Integrations

Integrations is a series of curatorial experiments that explore the shifting identities experienced during the process of assimilation and acculturation. The Romanian Art Collective SF (RAC SF) expresses this dynamic through various exhibition spaces, artworks, and new artistic collaborations. It consists of a diverse group of visual, performance and applied artists. By bringing together our different personal and artistic experiences and viewpoints, we can form a more complete and deeper understanding of what it means to be an immigrant.

Integrations Pt. 1

Dutch Boy Paint Warehouse Lofts

Integrations Pt. 2

Four Chicken Gallery

Integrations Pt. 3

China Brotsky Gallery

The experience of being "here" and "there" — caught in the space between — defines those who have uprooted, relocated, and engaged in a dynamic process of renewal and reinvention, embracing new cultures, while holding onto the memories of their past. This multimedia exhibit invites reflection on the complex challenges faced by individuals who cross physical, social, and emotional borders. It explores the deep feelings of foreignness that those who "cross" experience both at "home" and in their new environments through frames like nostalgia, memory, and a sense of living between worlds.

Call and Response is a dynamic exhibit that explores themes of longing, remembrance, renewal, and reinvention. The works prompt a deeper reflection on identity and belonging by exploring the tension of existing in liminal spaces. The exhibit provides a dynamic art experience that integrates such artistic practices as painting, sculpture, installation, photography, performance, and sound design. By bringing together these diverse forms of expression of group members alongside invited artists, Call and Response engages in a dialog that considers how our interactions impact one another.

In this new exhibit, we are happy to announce that the collective is collaborating with invited artists Adrian Sandu, Adrian Leverkuhn, Dan Perjovschi, and Kat Mustatea.

The exhibition “Where Are You From?” explores the multidimensionality of the question. It examines identity and belonging as an ever changing variable for people whose personal histories are touched by immigration, who must consistently adapt, adopt, change, and learn all that is new and foreign as well as the inherent assumptions of who fits within the “American” social construct.

Our regional perspective remains underrepresented despite being among the most recent of widespread diasporas and our experiences as Romanian immigrants offer a distinctive lens on themes of belonging, identity, memory, and connection. While we are all from Romania, our diverse backgrounds—shaped by factors like ethnicity, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation—add layers of complexity. In addition, our country’s geographical location at the crossroads of great empires, its tumultuous history, and its transition from communism has significantly shaped our perspectives. By collaborating and drawing from our individual experiences, we collectively expand and redefine “where we are from” within our cultural context and that of the United States.