AUDIOVISUAL CREATIVE RESIDENCY ABOUT MARRIAGE IN THE BALKANS
ECHO III: For Memory`s Sake was an artistic and cultural heritage project that brought together artists from theatre, music, visual arts, and literature to explore traditions surrounding marital practices in the Balkan context.
The project involved a series of creative residencies dedicated to film, music, poetry, and acting, held in Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, and Tirana. Following the Bucharest residency, the participating artists created video poems exploring love, arranged marriage, and gender relations in the Balkans.
The video poems were incorporated into a showcase performance of the cultural works created throughout the project. Performance-ul Wandering Arts Caravan a călătorit în România, Bulgaria, Grecia și Albania într-un turneu de 10 zile.
Cultural project co-funded by: Creative Europe and Administration of the National Cultural Fund
Videopoems ECHO III: For Memory's Sake
01.
Six female artists from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania participated in the audiovisual creative residency, held in Bucharest at Rezidența9.
The resident artists were mentored by Cristina Iliescu and Letiția Popa and attended masterclasses with film industry professionals such as Dana Bunescu, Cătălina Tesar, Irina Trocan and Cristian Nunu.
Following the residency, the artists created four video poems exploring love, arranged marriage, and gender relations in the Balkans.
”Spune o poezie/ Tell me a poem”
by Elena Chirila and Ana Gurdiş (MD/RO)
Sequences from a personal diary tracing the transition from childhood to adulthood place the viewer alongside feelings of helplessness and self-doubt, on a journey marked by uncertainty that ultimately leads to escape.
The video poem oscillates between poetry and documentary, highlighting a woman’s struggle to free herself from oppression and find her voice and strength.
- Special Jury Mention @ Filmul de Piatra (2024)
- Selected by Filma. Feminist Film Festival, Ucraina (2023)
- Selected by Bucharest Feminist Film Festival (2024), „Resilient bodies (short movies)” category
- Selected by FEKK Ljubljana Short Film Festival (2024)
- Selected by London Short Film Festival (2025)
- Selected by New Critics & New Audiences Award (2025)
”Anemone”
by Gergana Ivanova (BG) and Ioana Țurcan (RO)
A photograph discovered in an archive raises questions about marriages in times past and about the impossibility for some people of the past to be open about their sexuality and preferences.
- Selected by Sunderland Pavilion of the Wrong Biennale, Sunderland, UK (2023)
- Selected by Coatings VideoArt Garden Timișoara (2023)
- Selected for the exhibition „Tell the story or it Goes Away”, MATCAspace, Cluj-Napoca (2023)
”Sad sad sad sad sad summer”
by Ornela Alia (ALB)
“In this work, I try to bring together several elements around the idea of couple dynamics, which is highly present in various contemporary lifestyle productions, including film, advertising, video games, music, and even poetry.
It portrays love, communication, and different events, using humour as a tool for expression and reflection. My aim was also to capture the particular feeling that Bucharest evokes.” (the artist)
- Selected by ekrani i artit Arthouse, Shkoder, Albania (2024)
- Selected by Second Shift Studio, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA (2024)
”The ABC of Cannibalism”
by Katarzyna Wojtczak (PL)
The film is an act of reclaiming history and sites of oppression. The story focuses on the six Caryatids that supported the roof of the southern porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis. A Caryatid—a sculpted female figure—serves as an architectural support in place of a column, literally carrying a burden on her head.
At the Acropolis Museum in Athens, where five of the original sculptures are displayed, one place remains vacant for the sixth, which was taken in the 19th century by a British lord and remains at the British Museum to this day.
The film highlights decolonisation as a necessary step towards ending practices that objectify the Other and restoring equality beyond imperialism, elitism, and force.
Wandering Arts Caravan ECHO III: For Memory's Sake
02.
The resident artists subsequently met with the other artists participating in the residencies of the European ECHO III project. Partner residencies took place in Sofia, Athens, and Tirana, bringing together musicians, poets, and actors.
All these artists from across the Balkans came together for the first time in Bucharest to create a performance performance of the cultural works produced: an outdoor exhibition, outdoora concert, a performance a performance, screening of the video poems, and a poetry reading.
After the performance in Bucharest, Wandering Arts Caravan went on further to Bulgaria, Greece and Albania, in a 10-day tour.
partners:
Financial Supporters
Photo credit: Alex Smiricinschi
Cultural project co-funded by: Administration of the National Cultural Fund
* The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.
Project funded by the European Union
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
