Photo–Video

The department was established in 1995 as an initiative of a group of artists—Iosif Király, Radu Igazsag, Călin Dan, and Roxana Trestioreanu—interested in the role of new media in art education. In 2005, the National Council for Academic Evaluation and Accreditation accredited the Photo–Video program at undergraduate level, and in 2009 the Photography and Moving Image specialization was accredited at master’s level. The department’s mission, aligned with that of the University, is to promote artistic education and research, as well as Romanian culture and art.

Within a traditionally structured educational system, the specialization actively promotes new technologies. Artistic disciplines (drawing, colour, performance, installation, video, photography, etc.) are conceived from the perspective of transdisciplinarity and the dialogue proposed by aesthetic and multimedia theories. The artistic education provided by the department helps students think imaginatively, solve visual problems, adapt to diverse situations, and understand and transcend their own creative limits.

Recognised nationally and internationally, the Photo–Video Department addresses those who wish to develop photographic and film-making skills within an artistic framework. Students acquire solid knowledge grounded in professional practice standards. Traditional analog film techniques are taught alongside digital imaging technologies, while experimental and alternative techniques of image capture and processing are explored. Fundamental knowledge for developing a project—whether aimed at product or event promotion, marketing, or communication strategies—is delivered through elective and specialist courses.

Knowledge of “new media” technologies and theories equips graduates for careers in visual communication and media, including design consultancy, advertising, editorial projects, or independent artistic practice.

From its early years, the department has sought to promote a clear and positive image of its strategy by organising cultural events and participating in artistic and educational initiatives.

The seminars Gender and Ageing Presented in Media and Art, Timing Art – Filtering Art, and The Impact of Technology on Visual Culture were selected and presented within the Good Practice project on the website of the European League of Institutes of the Arts. Another major milestone was the organisation, in 2008, of the UNArte FEST International Experimental Film Festival. The research project RO_Archive was presented in the publication artesNET – Peer Power! The Future of Higher Arts Education in Europe, issued by the European League of Institutes of the Arts. This project also contributed to the department’s involvement in a project of the Embassy of Norway in Bucharest, EEA & Norway Grants – Instantanee: Retrospectives and Opportunities.

Participation (selection from 2007–2012)

The student film by Cristian Ionescu was selected for the One Minute Gent Festival, Belgium, in 2007. In 2009, Michele Bressan received the Grand Prize, and Cristina Vladu the Second Prize of the Essl Museum Foundation, Austria. Works by students Bogdan Gârbovan, Cristian Ionescu, Michele Bressan, and Daniel Djamo were selected for the Neu/New Festival (2009–2011).

Another selection included works by our students in the exhibition Badly Happy: Pain, Pleasure and Panic in Recent Romanian Art (2010) at the The Performance Art Institute, San Francisco, curated by Erwin Kessler and Stephen Tourell. A selection of student photographs was presented in 2011 in New Wave Photography – Young Artists from Central and Eastern Europe at The Crypt Gallery, UK. From 2008 to the present, winners of the Romanian selection for the annual Start Point Prize—the competition for graduates of European art universities—have been students of the Photo–Video Department. Michele Bressan’s portfolio was selected by Fondazione Fotografia Modena for GATE 11 – International Departures.

The film Life Buoy (2010) by Dragoș Bărdac won the Best Music Video award at the Filmul de Piatră Festival, Piatra Neamț (2010), and was selected for Temps d’Images 2010 (Cluj-Napoca), Romanian Film Days 2011 (Vienna), the Biennial of Creative Video organised in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum, and for the Cooper Video Wall at the Cooper Design Space Building, San Francisco. The most significant event involving a graduate of the department, Bogdan Bordeianu, was the reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today competition organised by the Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, culminating in a touring exhibition and a catalogue published by Thames & Hudson (Paris/London).

International projects involving the Photo–Video Department:

• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Timecase-Memory-in-action/459118874154052
• https://www.facebook.com/peercoaching.tondela
• http://www.elia-artschools.org/activities/eq-arts
• http://www.elia-artschools.org/activities/interartes
• http://www.elia-artschools.org/activities/artesneteurope
• http://www.elia-artschools.org/activities/share
• http://www.elia-artschools.org/news/bogdan-grbovan