National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania

June - September 2018

Losing Winter was first realized with the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) in Bucharest, Romania. At the center of this activation of the project are audio recordings of memories from 130 participants ranging in age from 8 - 85 about a winter from their past. Intertwined with these memories are details of personal, political, and historical events, familial and cultural customs, emerging naturally as a consequence of the particular memory shared. In addition to the audio recorded memories, the project in Bucharest included Melt, a video featuring a series of unique ice sculptures created in response to selected memories positioned in key locations in and around the museum. Melt incorporates the politically poignant setting of MNAC: inside the Palace of the Parliament, the colossal Neoclassical building that was the final act of urban planning by dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1980’s, and across from the newly constructed and controversial People’s Salvation Cathedral.