Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán. Rehearsals for Peace

About

Curators: Krisztina Hunya, Diana Marincu

The research-oriented practice of Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán spans a range of media, including installation, video, and performance. Their work addresses historical, social, and geopolitical narratives and their underlying power structures. In recent Benera and Estefán focus on ecological issues such as extractivism and the overexploitation of natural resources as well as the overlaps between environmental concerns and military affairs. Rehearsals for Peace – their first solo exhibition in Germany – looks at the absurdities of warfare and the militarization of nature. In particular, it examines the paradoxical dynamics between military readiness, simulated operations, and the desire for peace.

Member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the edge of Eastern Europe, such as Romania, occupy an important geostrategic role in the establishment of military training grounds and bases. These sites are often located in nature reserves – places that otherwise stand for seclusion and recreation – and include areas in rural Transylvania, endangering local ecosystems. The video Rehearsals for Peace (2023) – co-produced by the n.b.k. Video-Forum – draws on various folk traditions for warding off evil spirits, such as the Transylvanian custom of Urzelnlaufen. Rehearsals for Peace will be shown for the first time, as part of a site-specific installation and together with Perpetual Harvest (2023), a series of woven straw sculptures that recall an ancient harvest ritual accompanying the seasonal rhythm of wheat cultivation.