The artistic installation ”All the Suns” a successful pilot project which brought peace, calm, relaxation and light to its audience

The artistic installation All the Suns by the artist Radu Cioca presented to the public on the stage of the Romanian National Opera attracted around 700 visitors, during the two days of exposure. Innovative from many perspectives, the entire experience was relevant for different stakeholders.

The artist, Radu Cioca, had the opportunity to create and present an installation which explores the connection between arts and well-being. Conceived as a collection of light wonders, of sunlight, a spiritual presence – a gift from the Sun, which certifies our connection with a universal macro dimension of the world, the artistic installation was concentrated in a scenographic space, embedded with the memory of the audience’s presence and past performances.

A new experiment which offered the audience a different way to feel time, light or memory | Artist’s perspective

I consciously proposed this project to the Cluj National Opera and later when this collaboration was accepted, I rethought the whole project specially for this stage space. The spectacle witnessed at home, becomes a stage spectacle. Accessing the stage, as a space normally forbidden for the public, has to do with rethinking labels and how we relate to art as a precious product, off limits, or ‘museum standard’. My grandparents sang all their lives on this stage and I grew up in this space, which experienced outside the official performance and with access to areas for artists only, allowed me to discover a unique perspective, full of artistic vibration, which I now want to share with the visitors. Overlapping the idea of the spectacle, with the proposed installation, or even this new concept of visiting the space without the typical rigour of a classic stage performance, is a new experiment, which offers the audience a different way to feel time, light or memory.

Radu Cioca

Artist

The presentation of a visual, immersive artistic project on the Opera stage was an element of novelty for the public, especially since its expectation is that the Opera mainly offers musical performances. The project was very well received by the audience, as indicated by the survey carried out at the end, on 192 participants, aiming to identify the way people felt during the event and how they perceived the artwork. A very high percentage of people rated the experience as being a very meaningful one, that made them feel better, reflecting on their personal life and awakening their curiosity to discover more artworks that are exploring the connection between art and well-being.

Words that best describe the ”All the Suns” experience | Audience perspective

Among the things people appreciated the most was the opportunity to visit the artistic installation in the Opera space and to turn from spectators into actors by having the chance to step on the stage, carrying the Sunlight with them, in a dynamic and abstract choreography of light. For 32% of them it was the first time they visited the Opera space and almost all the respondents said that they would repeat the experience if given a future chance (190 out of 192 respondents).

Art for well-being, a dimension of cultural practices in the city of Cluj-Napoca | Cultural institutions perspective

The collaboration between a NGO for culture and urban development (Cluj Cultural Centre), a cultural public institution (Romanian National Opera from Cluj-Napoca) and an independent artist (Radu Cioca) enhanced creativity in finding suitable solutions for all parties involved and strengthened the relationship between different cultural actors active in the city of Cluj-Napoca, opening in the same time new opportunities for co-creation and collaboration between people who work in the same sector, but who, by the nature of work, do not get to interact too often. The collaboration has also opened new perspectives on the theme of art and well-being which is increasingly relevant worldwide.

The artistic installation All the Suns by artist Radu Cioca was presented within the Art & Well-being project, co-financed by the Creative Europe program of the European Union, in partnership with the Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the City Hall of Cluj-Napoca.

? Váczi Roland