23 May Unlearning the Book – IASI Chapter

An international group exhibition featuring experimental works by artists from Bangladesh and Romania.

Curated by Sadya Mizan.

Unlearning the Book is a process-based, collective art initiative that invites multidisciplinary artists and creative practitioners to rethink the book beyond its conventional form. Moving away from fixed ideas of printing, pages, mass production, and binding, the project explores the book as a living, tactile, and relational medium shaped by storytelling, cultural memory, materiality, and lived experience.

Originating in Bangladesh in February 2026, the project began with 27 multidisciplinary Bangladeshi artists under the curatorial direction of Sadya Mizan and Fareha Zeba. Through peer-learning workshops, interactive sessions, collaborative making, and a public exhibition, the initiative developed a process-based methodology centered on experimentation, dialogue, and collective inquiry.

The Romania chapter during May 2026 extends this evolving itinerant art initiative into a new cultural context, bringing together artists from Bangladesh and Romania in a cross-cultural exploration of storytelling, memory, and experimental book forms. Through multidisciplinary and experimental practices, participating artists collectively question how stories can be held, shared, archived, touched, unfolded, and experienced beyond conventional structures of the book.

The exhibition unfolds as an immersive storytelling environment where audiences are invited not only to observe but also to engage with tactile, interactive, and process-driven works. Throughout the exhibition period, the project will continue evolving through workshops, storytelling sessions, artist talks, and collaborative public activities across multiple venues in Iași. Each venue and each day will offer new experiences and encounters for visitors.

The Iași chapter is realised through the collaboration of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University through the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, the Erasmus mobility exchange program, National Museum Complex “Moldova” Iași through the Muzeul „Poni – Cernătescu, Negru Zi Café, STUDIO_PORTALS@ARMEANĂ.18, and Universitatea Națională de Arte “George Enescu” Iași.

Organizing and Collaborating Team:
Andrei-Claudiu Timofte, Dan-Mihail Acostioaei, Ioana Palamar, Monica Nãnescu, Ovidiu Gavrilovici, Tudor Pătraşcu.

Participating Artists

Bangladesh:
Abrar Shadman, Ahsana Angona, Alia Kamal, Esha Ahmed, Faiza Fairooz, Farah Naz Moon, Farhana Ferdausi, Fouzia Mahin Chowdhury, Hridita Anisha, Jayatu Chakma, Jinnatun Jannat, Kazmin Samia, Lekh Nesa Khatun, Mahadi Masud, Mahmuda Siddika, Marzia Bentee Rahman, Nazmul Hossen Nayon, Nodi Judith Gomes, Nur A Alaa Siddique, Papia Sarwar, Rafia Mahjabeen, Rituparna Saha, Tahmina Iasi, Hafiz Lisa, Toufikul Islam, Venessa Kaiser.

Romania:
Alexandra-Lucia Roșu, Alexandru Petrila, Ana-Maria Furcoi, Andreea Barnea, Billy, Bișog Tatiana, Cezar Lăzărescu, Ciomaga Iulia, Crina-Miruna Cărăbuș, Ioana Palamar, Laura-Ioana Pruteanu, Luchian Petruța Iulia, Mateea-Angelica Enache, Oana Florescu, Sofia Dominoschi, Tudor Pătraşcu, and students from the Mural Department at UNAGE Iași.

📍 First Venue
STUDIO_PORTALS@ARMEANĂ.18
Atelierele U.A.P Armeana
Strada Armeană 1, 700039 Iași, România
27 May – 4 June 2026
Opening: 27 May | 6 PM
Open daily: 4 PM – 8 PM

📍 Second Venue
The Hall of the Echoing Footsteps
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Bulevardul Carol I 11, 700506 Iași, România
28 May – 4 June 2026
Opening: 28 May | 7 PM
Open daily: 11 AM – 5 PM

Pre-exhibition lecture performance @
Negru Zi Café
Strada Costache Negruzzi 8, 700259 Iași
26th May 2026 | 6-7PM