Group exhibition project initiated by Dan Perjovschi, produced by White Cuib Gallery (Cluj, RO) and Satu Mare Art Museum (Satu Mare, RO) and artist-curated by Alina Andrei, Olivier Hölzl, and Gloria Luca.

Participating artists are from Romania, Austria, Spain, Germany, USA, United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Uruguay, Indonesia, Colombia, France, Malaysia, China, Japan, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Hungary, and Montenegro.

Opening: 4 August 2022 at 7 p.m.
Exhibition period: 4 – 26 August 2022
Location: Romanian Cultural Institute, Argentinierstraβe 39, 1040 Vienna

Virus Diary started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi was scheduled to do a solo exhibition at the White Cuib Gallery in Cluj. The initial event was postponed and eventually adapted for the gallery’s social media channels, where the artist quickly rendered it into an opportunity to hear a diversity of artistic voices on the lockdown. Virus Diary became an experimental project presented online through several daily posts on the White Cuib’s social media accounts during the peak of the pandemic’s first wave.

In the early stages, Perjovschi and the gallery team gradually invited more artists to get involved in the project, so it quickly became a collective effort to cooperate despite the imposed physical distance. Over 25 Romanian and international artists were involved as permanent contributors and complemented by numerous special guests. For nine weeks in a row, from morning to night, the White Cuib’s online presence provided its audience with a wide range of interpretations while offering the artists whose activity was affected by the pandemic a chance to refocus from uncertainty and anxiety and to enter into a visual dialogue with faraway voices.

Virus Diary has functioned as an informal art network since it started. After its online stage, it became a traveling group exhibition shown internationally. Despite the uncertainty that hit the art world during the pandemic, Virus Diary quickly emerged into a physical exhibition project that occupies/activates/enters in dialogue with various art spaces in Romania and abroad. The formal and informal invitations that the project has received from many cultural workers highlight the need for transcultural cooperation. Furthermore, the project outlines the importance of shifting responsibility and sharing resources with one’s community.

The exhibition at Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna takes place in the frame of Gloria Luca’s participation in the Artist-in-Residence programme at Q21/MuseumsQuartier Vienna.

Former locations:

The Virus Diary exhibition was also presented at Satu Mare Art Museum/Satu Mare, ABM Confecciones Art Space/Madrid, Borderline Art Space/Iaşi, Multicultural Center of the Transylvania University /Brașov, Consulate General of Greece in New York and French Consulate in New York as part of the Occupy Art Project #3 – Networks, B5 Studio/Tg. Mureș, Arts House/Timișoara, the Polytechnic Library/Timișoara, Natural History Museum of Crete as part of Nuit blanche Heraklion 2022/Crete, Mountainous Banat Museum/Reșița.

The curatorial team that developed the exhibition project at various locations consists of Alina Andrei, Ana Kun, Eirini Linardaki, Gloria Luca, Tudor Pătrașcu, Luciana Tamas, Bartha Jozsef, Olivier Hölzl, Florin Arhire, and George Roșu.

Artists constantly involved in the project:

Dan Perjovschi, Ana Kun, George Roşu, Gloria Luca, Tudor Pătraşcu, Aldo Giannotti, Olivier Hölzl, Cosmin Haiaş, Răzvan Cornici, David Böhm & Jiří Franta, Cathy Burghi, Benedek Levente, Oana Lohan, Cristian Răduţă, Minitremu, Bartha Sándor, Restu Ratnaningtyas, Marishka Soekarna, Magdalena Pelmuş, Luciana Tămaş, Zara Alexandrova, Zoran Georgiev, Roberto Uribe Castro, Alina Andrei.

Special guests:

Quentin Jouret, Dan Burzo, Răzvan Botiş, Bartha Jozsef, Alex Bodea, Florin Arhire, Hans D. Christ, Tomáš Vaněk, Frank Bz, Ştefan Radu Crețu, Beagles & Ramsay, Elena Vlădareanu, Eirini Linardaki &Vincent Parisot, Daniel G. Andújar, Dora García, Manuel Pelmuş, Rie Kawakami, Mihai Iepure-Górski, Banu Cennetoğlu, Attila Kispál, Raimar Stange, Patrick Roussel, Andra Cati (Minitremu), Matei Rădulescu (Minitremu), Ovidiu Hrin, Tudor Mureşan (Minitremu), Alicia Crasiuc (Minitremu), Caterina Preda, Kispál Ágnes, Dana Catona, Isa Balog, Alina Marinescu, Cosmin Bumbuţ, Raphael Larre, Gergely Hory, Silvia Amancei & Bogdan Armanu, Simion Cernica, Andrei Flocea (Minitremu), Alexandru Faur (Minitremu),  Farid Fairuz, Diana Grigorescu (Minitremu), Sabina Aldea (Minitremu), Cătălina Neculai, Simona Nastac, Casandra Vidrighin, Daniela Pălimariu, Remus Ţiplea, Mischa Kuball, Gluklya Pershina, Szabolcs KissPál, Andreea Mare (Minitremu), Naomi Bildea, Camelia Popescu, Andra Beligan (Minitremu), Larisa Cont (Minitremu), Edi Constantin, Daria Borsa (Minitremu), Natalia Marc (Minitremu), Mona Nicoară, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Bogdan Georgescu, Bianca Mocan, Miklos Onucsan, Cristi Gaspar, Ciprian Ciuclea, Tudor Toader, Karolina Kubik, Cristina Gagiu, Cristian Alexa, Luchezar Boyadijev, Abel Rad & Laurenţiu Zbîrcea, Patrick Roussel, Oana Tănase, Alexandru Solomon, Dăruieşte Viaţă, Vlad Brăteanu, Mihai Platică, Suzana Dan, Lea Rasovszky, Megan Dominescu, Cătălina Nistor, Takehito Koganezawa, Nita Mocanu, Alex Mihăileanu, Trevor Yeung, Iulia Toma, Lavinia Creţu, Mihail Coşuleţu, Susanna Inglada, Levente Kozma, Cezar Lăzărescu, Andreea Medar, Andreea Harabagiu, Emilian Mocanu, Cristian Pogăcean, Ramona Chirica, Ioana Vreme Moser, Silviu Preda, Jaro Varga, Brent Birnbaum, Oberliht Association, Cristian Rusu, Dimitar Solakov, Simona Vilău, Bogdan Gârbovan, Andrei Pungovschi, Ion Barbu, Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan, Lucian Barbu, Krassimir Terziev, Joana Preda, Yuko Okumura, Delia Popa, Tincuţa Marin, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Milan Mikulastík, 3 137 Athens, Alexandru Munteanu, Ute Krafft, Isola Milano, Oliver Ressler, Squeak Carnwath, Michele Bressan, Iuliana Vilsan, Saddo, Fani Zguro, Eliodor Moldovan, Tadija Janicic, Lucian Indrei, Iza Tarasewicz, Radu Carnariu, Alexandra Mocan, Andrei Dosa, Latifa Echakkh, Sorina Vazelina, Ada Stan, Oana Coșug, Andrei Pacea, Vlad Moraru, Diana Filimon, Dana & Eva Koťátková, Jadranka Kosorcic, Ivan Moudov, Eugen Palagub.

Cover picture: The Virus Diary Exhibition in Madrid. Photo: © Gloria Luca