Goethe-Institut in Bucharest celebrates "30 years of Romanian-German friendship and partnership in Europe" through a photography exhibition that tells personal stories of couples with the aim of revealing the history of mutual migration between Germany and Romania. The show will open later this month at the art gallery 2/3 Galeria in the capital city. 

The photo-documentary exhibition NOI2/WIR2-Romanian-German portraits gathers 30 authentic and original friendship stories of Romanian-German couples. The narrators are duos that form a pair either in their professional life, private life, or in their free time.

"Versatile, even unusual in their professional or private life, married couples or artists, politicians, LGBTIQ + activists talk in this exhibition about their own relationships for which joint activities play an important role as a factor of integration in the society in which they live, either in Romania or in Germany," reads the press release.

The WIR2-Romanian-German portraits exhibition includes stories of well-known people, influential in society and their field of work. Among them, Timisoara mayor Dominic Fritz and his deputy mayor Ruben Lațcău - whose experience is told in images and texts, Görlitz mayor Octavian Ursu and Michael Kretschmer, the minister president of the German state of Saxony - who have a unique friendship, and Romanian director and screenwriter Adina Pintilie, who, together with the artist Christian Bayerlein, represents Romania at the prestigious international exhibition Venice Biennale 2022. 

The stories are documented through photographs taken in both countries by Adi Tudose (Romania) and Patricia Moroșan (Germany) and journalistic texts written by Diana Meseșan, Venera Dimulescu, Manuela Klenke, Anne Reinert, and Ioana Casapu. The project was documented over a period of 6 months.

"The exhibition pays tribute to the Romanian and German citizens who value and consolidate mutual understanding in the societies in which they live and in the relationships that give life to this bilateral friendship. One person from Romania and one from Germany form a duo, and their varied stories reflect this connection in everyday life and its effects on the identity of individuals. WIR2/NOI2 is about challenges, coincidences and collaborations, beyond the stereotypical representations of a social relationship," said Dr Joachim Umlauf, director of the Goethe-Institut.

The opening is scheduled for June 23, at 19:00, at 2/3 Galeria. The exhibition will await visitors until July 21, from Tuesday to Friday between 16:00 and 21:00 and in weekends from 12:00 to 21:00. The entry is free. 

The exhibition will also be available online soon, on a dedicated platform, on the Goethe-Institut website, where users will be able to find texts and photos of the interviewed couples. Furthermore, WIR2/NOI2 will also be presented at ICR Berlin in Germany from July 7 to September 7, 2022.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Dreamstime.com)