One eye laughing, the other crying

Album to accompany the exhibition at the International Cultural Centre

The bilingual Polish-English album accompanying the exhibition “Laughing with one eye, crying with the other” is a comprehensive publication (312 pages) that is a unique guide to contemporary Romanian art. It presents a selection of works from the collection of Ovidiu Şandor, one of the most important private collections of contemporary art in Central and Eastern Europe.

The album includes introductory texts and essays by prominent authors such as Adriana Babeţi, Łukasz Galusek Kazimierz Jurczak, Jakub Kornhauser, Diana Marincu, Tom Sandqvist, Vladimir Tismăneanu, which analyze the history and contemporary faces of the Romanian avant-garde and art after the political transformation. The publication sheds light on key artistic phenomena, from Surrealism and Dadaism to the impact of the transition and the development of art institutions in Romania.

The structure of the book is also built up by sectional texts by Monica Rydiger and Lukasz Galusek, which guide the reader through the chapters of the exhibition: “With Their Own Voice,” ‘The Starry Collection,’ ‘The Unbearable Burden of Being,’ ‘It Was, It Wasn’t,’ ‘Digesting the Past,’ and ”Other Horizons.” An index of artists and sources of illustrations complete this comprehensive publication.

The album is not only a documentation of the exhibition, but also an in-depth reflection on identity, heritage and contemporary art in the context of Central and Eastern Europe.

Artists whose works can be found in the album:   
Andreea Anghel, George Apostu, Hans Arp, Ioana Bătrânu, Marius Bercea, Horia Bernea, Ștefan Bertalan, Ion Bîrlădeanu, Constantin Brâncuși, Brassaï, Geta Brătescu, Théodore Brauner, Victor Brauner, André Cadere, Mircea Cantor, Eva Cerbu, Andrei Chintilă, Lena Constante-Brauner, Roman Cotoșman, Chiril Cucu, Horia Damian, Max Ernst, David Farcaș, Harun Farocki, Constantin Flondor, Adrian Ghenie, Marin Gherasim, Bogdan Gîrbovan, Vasile Gorduz, Ion Grigorescu, Jacques Hérold, Isidore Isou, Marcel Janco, Wassily Kandinsky, Ana Lupaș, Victor Man, Tincuța Marin, Max Hermann Maxy, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Joan Miró, Alex Mirutziu, Florin Mitroi, Gili Mocanu, Herta Müller, Ciprian Mureșan, Paul Neagu, Ioana Nemeș, Mircea Nicolae, Andrei Pandele, Paul Păun, Jules S. Perahim, Dan Perjovschi, Pusha Petrov, Silvia Radu, Lea Rasovszky, Eugen Roșca, Șerban Savu, Arthur Segal, Hedda Sterne, subREAL, Mircea Suciu, Yves Tanguy, Ovidiu Toader, Sergiu Toma, Doru Tulcan, Tristan Tzara, Andrei Ujică, Andra Ursuța

Published by © Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury, Kraków 2025

Coordinating editor
Paulina Orłowska-Bańdo

Graphic design and DTP of the book and other printed materials
Kuba Sowiński

Edited by
Jerzy Cierniak, Jessica Taylor-Kucia

Translations
Alistair Ian Blyth, Marta Duda-Gryc, Nicholas Hodge, Kazimierz Jurczak, Jessica Taylor-Kucia, Aga Zano

Proofread by
Anastazja Oleśkiewicz, Jessica Taylor-Kucia

Printed and bound by
Drukarnia Skleniarz

The exhibition is part of the 2024-2025 Poland-Romania Cultural Season

The Romania-Poland Cultural Season 2024-2025 is organized by the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the Romanian Institute of Culture, on the Romanian side, and by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in cooperation with the Polish Institute in Bucharest, on the Polish side.