© Dragos Lumpan Photography

I am a Berlin-based freelance curator and cultural practitioner with a background in literature, cultural studies, and curating. My particular area of interest lies in the practice of the curatorial, which I view as a dynamic fusion of creative expression, research methodology, and knowledge production, which includes, but also goes beyond, mere exhibition making.

I mostly work as a curator and project manager with various institutions, with Prix Ars Electronica and Ars Electronica Festival currently being my most frequent collaborator. Since starting my work at Ars Electronica in June 2022, I have developed a keen interest in art and research projects that exist at the intersection of art and technology. I am captivated by the ways in which emerging technologies can be used to expand the boundaries of contemporary art and exhibitions and to create immersive, multisensory experiences for audiences that transcend the traditional "visual" approach.

In January 2023, I joined a newly-formed collective of artists and curators based mostly in Brussels. Together, we opened Au Jus, a public living room and ever-evolving project space that includes a gallery, an apartment, and a basement. We plan to use this space as a testing ground for various curatorial formats.

In addition to my work in curating and promoting culture, I have a keen passion for language and literature. Drawing on my educational background in this field, I translate modern and contemporary German poetry into Romanian. Moreover, I am dedicated to teaching the Romanian language and have developed unique educational materials to facilitate interactive and engaging lessons that support my teaching methodology.

Memorial of forgotten thoughts

I forgot why people write literature
I forgot how people write literature
Or tell a story
I forgot how I used to come up with a good idea for a story
whether I used to call that inspiration
activation or mere luck
I forgot why I thought one has a poetic existence
next to the prosaic one,
which sometimes appears and disappears
I forgot why I used to say that in every Truth sheds a contradiction
That one thing and its contrary are practically just the same
I forgot why I used to write some words like this with capitals 
As if they were superior or more significant than others
I forgot why I bought so many books before
I might have imagined a room full of book shelves looks nicer
I forgot why I used to say that people can be either thinkers or storytellers
I forgot why I always felt so happy when I reasserted to myself the belief
That I am not an artist, 
I forgot why, whenever asked if I sometimes write 
I would be so proud to answer I don’t.
I forgot why I used to say I like people who decide to remain
outside of things
Or right on the edge
skeptics, dandies, overthinkers and bartlebys,
I forgot why I laughed always when someone referred to someone else as true artist, 
I would have never written true artist with capitals,
Neither the word art, nor the word artist
Nor the word true
Truth however would be with a capital
I forgot why
I forgot everything which I forgot before 
And what I forget I never remember again
Yet it might come back to me some day
as a new thought
as a revelation
as an activation
or as mere luck
in my Poetic Existence
in a room
full of books.

Contact

daniela.duca@gmx.de

+4915739569042