All drawings by Dan Perjovschi, 2014.
From the editors:
Among the revolutions of 1989, Romania’s riots constituted Europe’s most violent overthrow of a Communist regime. Launched on December 16, street protests sought to end decades of Communist rule under the Stalinist command of Nicolae Ceaușescu. The Romanian population had been pushed to the brink by a notorious Securitate (secret police), state censorship of dissenting views and austerity policies that led to widespread poverty and soaring infant mortality rates. When Ceaușescu defended his rule and denounced the uprising in a televised speech delivered from the balcony of his Bucharest palace on December 21, the crowd erupted in protest. Ceaușescu and his wife were captured by armed forces the following day and executed on December 25. In May 1990 Romania held its first elections of the post-Communist era. Today, 25 years after the revolution, the artist Dan Perjovschi shares drawings satirizing the consumerism and materialism that have followed in the wake of Communism.
From the artist:
On December 21, 25 years ago, I was on the streets of Sibiu, Romania, dodging bullets, inhaling tear gas and screaming, “Freedom!” On the walls of my hometown I saw the first Romanian graffiti: Down with the dictator!
Today I have the freedom to do graffiti-like drawings on the walls, ceilings and windows of art institutions across the planet. Mind-blowing!
And just last month, Romanians elected as their president Klaus Iohannis, a member of the ethnic German minority and a Protestant Lutheran in a country where nearly nine out of 10 citizens belong to the Orthodox Church. In a way, 25 years later, this marks the real end of the dictatorship. This is a new beginning. A reset. This is our share of HOPE.
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Dan Perjovschi