common places

new friends – get to know the Vector group! we were hosted by their gallery, spent a few evenings at their favorite hang-out, and visited the neighborhood in which they are involved with one of their most serious projects: cARTier. Vector is a group of artists and intellectuals who maintain a gallery space, organize an international biennial festival entitled Periferic, generate and sustain a local discourse around notions of the periphery (manifested, in part, through an up-coming publication). cARTier is a four-year pilot project in Romania in which this group works with tenants of apartment buildings in the Tatarasi neighborhood to develop collaborative, location-specific projects.

a main concern here is to generate local ownership of public space, or more precisely, activating the various roles the street space in Tatarasi can play to generate and maintain a meaningful public sphere. Vector works to find ways this space can be used by the inhabitants of the neighborhod, starting from an in-depth understanding of the existing social structures and networks in Tatarasi, its geographical, demographic and sociological specificities. In addition to an in-depth sociological study done by Vector’s partners in the project, some of the artists live in the neighborhood and have used their life experience to understand, connect with and participate in its life.
naturally, Vector and their friends are a very social bunch, great conversationalists who enjoy a fine beer on a warm summer evening, whose interests are intellectually very broad. they have single-handedly created a vibrant contemporary cultural scene in Iasi, one that has been sustained for 10 years now. And, oh yeah, they tell great jokes.

Filed under: Places: Iasi (Romania)
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