Vampires and werewolves in Romanian art featured in new Art Safari Exhibition in Bucharest

The first exhibition dedicated to the bestiary imaginary in Romanian culture, Vampires and Werewolves, curated by Cristian Vechiu, can be seen at Art Safari from October 31 to November 17, at the Dacia-Romania Palace in Bucharest.

The exhibition will feature ancient traditions and customs, full moon nights, fantastic creatures of the darkness, and chilling legends.

“From the unfavorable historical chronicles of the controversial ruler Vlad Țepeș - which inspired the creation of the vampire character in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula - to the folk traditions about werewolves and strigoi - these zombies of local folklore - supernatural creatures have captivated the collective imagination for centuries and have shaped the emergence of popular beliefs and practices whose traces still persist in rural Romania,” says Cristian Vechiu, the exhibition’s curator.

The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to explore these macabre fantasy beings, not only through the lens of fiction, but also through the lens of visual arts.

Traditional objects from the Romanian village, provided by the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, traditional masks from the collection of the Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum, and taxidermied animals from the heritage of the Grigore Antipa National Museum of Natural History make the exhibition complete. Added to these are illustrations, modern references from cinema, history, and literature, and works by renowned artists such as Corneliu Baba, Tara von Neudorf, Roman Tolici, Ioana Bătrânu, and others.

The exhibition Vampires and Werewolves allows visitors to rediscover the origins of dark creatures from Romanian mythology and the ways in which they inspired stories even today, from anime to Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu.

Art Safari is also organizing two special events for Halloween: an event for the general public, featuring guided tours of all the exhibitions, music, and prosecco on Thursday, October 31, from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM, and another event exclusively for students on November 1, from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM.

(Photo source: the organizers)