Over time, Nicu Ilfoveanu has been creating a subtle atlas that captures the aesthetics of daily life in present-day Romania. Imago Mundi weaves together the picturesque and the intimate with the myth-laden world of county fairs. The result is a documentary meta-narrative that focuses on iconographies and geographies that only emerge at the ‘margins’: the fringes of cities, collective consciousness, and modern civilization as we know it.

In this symbolically charged space, the artist sheds new light on the essential question: what constitutes the centre of the world? The evocative landscapes and genre scenes of rural fairs serve as vibrant sites of community bonding and social exchange. At the same time, the sensitive portrayals of unsung local heroes evoke the grandeur of heroic portraiture, recontextualising the concept of the ‘other’ in broader cultural and art-historical discourses.

With Imago Mundi, we gaze into the mirror of an unexplored world. Reclaiming its hidden life, the artist challenges dominant perceptions of time, space, and identity, while seeking to bridge the divide between centre and periphery.

Partner: Artep Gallery Association
Project co-financed by: AFCN