How do we talk about freedom today? What do solidarity, democracy, courage still mean to us?
In a global context dominated by geopolitical tensions, the restriction of civil liberties and the fragmentation of public discourse, IMAGINE.SUNET.'89 is becoming an essential platform for reflection and dialog. Now in its sixth edition, the project brings to the forefront the values that defined Timișoara's collective identity in December 1989.
In 2025, the theme of the edition - PERSPECTIVE - proposes a contemporary re-reading of the Revolution, through a multifaceted approach: artistic, educational, community and inclusive.
Performance-reading: "And yet... I don't remember it being like this"
The performative reading by Rareș Rusan and Otniel Floruț, actors of the Magnolias theater company, brings to the audience a deeply personal and collective story. The text is based on the authentic testimonies of people who lived through the Revolution in Timisoara - a Timisoara of courage, silent resistance and sincere solidarity.
The show is about betrayal, mistrust, and the pain of discovering that "duty to the regime" can overshadow even loyalty to family. In the form of a confession, it raises the question: how do you live with the revelation that your loved ones have been your overseers?
Cast: Otniel Floruț, Rareș Rusan
Text: Rareș Rusan
Duration: 40 min
A project with a stake: IMAGINE.SUNET.'89
Initiated in 2020 by lecturer Dr. Mădălin Mărienuț, the project has consolidated itself as an interdisciplinary approach to recover and reinterpret the memory of the 1989 Revolution through art and education.
Its structure reflects the two essential components of collective memory:
IMAGINE: exhibitions of documentary photography in the Rotonda Gallery and at the ICR Vienna, analog photography workshops for high school students, visual explorations of the city and the Revolution.
SUNET: storytelling workshops coordinated by Claudia Bucsai, multimedia performances directed by Carmen Lidia Vidu (Diary of a Revolution), documentary theater (Yesterday And Today, collective creation Magnolias) and film workshops for final-year students.
Each year, the project actively involves young people, artists, educators and members of vulnerable communities, building a space for co-creation and common reflection.
PERSPECTIVES 2025: A step towards inclusion
The 2025 edition emphasizes cultural accessibility, integrating elements such as narrative description, sign language, simplified language, tactile materials and cultural mediation. This direction is being developed in collaboration with the Kabaitan Cultural Association, in the spirit of the previous Perspective editions (2023-2024).
Culture as a democratic exercise
IMAGINE.SUNET.'89.PERSPECTIVE is not only an artistic platform, but also a civic act. In a world in which freedoms won can be quietly lost, culture becomes the space in which we remember who we are and what values unite us.
Spectators are not mere spectators, but active participants, invited to rethink their relationship with the past, reflect on the present and imagine a more empathetic, more united future.
Rareș Rusan's public reading is not just an artistic event - it is a form of collective vigil, a plea for memory and an invitation to open dialog. It is a reminder that democracy should be lived, not just commemorated.
