Minister of Culture Raluca Turcan attended the inauguration of the mosaic workshop in the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice, Italy, a project under the Venice Art Biennale 2024, on which occasion she noted that this space “considerably” expands Romania’s cultural presence and contributes to the international artistic dialogue.

“I had the pleasure to participate, together with Romanian artists and representatives of cultural institutions, in the inauguration of the mosaic workshop in the New Gallery of the ICR, a project carried out under the guidance of artist Serban Savu. The workshop brings together artists from Romania and young artists from the Republic of Moldova for the seven months of the Biennale. First as a Romanian and then as minister of Culture, I am proud that our country has the chance to have two exhibition spaces at the Venice Biennale: the space it has held since 1938 in the Giardini della Biennale and the New Gallery, now transformed into an artistic workspace,” Turcan said Thursday in a post on her Facebook page.

The Biennale’s theme, Foreigners Everywhere, reminds us that, although different, people are united by creativity and art and thus transcend geographical and cultural borders, says Raluca Turcan, adding that this truth is illustrated by the exhibition What Work Is representing Romania at this year’s Biennale.

She expresses her wish that, in the future, the Republic of Moldova will also participate in the Venice Biennale.

“Congratulations to the initiator of this project, artist Serban Savu, curator Ciprian Muresan and all the talented young people from Iasi, Cluj and Chisinau, who proposed to transform the New Gallery into a contemporary mosaic workshop! I am confident that this project represents the beginning of a beautiful collaboration here in Venice and I wish to see Moldova as a participating country in La Biennale di Venezia in the future,” said minister Raluca Turcan.