Influx
The exhibition consists of 5 tables, each with a mechanical interactive light projection system. Inside each table is a sliding mechanism. These allow the lamps inside to move left and right on a guiding system. Each of the 5 tables illustrates an element of the Danube ecosystem in the Severin area, the themes being in chronological order.
Sliding the handles scrolls both the strip drawn on the horizontal surface of the table, but also activates the ‘projection’ of the vertical image on the wall, the two are designed to work together. Each vertical projection forms a landscape for the story illustrated on the horizontal side of the table.
1. SETTING
The first table has an introductory role, talking about the time in the first half of the 19th century when free trade on the Danube was allowed. It was in this context that work was carried out to improve navigation in the Cazanelor area and the modern town of Drobeta Turnu Severin developed, whose existence is closely linked to the commercial opportunities offered by the river.
The horizontal surface imagines a visit of King Mihai by boat in the 20th century. The ship passes through the Cazane area, then past Ada Kaleh Island, arriving in the port of Drobeta. The moment is a pretext to show the evolution of the town since Carol I first entered Romania through this place, and the link this area has had with royalty over time.
The vertical surface – the projection on the wall suggests the rugged landscape of the Danube in the area of the Cazane.
2. COMMUNITIES
The second table illustrates the pronounced commercial character of Drobeta Turnu Severin, the multitude of commercial enterprises also reflecting the cultural diversity and multi-ethnicity that defined the town in the first decades of its foundation.
The horizontal surface shows a moment in the Radu Negru square, in which conversations between inhabitants of different ethnicities are imagined.
The vertical surface – the projection on the wall illustrates the facades of the Radu Negru hall.
3. GRAN
Shows the Danube seen as a vulnerable point of the “Iron Curtain” in the context of the migration flow triggered by the oppression of the communist regime. Known as ‘frontiersmen’, those who managed to swim across the river either ended up at the embassy in Belgrade where they were redistributed to free countries or captured and returned to their countries of origin.
The horizontal surface depicts a fictional reconstruction of the route built on documentary accounts of an East German escape across the Danube from East Berlin to the ‘free world’ of West Berlin.
Vertical surface – wall projection depicts silhouettes representing defectors in the process of crossing the Danube.
4. BIODIVERSITY
The theme shows the diversity of fauna and flora specific to the ecosystem formed around the dam of the “Iron Gates” hydroelectric plant. The construction of the dam has caused two types of environments to emerge on either side of the dam: one specific to lake vegetation and slow water flow speed, suitable for bird nesting (the area above the dam) and the other specific to rocky environments with a faster water flow speed (the area below).
The horizontal surface illustrates the ecosystem formed in the Iron Gates area, with the two types of environments on either side of the dam
Vertical surface – the projection on the wall shows the hydropower dam seen from downstream.
5. NAVIGATION
Shows the European importance of the Danube flow. Unlike other modes of transport, river transport has advantages both in terms of cost and efficiency in transporting large quantities of goods.
The horizontal surface shows information and graphics on inland waterway transport, through a reconstruction of a typical day in the Iron Gate Dam control tower.
Vertical surface – the projection on the wall shows types of boats on the Danube.
Project writing and consultancy: Dragoș Neamu
Curators: Cosmina Goagea, Constantin Goagea
Research, exhibition design, interactive design: Cosmina Goagea, Bogdan Mustață, Ioana Naniș, Andrei Angelescu, Emanuel Birtea, Cristina Ginara, Alexandru Ivanof, Iulia Panait, Alexandru Voicu, Constantin Goagea
Exhibition production: Urban Paint, Azero
Advertising Organizer: Palatul Culturii Teodor Costescu, Drobeta Turnu Severin
Partner: Drobeta Turnu Severin City Hall
Project manager: Sorin Vidan
Project assistant: Isabel Bobia
Financial manager: Aneta Strinoiu
Communication: Ioan N. Tătucu
Photo: Zeppelin Design