home in dialogue: Dana Olărescu
‘Home in dialogue’ is a series of interviews with Romanians returned to Romania or those who live in between Romania and another country. Dana Olărescu is a performance artist and co-founder of performance company There There. We talked about her work’s focus on Eastern European identity and immigration as well as her recent project ‘The Romanians are coming back’ which looks at the process of reintegration after living abroad.
RB: When did you leave Romania and why did you choose to leave?
DO: To my mother’s exasperation my adolescence involved writing Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos lyrics in chalk on my bedroom door. I was a solitary teenager trying to escape the day-to-day realities of Bucharest (it was challenging to leave the house without being catcalled or touched by repulsive men), scratching at the surface of feminism, being slowly pulled into a world that only seemed to exist outside Romania. Later I attended an English bilingual high school followed by the completion of a BA in Theatre Directing and when Romania joined the EU I ran away to pursue an MA in Performance Making in London. I’d always dreamt of studying abroad and this was my chance — but I was predictably naive to assume this would usher me into a new chapter of my life. I needed freedom and economic independence yet obtusely chose to pursue this in 2009, one year after the Financial Crisis.
I was certain the MA would allow me to achieve everything I hadn’t in Bucharest. Instead, I was greeted by anti-immigration animosity.
RB: Tell us about your performance company There There and your focus on immigration and identity.
DO: My naivety extended to impossibilities; I was certain the MA would allow me to achieve everything I hadn’t in Bucharest. Instead I was greeted by anti-immigration animosity prompted by Romania and Bulgaria recently having joined the EU. While navigating the bureaucratic rigmarole of work permits, discussions would often be peppered with comments such as, “You can’t be Romanian, you’re not dressed as a prostitute” or “Oh, you must love to clean if you come from Romania” — bringing me face to face with an alternative to the seemingly welcoming, tolerant society Britain presents itself as. It wasn’t all bad though: I was relishing discovering London’s advantages, becoming an independent adult and basking in multiculturality — something Romania could never aspire to. That’s when I met Bojana Janković, the other half of There There. Our similar experiences of being ‘othered’ brought us together leading to our first performance Eastern Europeans for Dummies: an anthropological showcase of two authentic Eastern Europeans — a Romanian and a Serb — dissecting stereotypes perpetuated by politicians and the media. Soon our work was devoted solely to combating ill-informed and highly racialised anti-Eastern European discourses. We created installations, performances, exhibitions, and audio guides in partnership with museums, art galleries, theatres and diaspora organisations, aimed at strengthening ties between Eastern European communities.
Investigating the stereotypes encountered by former immigrants we discovered a common thread — that of coming to feel like an outsider both in Romania and abroad.
RB: Tell us about your project ‘The Romanians are coming back’: how did it come about? What did you learn and what are the next steps?
DO: One of our pieces titled Trigger Warning is an installation inspired by traditional English faire games which allows its audience to experience the life of a typical immigrant as imagined by the British media over the last decade: job-stealing, benefits-scrounging and non-integration. Developed for Tate Modern soon after the EU referendum, we invited London-based Eastern Europeans to invigilate the games so as to give voice to a range of distinct experiences. We then travelled to Denmark and Romania to deepen this exploration of identity in different contexts: in Denmark, at the Centre for Art on Migration Politics, we worked with four Eastern European women to develop a similar game based on their experiences in Copenhagen. In Romania we partnered with Bucharest-based ODD, a space for theoretical discussions and art events, and launched a short inquiry into the politics of reintegration. Over the course of this week-long residency we collaborated with five Romanians (Adriana Minu, Alina Cristea, Ana Turos, Catalina Bolozan and Tatiana Moise) who, having lived in the West, had recently returned to their home country. Through workshops investigating the stereotypes encountered by former immigrants we discovered a common thread — that of coming to feel like an outsider both in Romania and abroad. This sentiment echoed through the process of ‘reintegration’ often conducted in physical or psychological limbo between countries. Coming back home proved as delicate an experience as immigration itself — acknowledging this became the basis of The Romanians are Coming Back, a game inspired by Snakes and Ladders. Together we created a game charting the chaotic journey from arrival back to Romania to feeling ‘at home’ again, inviting the audience to experience the cultural, political, and personal twists and turns of reintegration.
These encounters with our participants proved therapeutic and in addition to expanding our practice to co-authorship for the first time, it shed light on a constant dilemma: what would I do if I went back home? Would I be able to reintegrate? Could I continue my practice there or would I be forced into more ‘realistic’ alternatives?
We intend for the project to continue organically as our participants felt fortunate to meet each other and develop an informal group where they could share common experiences.
RB: How often do you go to Romania? Would you like to return for a longer period of time? What interests you in returning?
DO: One of my realisations as an immigrant has been that, once abroad, your national identity either becomes stronger or recedes altogether. Personally, constantly attempting to decipher my identity in different contexts and struggling to rationalise feelings for my home country has resulted in these questions becoming unimportant. Contemporary access and exposure to local Romanian news, often imbued with vitriolic patriotism, nationalism, and financial and ideological chaos overrides my feelings of nostalgia. As much as home is inextricably linked to memories of family and friends it is impossible to consider it without taking these broader issues into account.
I only go back around once a year, sometimes even less. There are things I would still love to explore there and in many ways living there as an adult greatly appeals. However, my life is very much embedded in London — something I do not see or desire changing any time soon, even though my status here hinges on Brexit and other myopic governmental idiocies. I would love to be more present, more active in Romania’s local disputes, protests, changes, and movements but rather than feeling guilty due to physical distance (as I always do), I hope to one day create initiatives that really create change at a local level. Bucharest is still a city I have great affection for and perhaps future projects will open other avenues for me in Romania.
Dana Olărescu is a Bucharest-born and London-based performance artist.
She is the co-founder of There There performance company, whose practice explores contemporary immigration, national identity and exclusion.
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