14 Dec January 7, 2014

Bogdan shows his past projects and reveals first few fresh cuts from his new film Slava. His series of photographs Gotta Leave, Didn’t I Say That Already portrays individuals from his own family and circle of friends who live in Romania, where Bogdan is from. He is interested in the ambivalence that the individual feels towards Romanian society, where the young individuals feel stuck or stationary, while wanting to leave their lives behind for a new one, perhaps in a new place. The traces of such psychological tension are visible through the sitter’s gestures and the empty, bleak landscapes that he captures. The photographs are contemplative, often suggesting the space that’s elsewhere in the sitter’s mind. The moments are calm and tense and on the border between comfort and claustrophobia.

He also shows an excerpt from his first documentary film, The Fridge Works Fine, which he produced with his mother. The documentary is about his mother visiting her own mother back in Romania.

His next project, Kaval, takes rather a different formal approach, in contrast to the latter projects. Bogdan has been interested in the kaval flute and its history as an instrument. He is interested in the cultural trajectory that the flute has gone through, the technique of playing it, and the instrument itself becoming nearly extinct today. With series of photographs, a video of shepherds, and sculptural works, the project metaphorically communicates the instrument’s precarious existence in contemporary culture.