Monumental art – The most important voices of Romanian exile
Sculptor Virgil Scripcariu has created a bronze statuary ensemble, ‘a Cold War scene’, dedicated to Monica Lovinescu (19 November 1923 – 20 April 2008) and Virgil Ierunca (16 August 1920 – 28 September 2006), the most important voices of Romanian exile.
In Cotroceni district is immortalised forever the story of those who dedicated their lives and careers to the fight for freedom.
Lovinescu and Ierunca are portrayed draped in the flag of freedom, facing a tree of harpies – snitches, aggressors, pursuers – who have marked their destiny. It is as if their suppression orders are being heard.
Inaugurated on 17 December 2023, year of Monica Lovinescu’s centenary, the statuary is located at the intersection of Dr Herescu, Dr Romniceanu and Dr Drăghiescu streets.
‘The future depends on the past we give it’, said Monica Lovinescu, and Virgil Ierunca was a lifelong campaigner: ‘I resolved that not a single day should pass without my doing something against those who had stolen a country from me’. These words can be read on the plaque accompanying the monument.
Virgil Scripcariu graduated Fine Arts in 2003, in the class of Vasile Gorduz. He continued his studies, deepening the theme of portraiture in sculpture. Since 2004, he has been participating in group exhibitions in Romania and abroad, realising solo exhibitions and exhibiting works in public spaces. She practices figurative sculpture, but also creates object installations with ecological, social and spiritual messages. She is part of the Romania Creative Traditions community. In 2006 he settled with his family in Piscu, a former potters’ village near Bucharest. Together with his wife Adriana, an art historian, he started a project to research and valorise the cultural heritage of the locality. In 2021, he inaugurated the Piscu School Museum-workshop, a cultural hub dedicated to peasant pottery and traditional techniques and contemporary art. The site is recognised at European level, receiving the Europa Nostra Award 2022 in the Education, Training, Craftsmanship section.
Photo credit: curatorial
