University of Art and Design

Mara Raţiu is Associate Professor within the Theory Department of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (since 2014), teaching courses in philosophy and aesthetics of the visual arts. Her main research interests are in aesthetics, contemporary artistic practices and institutions and their socio-political implications. She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and has presented papers in more than a dozen national and international conferences. She is the author of the book Arta ca activitate socială / Art as social activity (2011) and the editor of the volume Discursuri asupra artei / Discourses on Art (2014). She is a GETTY – New Europe College Bucharest fellow, as well as a scientific adviser (2010-2012 and 2019-2022). Between 2012 and 2022 she was vice-rector and interim rector, respectively, within her university. Since 2016 she is a member of the Representative Board of ELIA – European League of Institutes of the Arts and since 2020 she is a member of the MNAC Scientific Board.

Dep. of Film and Media, UBB

Horea Avram is an art critic, media theorist and independent curator. He researches and writes about art and visual culture in relationship with media technology. PhD in Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University, Montreal. He is Associate Professor at the Department of Cinema and Media, Faculty of Theatre and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

He has contributed to: Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, (Oxford University Press, 2014), Theorizing Visual Studies: Writing Through the Discipline (New York: Routledge, 2013), Encyclopedia of the imaginaries in Romania. (Iaşi: Polirom, 2020). He is the author of Negotiable perspective. Essays and Commentaries on Contemporary Artistic Practices. Bucharest: Eikon Press, 2021.

He was research fellow of the New Europe College Institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences, 2017-2018.

Member of various professional associations such as: NECS - European Network for Cinema and Media Studies, International Society for Intermedial Studies (ISIS), The Union of Visual Artists (UAP), Romania. Member and past president of the AFCN Council – Administration of the National Cultural Fund, Romania. President of the International Association of Art Critics - AICA Romania.

Independent curator since 1996. Curator for Romania at the Venice Biennale 1999.

Faculty of Theater and Film

Cristina Pop-Tiron is a versatile intermedia artist currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Theater and Performing Arts while serving as a lecturer at the Cinematography, Film, and Media Department within the Faculty of Theater and Film at Babeș-Bolyai University. Her extensive background is a testament to her passion for exploring the dynamic interplay between new and traditional technologies, and how they engage audiences and participants through interactive experiences. Her professional journey has been marked by her involvement in performance art and new media art, where her research primarily revolves around the concept of active spectatorship, focusing on the interactivity of digital installations and performance art.

Theory Department, UAD

Is Associate Professor within the Theory Department at the University of Art and Design in Cluj, teaching courses on Philosophy, Contemporary Art Discourses, Critical Theory, Art and Activism and Ethics and Integrity. With the main focus of his research in the complex relations between arts, politics, technology and society, he is also active in the cultural field with more than a dozen books translated (from German into Romanian) and numerous reviews and opinion pieces published in various cultural media outlets.

He lives and works in Cluj-Napoca.

Faculty of History and Philosophy

Radu-Cristian Andreescu (born in 1996) graduated from Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of History and Philosophy, and is currently a PhD student in Philosophy (Aesthetics) at the same university. His doctoral thesis explores the new interplay between aesthetics and ethics in contemporary culture. He has published several articles in cultural and scientific journals covering topics such as the phenomenology of the image, new media art, artistic creativity, social critique, late capitalism, the aesthetics of the avantgardes, and the influence of technology on art. His research interests focus on the philosophy of art, philosophy of culture, social philosophy, AI-generated art, and the interplay between aesthetics, ethics and politics.He lives and works in Cluj-Napoca.