TateShots: Matei Bejenaru
This performance and video installation was devised by Romanian artist Matei Bejenaru, working with a number of Romanian community groups in London. The composition of the figures evokes Socialist Realism, juxtaposed with the banks and financial institutions of the City in the background. In this way, Impreuna/Together reflects on the dramatic changes in Romanian society since the overthrow of the Communist state in 1989. The inclusion of all generations in the performance becomes a way of sharing memories, experiences and possibilities for the future.
‘Impreuna/Together deals with the visibility of the Romanian community in UK’, Bejenaru has said. ‘It is about the way people can be united around a positive idea and the way they can express this in simple gestures. More than 200 people meet in one place and look together in silence at the camera. Many of them didn't know each other before. Their looks talk to us about their identity, about their past and present.’
Bejenaru’s work is included in Level 2 Gallery exhibition The Irresistible Force.
