A woman from Brasov invites the community to a collective ritual of mourning and acceptance of death. The event “Every death brings it” will take place at the Transilvania University Multicultural Center

The last few years, marked by the pandemic, have left many families in mourning. Meeting with death
upsets the inner order of any person, but also the order of a community. Rituals have a role
to help people find their balance after death. The pandemic forced us
let’s rewrite these rituals, let’s impoverish them. Travel restrictions have prevented those who
they were away attending the funerals of relatives or friends, vigils and vigils
they moved to social media, and people mourned their dead how and where they could.

Starting from her own experience of losing loved ones during the pandemic, artist and anthropologist Rucsandra Pop, originally from Brașov, invites the local community to take part in a collective ritual of mourning and acceptance of death. The performative installation built around the idea that EVERY DEATH BRINGS IT is also an invitation to look for the meaning of life in death. Unlike traditional rituals, the one proposed within the performative installation is open, without fixed rules, being mediated by art, and each participant can customize it. Built in layers, the installation calls upon photography, collages, text, sound, textiles and tastes, but also practices that activate the senses and emotions. Death is not only a rite of passage for the one who goes, but also for those who remain and whom this event fundamentally transforms, but also gives them the chance to rediscover and reinvent themselves.

EVERY DEATH BEARS IT: THE RESONANCE BOX proposes 8 performances with a
number limited to 25 participants/representation, which will take place between May 13 – May 19, 2024, at
Multicultural Center of Transilvania University in Brașov. The performative installation will have two
separate areas: one of death – that is, of honoring those who are no longer among us – and one of life
and the future. Participants will be invited to bring an object that reminds them of a loved one
who is no longer with us. These objects can become part of the installation. At every performance
psychologists will also be present.

Also, the participants will receive as a gift the book-object ANY DEATH BEARS EO which
contains images and texts from performances signed by the artist Rucsandra Pop, the curator
Iuliana Dumitru and by the poets Alina Purcaru, Cristina A. Bejan, Elena Vlădăreanu, Ștefania
Mihalache, Andrei Dósa, George Ștefan and Răzvan Țupa.

On Friday, May 17, there will also be a thematic workshop dedicated to artists, anthropologists and psychologists from the communities around Brașov (Făgăraș, Sinaia, Predeal, Sfântu Gheorghe and others), in which the methodology and impact in the community of such an approach will be explored performative,
with the aim of being taken over in one’s own artistic practice. More details about the workshop, in the Facebook event, and registrations are made by filling out this form. More details about the project can be accessed on the Fragile Society website.

The artist Rucsandra Pop is very connected to the Brasov community, where she grew up and studied. She is passionate about how dialogue and creativity can bring more trust between people, about how cities or neighborhoods can turn into communities, i.e. a
better home Rucsandra is a graduate of the Andrei Șaguna National College and the Faculty of Letters of Transilvania University and is a founding member of the Fragile Society Association. The Fragile Society association was founded in 2021 out of the belief that the artistic act can create social change. It is an organization that aims to create meeting and reflection areas
where women – and not only them – can identify, document and explore their vulnerabilities,
limitations but also strengths, using artistic tools and practices.