Horia Iova

Abstract:

The proposed presentation willoffer an analysis of several objects of African origin form the “Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu” collection of diplomatic gifts.During the past decades, due to the changes of political regime and cultural paradigm in Romania, the objects have changed their location, but also their attributed interpretation, several times, leading, in many cases, to loss of essential information regarding both their origin and their meaning. Clarifying their provenienceand understanding their differentlayers of significance is, therefore,crucial, inorder to re-integrate them into an up-to-date discourse, which can efficiently relate to the public’s interests and expectations. The analysis will treat the artifacts as“performative object”, applying the concept to the various perspectives in whichthe object may be regarded: asan African artifact, as a diplomatic gift and as a part of a museum narrative.

Biobibliography:

Horia IOVA is a PhDStudent in cultural studies at the University of Bucharest, Romania. His interestsfocuson matters related to museums and exhibitions, particularly on the artifacts’ capacityof carrying messages between different cultures. As a curator trainee for the House of European History, he contributed to the building of the museum’s first temporary exhibition, titled “Interactions”, which explored different situations of encounterand cultural exchange between Europeans.