The multidisciplinary UNFINISHED22 festival imagines a decentralized world

The UNFINISHED festival is returning to Bucharest for its 7th edition, at the end of September.

This year, the multidisciplinary festival is offering something different from previous editions: it will be a hybrid, a blend of online and offline events, the latter of which will take place at the University House and in several other locations in central Bucharest.

Capucine Gros, the festival's artistic director, says that "In the two years with restrictions we have learned an enormous amount about the online space, and this year is the first time we've really set out to combine the two experiences. Our online world hosted on our own platform - Sessions - is a mirror image of our offline world. The platform has the same design as the physical spaces where the events will be happening in Bucharest, so no matter how they participate, people can experience the real UNFINISHED."

Between September 29 and October 2, UNFINISHED22 features 4 full days of workshops, performances, conversations, art installations, and other experiences, gathered with the common aim of exploring the concept of decentralization, under the theme Off-Center.

Cristian Movilă, the founder of UNFINISHED, believes that "Now is the best time to question the infrastructure we are part of." He says, "Lately, there has been a lot of talk about decentralizing the internet and the economy, but we want to address the concept of off-center in a much broader sense. What would geographical and cultural decentralization look like? What about decentralization in media, science, and health? In all aspects of life?"

Movilă has high hopes for the event, about which he says: "We have many ideas, many systems to experiment with, but also many questions and uncertainties and we want the four days of the festival to answer some of them and illuminate as many perspectives as possible. There will be thousands of people in the same room with different opinions, different backgrounds, and different values, but we will be exchanging knowledge from peer to peer. It will be a transformative experience."

From Thursday to Sunday, the daily schedule of UNFINISHED starts with yoga or running sessions in the morning, continues with talks, presentations, and roundtables, and ends with performances and keynotes.

Family-style community meals, art installations, musical moments, dance workshops, speed-dating sessions, and more are added to these core elements.

Created by the non-profit EIDOS Foundation in 2016, as a continuously evolving experience, UNFINISHED has so far had over 250 guests including Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray Smith, Louis Vuitton menswear art director Virgil Abloh, multi-award winning artist Marina Abramovic, musician Nicolas Jaar, and Esther Perel, the world's most renowned couples’ psychotherapist. It is the first Romanian festival under the patronage of the European Parliament.