance performance at the Basca Theater, My Invisible Noisy Inside, a contemporary dance performance, a statement of human duality, and a personal analysis of everything that is visible and invisible. This performance promises to engage both the mind and the senses in a fresh exploration of human experience. Between July 14th and 15th, there will also be a Workshop at the Casa Tineretului, held by Vittoria de Ferrari Sapetto, who will start her own research by delving into various dance techniques and martial arts.
On July 15th, you have the opportunity to experience TURNUL #urmatorulnivel [VR]. This event invites you to view the production TURNUL #urmatorulnivel using VR technology. In a unique immersive experience, you will get the chance to see the inside of the Water Tower in Iosefin, the location where the show was filmed.
Between July 12th and 15th, two unprecedented events for Timișoara will take place: two live streaming shows, one from Elefsina, Greece, and the other from Patras, which can also be watched using the Spotlight Timișoara app on VR equipment with free access. Also in Elefsina, the unique maritime expedition SEA 2023 Circumeuropa will present the exhibition of the Greek photographer Nikos Economópulos.
Back in Timișoara, but still in VR mode, on July 16th you can watch Copacul #treeoflife.inc [VR], a show produced by the Basca Theater, directed by Alexandru Mihăescu. Still from the realm of performing arts, between July 10th and 16th, interdisciplinary artist, performer, composer, and author, Oana Hodade, invites you on a city walk: ești aici. The main subjects in the artist's practice are memory, archives, and language, and she is interested in emotional communication as a response to conceptual thinking in contemporary arts. Also on July 16th, the fifth edition of the Art Encounters Biennale My Rhyno is not a Myth will close, an edition dedicated to the intersection between art, science, and fictions, hyper-digital realities, the modernist avant-garde, and the world of contemporary art. Still from the visual arts field, on July 19th the sculpture exhibition (La) Limitele Reprezentării will end, an exhibition hosted by the Jecza Galleries, aiming to bring into focus the historically consolidated periphery of significant cultural groups both historically and ethnically. An interesting exhibition, Tabachera cu scorpion, starting from the novel Scorpionul (Der Skorpion) and published in the interwar period by the Romanian-born German writer Anna Elisabet Weirauch, is a visual journey into a queer novel, where the author proposes a subjective incursion formulated through the surrealist method of objective chance into a "lesbian" universe. This exhibition ends on July 20th at Bastion 3.
Ce-am avut. Ce ne-au dat, a performance by the Basca Theatre, directed by Alexandru Mihăescu, is an artistic/documentary research on the phenomenon of migrants and the waves of refugees who have arrived in Romania not only recently, with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, but also in recent years, and will take place on July 21st. The exhibition Wonder and Reverence for the Natural World / Mirare și reverență pentru lumea naturală, an exhibition that poses questions, offering positive critique about how we should behave with our non-human peers, will close on July 21st, at Pepiniera 1306 in Victoriei Square.
The 22nd and 23rd of July brings to the spotlight a show beloved by the Timișoara audience: Animal Crossing, a performance by the Basca Theatre, which explores notions related to borders, preconceptions, and conceptual limits. Also, on the 23rd of July, Kinema Ikon brings to the Arad Museum Complex an interactive exhibition: kimæra / module 8 / Suzana Dan: Time Flies, about the time that flies and has thus become an erroneous monument for the error that you can (or cannot) trigger with the simple push of a button. Additionally, between July 28th and August 20th, kimæra / module 8 / Mecanisme de Supraviețuire will take place, a project consisting of works with diverse approaches in terms of technique and content, but the personal and highly sensitive perspective on the world we live in persists.
The end of July also concludes the International Digital Culture & Spotlight Heritage Festival, part of the Patrimoniul sub reflectoare Timișoara project implemented in partnership with the National Museum of Banat and the International Festival of Digital Culture and Heritage, organized by the Politehnica University of Timisoara. The event brought together curators, digital artists, professors, and students from Romania, Norway, the USA, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Lithuania, and other countries in an exploration of the cultural dimensions of immersive digital technologies. However, until the end of August 2023, from the same digital spectrum, you will be able to visit Heritage under the Patrimoniul sub reflectoare Timișoara – Lumi paralele, organized in the B2 attic of the Maria Theresia Bastion, part of the Spotlight Heritage Timisoara project. The exhibition proposes an incursion into the history of the neighborhoods through a baroque key: the allegory of the senses, presenting sequences from daily life in Iosefin (2019), Elisabetin (2020), Fabric (2021), Cetate (2022) and Giroc (2023), a bedroom community from the communist era. In this regard, in the attic of the Theresia bastion, cultural heritage goods from the collections of the National Museum of Banat will be exhibited, which illustrate the economic, social and cultural life of the 5 neighborhoods in Timisoara, alongside various sources of memory: fragments of interviews and literary texts (novels, diaries, memoirs).
We invite you to enjoy an intense summer month, with the scent of linden and some of the most spectacular events, in line with a state of infernal comedy.
National Cultural Program "Timișoara - European Capital of Culture in 2023" is funded by the Municipality of Timișoara, the Ministry of Culture, and the Timiș County Council.
Main partners: Banca Transilvania, Catena, Linde Gaz Romania, Cramele Recaș, Iulius Town, Profi
Main media partner: TVR
Mobility partner: Automobile Bavaria