Dan & Lia Perjovschi - Lunch Talk

Disappearing to make it better & building the holy halls of knowlegde

As Lia Perjovschi unfolds the story of her youth in communist-ruled Romania, a youth governed by restrictions on what to learn, know and say, it quickly becomes clear to me that this is the root of her thirst for all kinds of knowlegde and experiences. When she is later asked about her dream by a member of the audience, she immediately answers: " To travel everywhere and see everything. For the first 29 years of my life I could not, so when it was finally possible I wanted to travel as much as possible."

This is also where her fascination with globes comes from, she says while showing a picture of her collection. Lia firmly believes in the importance of knowing as much as possible, because "to realize its potential a culture and its people need a certain level of knowledge, not just sheer masses. Intelligence is one of our most important tools. " Thus, it's not surprising when she goes on to talk about her idea of a knowledge museum housing different departments(as she points out, all knowledge is interesting, way more than wars and stupid people). She smiles and says: "So now I try to be an architect" After soaking up so many other things in her stride, it won't take her long to get a hang of this one.

After a switch at the speakers table, Dan Perjovschi takes over the microphone. Where Lia is bubbly, jumping from thought to thought within mere seconds, Dan seems to be more pensieve. He explains how it took him about 10 years to get out of the confinements educated into his head in the communist-era art schools(as he says, painters did not rebel, they painted what they were supposed to or left the coutry) and develop his own style, which led him directly onto the walls, the floors, even the windows of buildings. His interest is the world at large, yet every now and then he has to come back to his own country because it never solved its history. So, he has to bring it back up with his drawings. These, he does on just any space offered to him. " I mostly get the bad ones, in hallways and over doors and staircases" he says with an amused smile.

Dan then covers these spaces with sometimes hundreds of little drawings. And when the show is over, they disappear, painted over, or as in one case, scratched away by the relentless feet of the spectators walking over them for months and months during an exhibition on the floor of the Romania pavillion at a Biennale. Dan finds this destruction quite poetic, as it" gives me the chance to do it again, better", which is a very humble and refreshing concept in a art world where vanity seems to play a bigger role than ever. In closing, the two artists appeal to their audience to not be afraid to make their own experiences. " Don't avoid what happens to you". On saturdays, Dan and Lia Perjovschi open their classroom at the Festung Hohensalzburg to the interested public. I for one will be there, looking to learn from those two interesting artists, and human beings.mp

28/07/10 10:29 SummerAcademy 2010