IOTA Association presents “Bridges” – a project that evokes the warmth of “home” for those who find themselves far away from it

What’s culture doing on the streets? It’s going to the people, sharing their stories.

From our homes, we ventured out into streets that now exist only in the city’s memory. We wandered up to rooftops, where we heard our stories echo off the walls of the Palace of the Parliament. And now, we’re heading out into the world.

We’ve learned that culture needs to be stripped of all pretensions incompatible with sincerity. Culture should be for the people, not something we place on a pedestal to showcase in our social media stories.

Each project by the IOTA Association is a step forward in connecting people and bringing them closer to their communities.

In this spirit, we reached out to the people of Bucharest, telling the story of the former Uranus neighborhood through a series of exhibitions and guided tours, inspired by the play “Dogs vs. Uranus.”

Next, we focused on Romanian humor, noticing that not everyone laughs at the same jokes. This inspired us to develop the play “The Life and Death of Bulă,” exploring where our humor comes from and what makes us laugh.

We’ve delved into a range of emotions, and now, we’re exploring the feeling of longing…

With each project, we’ve tried to push boundaries, whether normative or artistic. We reached out to people whose stories and memories were erased to make way for a colossus, and we connected with people when theaters were closed.

Now, we want to build a bridge to those who share the feeling of longing — the longing for each other and for home; the longing to be together.

“Bridges” is a project aimed at (re)connecting the Romanian diaspora that emigrated starting in the 1990s, sharing their stories, the good and the bad, in various forms: writing workshops, followed by a participatory theater performance, an online photography exhibition, and a documentary film funded by the Romanian Filmmakers Union.

The play, “on the back of the photograph, lower left corner, is written everything i can’t forget about my mother,” is based on the stories of Romanians who were forced to leave home and is performed by three actors, along with the people whose stories are being told. Written by Alexandru Ivănoiu and directed by Alin Uberti, the play features Maria Moroșan, Bogdan Iancu, and Vlad Pânzaru, alongside the audience of each performance.

Each show will begin with a writing workshop dedicated to emigrated Romanians and members of the local community, to share their experiences and bring them closer to each other and their community.

The bridges we’ve built will now take us on a tour that will reach the following cities around the world:

New York
Dates: September 2-8
Workshop: TBA
Performance: September 7, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 6:00 PM & 8 PM

Berlin
Dates: September 16-21
Workshop: September 17, Volksbühne, 6:00 PM
Performance: September 18 & 19, Volksbühne, 8:00 PM

Rome
Dates: September 21-24
Workshop: September 21, Accademia di Romania in Rome, 1:00 PM
Performance: September 21, Atelier Montez, 8:00 PM

Milan
Dates: September 24-27
Workshop: September 24, Centro Assese, 9:00 PM
Performance: September 25, Casa Cardinale Ildefonso Schuster, 8:30 PM

Madrid
Dates: September 27-30
Workshop: September 28, at the Cultural Institute of Madrid, 1:00 PM
Performance: September 29, Teatro de las Aguas, 6:30 PM & 9:00 PM

The tour will then return “home” to Bucharest, where the show will be performed at Teatrul Masca.

During the tour, the team will film a documentary capturing the experiences encountered along the way and will create a digital exhibition of the photographs contributed by those who helped tell this story, displayed online.

Do you have relatives or loved ones who have gone abroad in search of a “better life”? Let them know and invite them to the workshops and performances, to share their stories alongside artists from home.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook  for complete information about tickets and participation in the workshops.

Project co-financed by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the Cantemir Program—a funding program for cultural projects aimed at international audiences. The Romanian Cultural Institute is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.