The Institute of the Present begins within the "Uncensored Act" project, part of the cultural program Timișoara 2023 — European Capital of Culture, the PENINSULA series of meetings, an experimental dialogue component in connection with the cultural contents present on the local scene in Timișoara. PENINSULA is a discussion and reflection group dedicated to Timișoara residents concerned with the cultural phenomenon, in various fields of activity. The purpose of the group is to engage in an active and critical intellectual exchange on the side of the events in the context of the extensive Timișoara 2023 program and its relationship with the needs and expectations of the community.

We believe that there is very little consistent and structured exchange of ideas on the events and contents present on the artistic and cultural scene, so this collective proposes to operate on the system of a reading club, only that the subject of discussions will not be books, but events held in Timisoara. An initial meeting to learn about the individual concerns of the members and to prepare the program takes place between September 12-14, 2022 at FABER, and the group will then meet regularly, once every 2 weeks, between September and November 2022, on from Monday. Group members participate individually or together in various events (shows, exhibitions, presentations, etc.) based on a program of events agreed through discussions. PENINSULA members were selected between June and July through lists of proposals made by the partners of the initiative, the Present Institute, the Community Foundation and the Triade Foundation, as well as by the local collaborators of the program:

– MIANA BARTA, mathematics teacher at the Banăţean National College. Loves children, art and designer jewelry.
– BIANCA BĂILĂ, seasonal visual artist, experimental gardener, program coordinator and communication person at the Timisoara Community Foundation.
- OTILIA GALESCU, journalist and traveler, believes that the Fox was right in telling the Little Prince that you become forever responsible for what you have tamed.
– ALEXANDRU LUCA, computer engineer.
– CRISTINA POTRA-MUREȘAN is co-founder of the FABER independent cultural center and the Timișoara Community Foundation. He studied management in Ireland and France and worked in various international and multidisciplinary teams.
– ARNOLD SCHLACHTER, from Timisoara, passionate about poetry in German and more, visual artist less active lately, but more active as a writer.
- ADINA ȘTEFĂNESCU graduated from the faculty of philosophy and computer science and is in love with art, the philosophy of culture, but also technology and science. He has a master's degree in epistemology and a doctorate in governance and cybersecurity, and his current profession is lead auditor in information security. He was a software architect for a long time. He enjoys painting in different mediums, mostly oil, writing and traveling. His ideal of man is a humanist one, of a Renaissance nature, open to all aspects of non-dogmatic knowledge and to the creative environment, be it scientific, aesthetic or moral.
– MIHAI TOTH, visual artist, lives and works in Timișoara; current PhD student at the Faculty of Arts and Design in Timișoara; founding member of the Baraka Artist Cultural Association. Concerned with collective referential systems in which group cooperation and coordination take precedence over individual mechanism.
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Team:
– SORINA JECZA (discussion moderator). Generic traits, aspirations: "bridge man", mediator, who likes to open roads through communication. Attached to the idea of ​​beauty that builds, of harmony. Attentive to himself and those around him, constantly cultivating his "awakening", the ability to see beyond appearances. Follower, unknowingly, of relational aesthetics. Objective, pragmatic features. Co-founder of the Triade Foundation, together with Peter Jecza, and of the Art Encounters Foundation, together with Ovidiu Șandor. Researcher in philology, editor, cultural manager, close to sculpture, etc.
– COSMIN MANOLESCU (initial and final meeting facilitator). Artist and cultural expert, designer of experiences and emotional journeys, deeply believes that dance and contemporary art can positively change people's lives. He had an important role in the development of contemporary dance in Romania, the improvement of public financing systems and the development of European and international collaboration projects.
– ȘTEFANIA FERCHEDĂU (initiator and group conception). He likes to research, have and generate immediate access to the laboratory state of an idea, a text, an artistic work, to be part of and support the process in which things are built. A native intuition in connections with people, a background in the study of literature and classical languages, and a dedicated commitment to making complex artistic projects happen makes her approach the impossible as a necessary step in all her endeavors.
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IP — Institute of the Present (Bucharest) is a platform for research and artistic resources in the field of visual and performative culture created by Ștefania Ferchedău and Alina Șerban.

The "Uncensored Act" program has at its center the idea of ​​community, collective action and reflection, development and exchange of resources, collaboration and solidarity in the spirit of common values, proposing a course connected to the history of Timisoara in the context of the 1989 revolution.

The project is part of the "Cultural Program Timișoara 2023 — European Capital of Culture" and is financed by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Project Center. Partners: FABER, Community Foundation. Visual: Daniel & Andrew Studio