My artistic practice focuses on the relationship between memory, space, and communities, both in local and global contexts. I’m particularly interested in collective memory and the ways it resonates with physical spaces. Through my work, I recover untold stories and forgotten objects, which I then recontextualize artistically.
A defining moment in my creative journey was being diagnosed with cancer during adolescence. In trying to understand the cause of this suffering, experienced by many young people in my hometown, Turda, I began to explore the local industrial architecture, the history of pollution, and the impact of the urban environment on health. This research led to the development of a socially engaged and critically informed artistic practice, grounded in themes such as the environment, forgotten heritage, and the rights of marginalized communities.
I actively advocate for social change, particularly regarding the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, of which I am a part. I work with a variety of media: text, photography, ready-made objects, video, and audio recordings, to document and give visibility to the interactions between myself and the communities I engage with.
My practice is therefore simultaneously artistic, documentary, and a form of activism.
BIO
Liviu Bulea (b. 1989, Turda) is a Romanian artist, curator, and cultural manager, currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Arts and Design in Cluj. He is the manager of IAGA Contemporary Art and the founder and artistic director of the NGO Refugiu de Creație, a platform supporting socially engaged art and underrepresented voices in contemporary culture.
Bulea’s multidisciplinary practice explores the relationship between memory, space, and community in both local and global contexts. Grounded in personal experience and social research, his work reclaims forgotten objects and overlooked narratives, often reflecting on themes of environmental degradation, post-industrial decay, and LGBTQ+ identity. A formative moment in his life was being diagnosed with cancer as a teenager, which led to a long-term investigation into pollution and the legacy of industrial architecture in his hometown of Turda. This shaped a critically engaged practice rooted in activism and care.
His work spans photography, video, text, installation, and ready-made materials, creating spaces where individual and collective histories intersect. Liviu actively advocates for social justice and the rights of marginalized communities, using art as a tool for visibility and transformation.
He has exhibited extensively across Europe, at venues including the European Investment Bank (Luxembourg), Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), Urban Nation Museum (Berlin), Romanian Cultural Institute (Berlin), French Cultural Institute (Cluj), National Museum of Art (Cluj), Museum of Contemporary Art (Bucharest), Brukenthal Museum (Sibiu), Jurmala City Museum (Latvia), Bucharest Biennale, and Parallel Vienna, among others.
His works are part of prestigious collections such as the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Bucharest), Schwules Museum (Berlin), European Investment Bank (Luxembourg), Queer Museum (Bucharest), Urban Nation Museum (Berlin), Universal Museum Joanneum (Graz), Brukenthal Museum (Sibiu), and the Tom of Finland Foundation (Los Angeles).
Liviu has participated in artist residencies across Europe, including KulturKontakt Austria, Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), Urban Nation (Berlin). Culture Moves Europe at ICR Vienna, and St.A.i.R. (Graz), supported by institutions such as Stiftung Berliner Leben, the Chancellery of Styria, the European Union, the Goethe-Institut, and the Austrian Chancellery.
He has collaborated with curators including Beral Madra, KILOBASE (Dragoș Olea & Sandra Demetrescu), Tatiana Trouvé, Olimpia Bera, Răzvan Ion, Eugen Rădescu, Linda Toivio, Katia Hermann, Christiane Kada, Lina Țărmure, and others.
Liviu frequently shares his experience and research through talks and lectures at institutions like the University of Arts and Design (Cluj), Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design (Wroclaw), Höhere Technische Bundeswehr und Versuchsanstalt (Graz), and EuroFabrique (Cluj).
He has curated exhibitions, managed Visual Kontakt Gallery, edited Gay45 magazine, and collaborated with artists such as Miron Zownir, Ștefan Bădulescu, Sașa Bandi, Claudio Pogo, Paul Mureșan, Virginia Lupu, Andreea Chirică, Rada Niță-Josan, George Kanis, Oana Clițan, Vlad Olariu, Heti Prack, and many others.
Through his artistic, curatorial, and organizational work, Liviu Bulea continues to foster spaces of resistance, memory, and connection, transforming art into a powerful voice for change.
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LIVIU BULEA 