UnLoc Workshop in Bucharest, Romania

This summer, I had the opportunity to take part in the UnLoc workshop in Bucharest — a project focused on exploring post-communist memory through art, architecture, and collective reflection.

During the workshop, I joined a group of artists and researchers in investigating the psychological and symbolic weight of large-scale monuments from the communist period. These structures, once meant to impose power and unity, now stand as silent remnants of an era that continues to echo in our collective consciousness.

As someone who grew up in the post-Soviet space, I’ve always been interested in how authoritarian spaces shape not only physical landscapes, but also the inner worlds of those who inhabit them. Through sketches, notes, and visual experiments, I began to reflect on how memory, loss, and resistance are inscribed in the materials and scale of these monuments.

My participation in UnLoc was both intellectually grounding and emotionally resonant — and it directly feeds into my ongoing project, “Freedom in the Bunker.” This new body of work looks at coastal bunkers as paradoxical spaces: designed for protection, yet often symbols of control, silence, and containment.

I’m grateful for the dialogue and connections made during the UnLoc workshop, and I look forward to carrying these insights into the next phase of my artistic research.