cover me softly
2024 Beta Architecture Biennial,
Timișoara, Romania
Curated by Oana Stănescu with Chase Galis and Simina Marin
cover me softly looks to the cover song as a model for investigating contemporary creative production.
A cover is a musical performance based on an existing recording. Cover also means shelter. To protect or hide. To conceal or disguise, to extend over time or space. To run for cover, to cover one’s back. To work with what’s already there.
The 2024 Beta Architecture Biennial looks beyond notions of copying, stealing, imitating, and bootlegging—that each come with their own ethical slant—offering alternate vocabularies for understanding how knowledge and authorship are circulated in art and design. By centering our vast interconnectedness, cover me softly opens new realms of possibility for doing, making, and being.
Sited in the historic Garrison Command of Timișoara, Romania, the exhibition brings together a wide selection of architects, designers, musicians, artists, activists, photographers, writers, directors, and those that refuse categorization to present their own take on the cover. The works exhibited demonstrate a range of fidelities to the original—some closer to a direct copy, others a distant reference. They reflect on life cycles of ideas and intellectual property as well as that of the material that makes up our built and natural environments, lending important perspectives for addressing architecture’s complicity in ongoing environmental degradation. Fundamental to this question, cover me softly encourages us to take stock of what is in front of us and imagine where we could go from there.
September 13, 2024 – October 27, 2024
Photography: David Dumetrescu, Marius Vasile, Gabriel Amza
Featuring Contributions From
Adam-Joseph Ghadi-Delgado (Architect, Canada), Adis Is OK (Musical artist, Hungary), Akane Moriyama (Architect, Sweden, Japan), Alexandra Trofin (Architect, Romania), Alt. Corp. (Architects, Romania), Ana Miljački, Critical Broadcasting Lab, MIT (Historian, critic, curator, United States of America, Serbia), Ana Uzelac (Musical artist, Serbia), Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán (Artists, Austria, Romania), Andra Dumitrascu (Designer, Germany), Andreas Ruby (Critic, Germany), Angela Pang (Architect, United States of America), Anya (Musical artist, Portugal), Arthur Jafa (Artist, United States of America), Atelier Ad Hoc (Architects, Romania), Atmos Lab (Architects, Great Britain), Bogdan Demetrescu, Alexandrina Ciortuz, Tamás Bodó , Octavian Horvath (Architects, Romania), Bogman (Musical artist, Romania), Borusiade (Musical artist, Romania, Germany), BOUDICCA (Designers, Great Britain), BURR (Architects, Spain), Coby Sey (Musical artist, Great Britain), Corp. (Artistic collective, Romania), Cosmin Nicolae / Cosmin TRG (Musical artist, Romania, Germany), Dani Gagiu (Artist, Romania), Dazion (Musical Artist, Netherlands), Delfina Fantini van Ditmar & Lee Roach (Designers, Great Britain), Delfina Fantini van Ditmar, Zowie Broach, Brian Kirkby (Designers, Great Britain), ECOU studio & Conservation Carpathia Foundation (Architects, Romania), Eirwud Mudwasser (Musical Artist, Romania), FALA architektura (Architects, Activists, Poland), Fantastic Twins (Producer, composer), Fiona Connor (Artist, United States of America), Friedemann Heckel (Artist, Germany), Funky Citizens (Activists, Romania), GRASS+BATZ (Architects, Chile), Identity Education x Beta (Activists, Designers, Romania), INST, Carlos Casacuberta (Architects, Artist, Uruguay), Iwan Baan & Vantieghem Talebi (Photographer, Netherlands, Architects, United States of America, Switzerland), Jack Hogan (Interdisciplinary artist and architect, Ireland), James Massiah (Musical artist, Great Britain), Jim Joe (Artist, United States of America), , Juan Pablo Abalo (Composer, producer, Chile), Kadjavsi (Musician, Romania), KARAMUK KUO Architects (Architects, Switzerland), Khidja (Musical artist, Romania, Germany), Ladr Ache (Musical artist, Belgium), Laurian Ghinițoiu (Photographer, Romania, Germany), Leonid Slonimskiy (KOSMOS) (Architect, Switzerland), Lychee (Musical Artist), Malkit Shoshan (Designer, researcher, educator, writer, United States of America), Maria Masha Lisogorskaya, Roxanne Tataei, Carey Mortimer (Artists, Great Britain, Italy), Mark Leckey (Artist, Great Britain), Misiūna / McCarthy (Designers, United States of America, Lithuania), Nate Jobe (Artist, United States of America, Italy), Nevena Jeremic (Musical artist, Serbia), New Affiliates (Architects, United States of America), Nida Ekenel (Architect, United States of America), Nuar Alsadir (Psychoanalyst, United States of America), Ouch Collective (DJs, Romania), Pavle Mijuca (Artist, Architect, Serbia), Radu Jude (Director, Romania), Rebecca Salvadori (Artist, Great Britain), Romansoff (Musical Artist, Romania), Roxanne Tataei (Vocal Artist, Great Britain), SO-IL (Architects, United States of America), Something Fantastic (Architects, Designers, Germany), Sonia Sobrino Ralston & Oana Frentiu (Doda Natural) (Designer, Herbalist, Canada, Romania), Sophia Le Fraga (Artist, United States of America), Space Popular (Architects, Great Britain, Spain, Sweden), Stefana Parascho & Eric Duong (CRCL EPFL), Zara Pfeifer (Researcher, architect; scientific collaborator; artist, Germany, Switzerland), Tremaine Emory (Artist, United States of America), Tristan Whalen & Noemi Iten (Curators, Great Britain, United States of America), Tudor Vlasceanu (Architect, Romania), Tutia Schaad (Designer, Germany, Belgium), Vlad Nancă & Vlad Gaivoronschi (Architects, Romania), Wang Consulting (Designers, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland), Zeller & Moye (Architects, Germany, Mexico)
Exhibition Credits
Curated by Oana Stănescu with Chase Galis and Simina Marin
Head of Beta: Alexandra Trofin
Beta team: Anca Teslevici, Nicoleta Postolache, Catinca Mănăilă, Amanda Ugorji, Christopher Hassan Allen, Cristina Paralescu, Miruna Trașcă, Alex Naghiu, Georgiana Spiridon, Miruna Bărăitaru, Eliza Cheșa, Evelina Ursatii, Ana Lukacs, Dani Gagiu, Anda Roșu
Art direction: Something Fantastic (Julian Schubert, Elena Schütz, and Leonard Streich)
Former team members: Maria Sgîrcea, Ema Cristescu, Cătălin Asanache
Extended team: Simina Grindean, Ștefan Lucuț, Ema Priscă, Costi Bleotu, Andrei Drăcea, Pataki Farkas, Bianca Azap Purice, Dan Purice, Lucian Pană, Tina Cucu
Production team: Răzvan Oncu & Crown Rooftop team, Teo Papadopol & Studio Citadel team, Alexandru Almăjan & Millegarden team, Mihai Electric VMI team, Adrian Vișenoiu & Saltbox team, Ileana Teslevici & seamstresses team, Bogdan Barbu, Andra Diana Dascălu
Volunteers: Adelina Teodorovici, Adrian Groza, Agnes Ungur, Alexandra Elena Munteanu, Alexandra Lolea, Alexandru Rotaru, Alice Doris Zaha, Andreea Maria Kojnok, Andrei Barbu, Antoneta-Nicoleta Popa, Ariana Tole, Bianca Burescu, Briana Chirilă, Calin Falcusan, Christine Munteanu, Clarissa Achimet, Coseri Diana, Diana-Ioana Andrici, Elona Giubega, Frujina Neagu, Ioana Călămar, Ioana Natalia Averescu, Ioana Paula Sasarman, Ioana-Maria Badea, Iulia Teodora Scorobinschi, Jihan Agualimpia Ramirez, Kenza Belkhiri, Laura Ghise, Laura-Elena Popa, Mara Ioana Craiu, Maria Balan, Maria Brădean, Maria Costea, Matei Nicorici, Mihaela Vlaicu, Paula Iancu, Pop Giulia, Raluca Marin, Raluca Schipor, Raluca Silvia Popa, Rares Gonciulea, Roxana Puscas, Slageana Panici, Timea Borsan, Timeea Sfercoci, Tom Kohrs, Vicențiu Bășa
Volunteers from the Timisoara Penitentiary: Ciurariu Lucian, Damaschin Daniel-Nicolae, Juca Ioan Dorin, Jurgi Ionica, Mihaly Imre, Popa Andrei-Laurentiu, Toda Marcel, Joaca Laurentiu Ionut, Moldovan Petre, Nicolae Sever-Cristian, Stepan Paul Andrei, Bodan Ioan, Nechita Flore, Novac Denis, Tanase Nicolae, Nicoriac Petrica, Mitran Titel-Ionut, Ciurariu Lucian, Gerebenes Ionel
Organized by OAR Timiș
OAR Timiș team: Daniel Johannes Burileanu Tellman, Cosmin Bloju, Maria Chifan, Carmen Cocora
Co-founded by The Romanian Order of Architects through the Architectural Stamp Duty and Timișoara City Hall through the Center for Projects
Find the Book
cover me softly, edited by Oana Stanescu, Chase Galis, and Something Fantastic
Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König (Cologne: October, 2024)
click here for more
Including contributions by Oana Stanescu, Alyce Currier, Juliana Huxtable, R. H. Lossin, Chase Galis, Sonia Sobrino Ralston, Jonah Coe-Scharff, Radu Jude, Cosmin Nicolae, Raha Talebi, Nate Jobe, Ciro Miguel, Iman Fayyad, Nuar Alsadir, Alice Bucknell, Benji B, and Irina Rice
Dowload the Exhibition Guide
