Publication date 10.09.2025
RELATOPIA – the art and science of living together as a couple
the memory of relationships – from collective histories to personal stories
#relatopia #MatchedSociety #cohabitation #couple #family #art&science #kit #exhibition #dialogue #archive #digital #varcultural
SAVE THE DATES: September 30, October 1, October 5, and October 11.
RELATOPIA is a multidisciplinary project exploring how romantic relationships and the idea of family have changed in Romania over the past six decades. After six months of documentation, research, and artistic creation, it now shares its findings through an online digital archive and a series of public events in Bucharest, Iași, and Katerini (Greece).
Digital RELATOPIA archive
The project’s first major outcome is the expansion of the Matched Society platform, now the most extensive digital archive in Romania dedicated to couple cohabitation. It brings together hundreds of documentary materials, interviews, articles, and multimedia works that trace how couples and families have evolved from 1880 to the present day. While the platform initially focused on how people sought partners and the social mechanisms behind that process, it now turns to the dynamics of shared life, highlighting both the shifts and the challenges that come with it. The bilingual archive (RO/EN) is available at: www.matched-society.com
Relatopic events
“Looking at the couple doesn’t just mean observing a relationship between two people; it means deciphering, through it, the invisible mechanisms of an entire society. In the way partners chose each other, in how they divided their home, in their silences and their conflicts, unfolds the broader story of a whole community: the dynamics between genders, how authority is passed on, the worth given to work and affection, and the shifting line between what is public and what is private.”
— Cătălin D. Constantin, anthropologist and book editor
The project created an interdisciplinary framework to decipher these dynamics and reimagine them artistically. Conceived and curated by visual artist Andu Dumitrescu, the events are immersive experiences at the intersection of reality and imagination, where the boundary between artistic expression and social interaction dissolves. The setting fosters dialogue, engagement, and active participation.
Within these events, visitors will discover three main components:
Artworks from the creative residency
Developed by a group of eight artists from different creative backgrounds, these artworks emerge from documentary materials, interviews, and interdisciplinary reflections (anthropology, psychology, sociology and law). Through audio-visual installations, video performances, and sculptural objects, the audience can explore how cohabitation has been decoded, reflecting historical and social change as well as the complexity of contemporary coupledom: trust, freedom, needs, responsibility, and shared time.
The Cohabitation Kit for Couples
Conceived as a collective product, the kit gathers a series of objects proposed and developed by the residency artists, under the guidance of four experts in psychology, sociology, anthropology, and law. The kit emphasizes communication and active listening, respect and negotiation, closeness and space, alongside themes such as change, affection, the need for play and creativity, and the connections between past and present that shape our understanding of relationships.
At each event, a limited number of kits will be offered to the public through a special giveaway, carrying the RELATOPIA experience into the intimate space of everyday life.
Interactive installation Borrowed Faces Stories collected through interviews – participants’ personal testimonies and accounts about their friends and family – have been processed, partly fictionalized and woven into an immersive experience that invites visitors into a dialogue between past and present.
The installation „Borrowed Faces” reanimates portraits found in archives – brought to life by visual artist Alexandru Claudiu Maxim using AI-based technology and by guest actors who lend them their facial expressions and voices.
The installation explores themes of love, vulnerability, conflict, and resilience, suggesting that the experiences and stories of past relationships shape contemporary forms of cohabitation.
Public events schedule
• September 30 – October 1: Bucharest – Galeria 030202 & Teatrul de Comedie, Sala Nouă (Str. Sf. Vineri 11)
• October 5: Iași – as part of the International Theatre Festival for Young Audiences (at Centrul Internațional de Artă Contemporană „Baia Turcească”, Strada Arhitect G. M. Cantacuzino)
• October 11: Katerini, Greece – in partnership with Olympolis Art Project, Katerini, Public Library, 7is Merarchias
Public access begins at 6:00 pm.
Entry is free with prior reservation at: hello.relatopia@gmail.com.
Exhibiting artists: Andu Dumitrescu, Cuzina, Alina Tofan, Vero Nica, Jenniffer Corrales, Constantin Axinte Amza, Mihaela Lungu, Cătălina Moisă.
Interactive work “Borrowed Faces” – concept and execution: Alexandru Claudiu Maxim, visual artist;
Dramaturgy: Daniel Oltean, Oana Hodade
Direction of monologues: Alice Oșlobanu
Performers: Lucian Pavel, Otilia Panainte, Filip Popescu, Vero Nica
Sound designer: Ana Teodora Popa; Junior sound designer:Maria Bianca
Promotion and communication: Mihai Pilcă, Stanca Jabenițan, Vaggelis Gkekas, Anastasios Papanastasiou
Specialized consultancy and expertise: Oana Calnegru (family psychotherapist), Cătalin D. Constantin (anthropologist and book editor), Mihai S. Rusu (sociologist), Ramona Chițeanu (lawyer), Magda Cernea (psychologist/drama therapist)
Artistic research: Alina Grau
Editor and translator: Alexandru Botea
Documentarians: Vero Nica, Stanca Jabenițan, Alina Grau, Cristian Eduard Drăgan
Our parteners: The Consulate General of Romania in Thessaloniki, Olympolis Art Project/Olympus Eagles, Atelier 030202, Festivalul Internațional de Teatru pt Publicul Tânăr Iași, Centrul Internațional de Artă Contemporană „Baia Turcească”, Katerini Public Library, Red Culture Bar – Katerini, Propagarta, Revista Cultura, Radio România Cultural, București FM, B-Critic, Zile și Nopți, Viva FM.
This project is co-financed by the grant NCFA / National Cultural Fund Administration and supported by AMIQ.
The project does not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. NFCA is not responsible for the content or for the means in which the results of the project are used. These are responsibilities that fully belong to the funds’ beneficiary.
