site.btaRomania's Largest Mural Celebrates Freedom of Expression

Romania's largest mural is in Timisoara. It symbolizes freedom of expression 30 years after the 1989 Revolution, Corina Nani, one of its creators, told BTA. 

"Four artists - Flavius Roua, Alex Baciu, IRLO and myself, worked hanging in the air. All week, without interruption. We had to be quick because the sun sets pretty fast this time of year. And the wind and rain were not helping. With the help of two large cranes, we painted about 30 meters above the ground and covered an area of 500 square meters," Corina said. 

The hardest part for her was reaching the top without making a mess of the fresco below, as she was adding the decorative elements and iconic buildings. And the sun as a symbol of hope.

Today, the result of her work is there for everybody to admire on the facade of an industrial building in the Solventul area on the banks of the Bega River. The fresco consists of three portraits. Two of them symbolise the past and the future. "The 12-metre central figure is of a woman. She is silent in memory of those who fell under the bullets fighting for the liberation of Romania from the communist regime. Their blood is on her hands," Corina explains.

The mural was made as part of the Timisoara European Capital of Culture programme in partnership with the Timisoara International Street Art Festival. 

"Over the years, Timisoara has become an outdoor street art museum. Ours is the city with the most graffiti in Romania. Every wall and building has a story to tell. We would like to attract Bulgarian artists as well. We hope for a beautiful collaboration with them," adds Corina. 

She already has an idea: to involve Bulgarian artists in her project VIRTUAL FISART - Street Art from Home. 

"Through this project, I challenge artists from around the world to imagine what the city would look like as an art gallery. They just need to virtually, through electronic processing methods, integrate the works on the surfaces of the buildings in Timisoara. The latter, which lend themselves to such virtual processing, are accessible through multiple images in digital format," specifies Corina.