Bucharest AiR

Bucharest Air functions as a non-profit organization, run and managed by artist Tudor Bratu; in 2021, the residency is shaped as a collaboration between Bucharest Air and Quote—Unquote. Bucharest Air aims at generating and maintaining a high-level platform for cultural exchange in Bucharest. Quote—Unquote is devised and developed by Infinite Conversation, an independent curatorial unit founded in Bucharest by Dan Angelescu, Irina Radu and Cristina Vasilescu. Quote—Unquote is in charge of all on-site residency related activities. These activities range from aiding and assisting residents in research, development, and production of work, to introducing and connecting residents to the Romanian art scene and to the city of Bucharest, as well as organizational activities related to the daily functioning of the Residency program. They are also engaged with the general further development of Bucharest Air, including the maintenance of the Residency network and content management. Tudor Bratu is in charge of fundraising and content-based exchanges with the residents. All four members of Bucharest Air participate in the selection procedure. Alumni of Bucharest Air are at times involved as advisers. Starting from 2012 and up until 2020, the residency's framework has been formulated together with artist duo Alice Gancevici & Remus Puscariu. Previous collaborations include artist Ioana Gheorghiu, between 2013-2015. Bucharest Air has developed a specific structure, which over time has become the customary way in which the residency collaborates with the resident artist throughout the duration of the residency. This general structure, which is outlined in the paragraph below, is subject to constant change and development, according to the specific needs of the resident. It is therefore by no means a fixed program, but one in constant development, to which the resident can contribute through specific questions and suggestions. Upon arrival in Bucharest, the resident is picked up at the airport or train station and is brought to the residency location, where all practicalities concerning housing, transportation, telephone, internet, and location are thoroughly discussed. During the first week of the residency, the resident is accompanied by the residency manager on a variety of trips through Bucharest, which have the aim of accustoming the resident to the city and its possibilities. After the first introductory week, the residency manager maintains regular contact with the resident, depending on particular and expressed needs: some residents prefer less contact, some prefer a closer working relationship, and these needs are always respected. Throughout the duration of the residency, the resident is invited to openings and events in Bucharest, and if so wished, also outside of Bucharest, during which the residency manager introduces the resident to the local art scene, different venues, colleague artists, curators, and critics. The residency manager also aids the resident in all aspects involved in the realization of specific projects. The Residency can host and collaborate with artists and other practitioners working primarily with new media and internet, performance, research-based work, video, and moving image practice, voice-based practice, lecture-performance, installation, site-specific (public space) interventions, and others, all relating to the layers, mechanisms, effects, and politics of language and voice. Bucharest Air is further open to collaborations with curators, critics, writers, anthropologists, alongside experimental filmmakers. They highly encourage transdisciplinarity through collaboration with fields of activity other than the artists’, in a process of understanding the ramifications of public speech in arts, society, cultural and political movements, mass media, and many other aspects. There are no age restrictions, and the residency is open to all nationalities equally. Projects and proposals which take into consideration the specific context of Romania will have priority over more generalist approaches.