Allowing the exploration of architecture and design field and encouraging collaborations between designers, artists, architects or craftsmen by organizing curated exhibitions and including their work in interior design projects. Founded in 2019 by arh. Adela Maria Marius, Epretext Gallery brings together Romanian artists and designers who, through their practice, rebuild industries and re-establish values. After studying at the FAT Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism in Timisoara (ROMANIA), at the BAUHAUS Universitat Weimar (GERMANY), at PARSONS SSCE in New York and at NEWSCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN at San Diego (USA), Adela returned to Romania with a cultural responsability to build a community of creative individuals.
2023 EXHIBITION AND COLLABORATIONS
LIMITED EDITION HANDPAINTED CERAMIC TABLESET by EPRETEXT x ANA ADAM in collaboration with GRUNI ATELIER and LUN
2023 PRESS
MARCH 2023, OUR FOUNDER ON THE COVER OF IGLOO MAGAZINE ARHITECTURA LA FEMININ ALBUM togheter with Anda Andrei, Crina Arghirescu Rogard, Anca Cioarec & Brîndușa Tudor, Mihaela Criticos, Ilinca Păun Constantinescu, Iulia Stanciu, Oana Stănescu, Raluca Șoaita, Anda Ștefan, Simona Văleanu, Elena Viziteu Ionescu, Eliza Yokina, Iulia Oniciuc & Camina Zerva
OUR FOUNDER IN CONVERSATION WITH ANDA ZOTA, EDITOR IN CHIEF IGLOO MAGAZINE
From the first meeting, Adela is a breath of fresh air. She is the voice of the young generation, who with kindness and remarkable curatorial talent, brings together the fine arts and presents them to the general public. At the intersection of architecture, design, and art, her work reflects immense respect for tradition and craftsmanship, as well as for remarkable protagonists in the artistic fields, whom she embraces and exposes. Although the pretext platform is online, it becomes a place for surprising encounters with art and object design, in which the importance of ethical perspective describes a constant discourse.
The selection and catalog reflect Adela’s preferences and creative direction, where timeless objects share her vision of the beauty of Romanian design. Between visits to construction sites, exhibitions, and travels, her life describes an inspirational and upward trajectory.
An architectural project – a successful one, at least – should work simultaneously with the two extremes of the intellectual pyramid. It should be stimulating and sophisticated for the professionals, and understandable for the laymen (considering that architecture is, by definition, a profession that crosses both). It is both conceptual and popular, like art. How do you moderate these two extremes in your work for epretext, where you open the borders of Romanian design?
The power of an object lies in its ability to protect old traditions, to mold itself according to needs, to cancel, to contradict, or even to abolish, to create an emotion. When I choose a new object to be part of the curated selection for the epretext platform, I think about what it conveys, what it defends. The controversy of the design object, that precious or not object, incomprehensible or easily understandable, stands before me, witnessing the fact that humanity fights, creates, and does not stop. In front of it, I stand and ask myself from the extreme of a professional architect and a woman from a family of engineers, with an artist grandmother and great-grandmother, how can it serve the world with such changing needs? The essence of a design object is the understanding not that it could not have been built differently, but the way it was built. It speaks about the technique, the choice of material, and the mastery of both. On the other hand, the connection with the various floating spheres around architecture and design, whether it be photography or art, has led to many campaigns or editorials in which we presented the latest collections of objects. I then understood the power of design to be at the forefront, to be able to adapt. Design objects appeared in editorials signed by Cristian Tudose or Raluca Margescu, photographers who previously only photographed fashion editorials. It was a spectacle to see how the borders opened, and how the design object became everyone’s and spoke and transmitted to everyone.
Find more of the interview in the printed version of ARHITECTURA LA FEMININ album by IGLOO MAGAZINE here
RALUCA MARGESCU, APRIL 2023
FIND MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT+ HERE
INCLUDED PIECES IN THE CAMPAIGN:
LIMITED EDITION ALLPINE DAYBED by EPRETEXT x RADU ABRAHAM
ORGANIC MY WARDROBE BLAZER by OCTAVIA CHIRU
CĂPRIOR ASH DINING CHAIR by ATELIER ARBORITM, CRISTIAN TUDOR
LIMITED EDITION HANDPAINTED SET by EPRETEXT x ANA ADAM
in collaboration WITH GRUNI ATELIER and LUN
VENEER SEPARÈ by KABINET STUDIOS, DANU CHIRINCIUC
ALL TOMORROWS STARTS HERE DRESS by LUCIAN RUSU
UNIQUE SCULPTURE from “A PILE OF ANXIETIES” series by ANA BOTEZATU
UNIQUE VASE from “A PILE OF ANXIETIES” series by ANA BOTEZATU
CICONIA VASE by COSMIQ
LIMITED EDITION SILK SCARF from the “YOUR FIRE ROPE ME” series signed by MIRCEA CANTOR
PORCELAIN CUPS by ÎNGERI SI ZMEI
ARC DE TRIUMPHE SCULPTURE by PETER JECZA
QUINOA MOHAIR CUSI POUF & BENCH by KABINET STUDIO
BRONZE & ALUMINIUM CARIATIDE COFFEE TABLE 1999 by PETER JECZA
FRUCTUS PATERA FRUIT BOWL by PROJECT PARA
WELDED STAINLESS STEEL TRIGONA LAMP by CONSTANTIN FLONDOR
AN ADVISOR WILL RESPOND TO YOU within 24 business hours, Monday to Friday. (CET)
WHATSAPP 0040 720 222 554
EMAIL contact@epretext.ro
ADDRESS 300774 TIMIȘOARA, ROMANIA