INTERVIEW
Maria Nitulescu, art curator in Berlin
Do you agree to have a non small talk, instead a rather personal and meaningful talk?
I’m not exactly a fan of small talk if you refer to conversations in which people are not truly engaged. I go more for – tell me something real – so I am more than happy to do it.
How would you describe yourself not mentioning:
social status, age, profession, nationality, place to live, gender, relationship, parents or family?
Independent thinker, straightforward and uncomplicated. I enjoy challenges and I like to experience something more than the ordinary.
I like to communicate with others, cherish human connections and look on a person’s unique qualities.
I like the Arts in all its forms, in particular Visual Arts, but also travelling – which I see it as the best way to educate yourself. I am an interdisciplinary person, full of curiosity and always willing to connect the dots and to solve “the mystery”.
I find great satisfaction from getting things done.
Where do you put your attention in life and why?
On my freedom of thinking and doing things that I love. On realistic – positive thinking and on being surrounded by kind people. Enjoying the little things in everyday life and sharing that with others, because that’s what it makes me happy.
What is your mantra?
“Protect me from what I want”
What does being a woman mean to you?
First of all, self-acceptance, because this is how I was born and I didn’t choose to be a woman. I also feel I am a privileged woman if I would have to compare myself to my mother’s generation, when women didn’t have the freedom to take decisions for themselves. I am a human… worthy and valuable as much as any other human. Being a woman should be whatever you want it to mean, but unfortunately the society puts more pressure and rules on us, on how females are supposed to act, to dress… I think there are also a lot of stereotypes created by men, associated with what being a woman means.
What is the meaning of these words to you?
Imagination
Is our mentis oculi or the eyes of the mind. Our capacity to create without limits or rules. Imagination is something fundamental in our learning process and can bring joy of life. Imagination is an ability that can be transformative.
If you can imagine it, it can exist.
Art, Music, Dance
Multidisciplinarity. Where rational and irrational meet in a creative process and take shapes and styles of living. Art, music, dance are part of our human nature and everyone should have access to.
Altered states
“Altered state” is being able to experience a reality that is different than the ordinary one.
Intuition/ 6th sense
Intuition, for me, is a form of intelligence. A subconscious process of receiving information, of understanding a situation from previously acquired experiences.
Healing/ Assisting
I think is more what doctors and nurses do, or psycologists, or shamanists.
This has to do with our culture and beliefs which will determine the way we seek for healing, help or assistance of any form.
Compassion/ Caring
Is the capacity to understand and care about what and how other people feel, and to consider our actions from a different perspective. It also revolves around understanding the needs of other humans, animals, plants and whatsoever. It is the capacity to cultivate empathy, love, and appreciation for others.
Imprevisibility/ Sponatneity
It is something you learn in life and it involves creativity, courage, but also adaptability. Being spontaneous or unpredictable means not to fear the “new” and to stay open and curious to everything that surrounds us. It is staying in a constant process of transformation, learning, and flexibility, because we are not always in control of our own existence.
Eternity
Eternity… for some people is God, Allah, Nirvana or just a name of perfume, but for me, it’s a belief in itself. If you believe it exists and it stays in your memory… is eternal.
Magic /Magician
Beliefs in witchcraft (white and black magic), which are just history in many countries, are still practised in some regions. While I grew up with a common knowledge that witches can tell the future, cure illnesses, cast love-spells or cause death. Magic for me is about the power of thinking, positive or negative.
We are all magicians in a way or another. Through thoughts and words, we enact spells, incantation. Magic is an empowered vocalization, transcending material world.
Ritual
Ritual comes from the word ritus, in Latin, which means a religious or solemn ceremony. For me rituals have something to do with memory and things we retain be important, but also with actions we perform and become a ritual through their repetition, without even being aware, like “daily rituals”- you wake up, you brush your teeth, you drink your coffee, you put on perfume… Or the “ritual” you perform every time you visit a museum, by following the indicated path. There are also many other examples
INTERVIEW
Maria Nitulescu, art curator in Berlin
Do you agree to have a non small talk, instead a rather personal and meaningful talk?
I’m not exactly a fan of small talk if you refer to conversations in which people are not truly engaged. I go more for – tell me something real – so I am more than happy to do it.
How would you describe yourself not mentioning:
social status, age, profession, nationality, place to live, gender, relationship, parents or family?
Independent thinker, straightforward and uncomplicated. I enjoy challenges and I like to experience something more than the ordinary.
I like to communicate with others, cherish human connections and look on a person’s unique qualities.
I like the Arts in all its forms, in particular Visual Arts, but also travelling – which I see it as the best way to educate yourself. I am an interdisciplinary person, full of curiosity and always willing to connect the dots and to solve “the mystery”.
I find great satisfaction from getting things done.
Where do you put your attention in life and why?
On my freedom of thinking and doing things that I love. On realistic – positive thinking and on being surrounded by kind people. Enjoying the little things in everyday life and sharing that with others, because that’s what it makes me happy.
What is your mantra?
“Protect me from what I want”
What does being a woman mean to you?
First of all, self-acceptance, because this is how I was born and I didn’t choose to be a woman. I also feel I am a privileged woman if I would have to compare myself to my mother’s generation, when women didn’t have the freedom to take decisions for themselves. I am a human… worthy and valuable as much as any other human. Being a woman should be whatever you want it to mean, but unfortunately the society puts more pressure and rules on us, on how females are supposed to act, to dress… I think there are also a lot of stereotypes created by men, associated with what being a woman means.
What is the meaning of these words to you?
Imagination
Is our mentis oculi or the eyes of the mind. Our capacity to create without limits or rules. Imagination is something fundamental in our learning process and can bring joy of life. Imagination is an ability that can be transformative.
If you can imagine it, it can exist.
Art, Music, Dance
Multidisciplinarity. Where rational and irrational meet in a creative process and take shapes and styles of living. Art, music, dance are part of our human nature and everyone should have access to.
Altered states
“Altered state” is being able to experience a reality that is different than the ordinary one.
Intuition/ 6th sense
Intuition, for me, is a form of intelligence. A subconscious process of receiving information, of understanding a situation from previously acquired experiences.
Healing/ Assisting
I think is more what doctors and nurses do, or psycologists, or shamanists.
This has to do with our culture and beliefs which will determine the way we seek for healing, help or assistance of any form.
Compassion/ Caring
Is the capacity to understand and care about what and how other people feel, and to consider our actions from a different perspective. It also revolves around understanding the needs of other humans, animals, plants and whatsoever. It is the capacity to cultivate empathy, love, and appreciation for others.
Imprevisibility/ Sponatneity
It is something you learn in life and it involves creativity, courage, but also adaptability. Being spontaneous or unpredictable means not to fear the “new” and to stay open and curious to everything that surrounds us. It is staying in a constant process of transformation, learning, and flexibility, because we are not always in control of our own existence.
Eternity
Eternity… for some people is God, Allah, Nirvana or just a name of perfume, but for me, it’s a belief in itself. If you believe it exists and it stays in your memory… is eternal.
Magic /Magician
Beliefs in witchcraft (white and black magic), which are just history in many countries, are still practised in some regions. While I grew up with a common knowledge that witches can tell the future, cure illnesses, cast love-spells or cause death. Magic for me is about the power of thinking, positive or negative.
We are all magicians in a way or another. Through thoughts and words, we enact spells, incantation. Magic is an empowered vocalization, transcending material world.
Ritual
Ritual comes from the word ritus, in Latin, which means a religious or solemn ceremony. For me rituals have something to do with memory and things we retain be important, but also with actions we perform and become a ritual through their repetition, without even being aware, like “daily rituals”- you wake up, you brush your teeth, you drink your coffee, you put on perfume… Or the “ritual” you perform every time you visit a museum, by following the indicated path. There are also many other examples