Matei Bejenaru / Kettle's Yard Associate Artist / Monday 2nd July
Biography
Drawing particularly on his own experience of postcommunist life, Matei Bejenaru (b. 1963, Suceava, Romania) is interested in how historical, socio-political and cultural contexts shape everyday life and dictate the conditions of artistic practice. His poignant and poetic work often brings different artistic languages together; it can take the form of a travel guide to the UK for illegal Romanian immigrants (Travelling Guide, 2005-2007) or a modernist interpretation of choir music. Songs for a Better Future (developed in collaboration with composer Will Dutta and premiered at the Drawing Room and Tate Modern in London in 2010) draws on musical themes from proletarian choir songs to electronic music of the 1970s.
Bejenaru works and exhibits internationally, including recent projects at the Tirana Biennial (2003), Thyssen-Bornemisza Contemporary Art, Vienna (2006), Tate Modern, London (2007), the Taipei Biennial 2 (2008), The Drawing Room, London (2010), Glasgow School of Art and The Western Front, Vancouver (both 2011). He is based in Iasi, Romania, where he established the Periferic Biennial (http://www.periferic.org/) in 1997, initially a performance festival and now an international art event. He is also a founding member of the Vector Association, which promotes contemporary art in local contexts.
Bejenaru teaches photography and video art at the ‘George Enescu’ Art University, Iasi, and is currently Visiting Professor in visual arts at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada.
You can watch the artist discuss his travel guide at Tate Modern here .
View more of Matei’s work:
Frieze Magazine blog
Pilot London
Networked Cultures
Matei Bejenaru, Alexandru cel Bun, 1994-2003
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