We are advisedly using this word in the plural, since we are conceiving this partition of the site as hosting a heterogeneous array of items. Or rather, we are starting with this view of archives, but allow for the possibility that some of the items included here will grow into more significant sections of it, or even will become autonomous. It should also be added that some among our examples are such that they may (and will eventually be) part of several partitions.
To start with a telling example: Horia Bernea’s Notebooks. He has been keeping notebooks practically all his life as an artist; among the earlier ones (of which we found a few in the studio in Otopeni) there are some which consist exclusively of writing, through which he is outpouring his thoughts and feelings. But this sort of notebook is rare, if not downright absent (at least as far as our knowledge goes) slightly later, and over the years, in favor first of all of an inextricable coexistence between drawings and written comments of various kinds, directly related to the drawings, or registering more general reflections. These notebooks are obviously a sort of personal archiving of artistic ideas and thoughts around them, and this role is confirmed by the fact that some of the motifs, themes, subjects etc. are taken over in other media, and at different times. Many – especially among the earlier ones (late 60s and early 70s) have a conspicuously experimental character. Can they be considered primarily/essentially mere notations intended to preserve ideas for future reworking? We rather see them as having this role alongside that of works in their own right, irrespective of their “technical” accomplishment; and there are many indications that this is a value the artist himself bestows them. The multifaceted interest of the drawings is certain to make of them the largest and most important section of this rubric. Also, at various times in his trajectory, drawings or watercolors became works proper, living on the pages of a notebook.
We are also including here photographs, by Horia Bernea himself, who made a large number of photographs and slides, and by some of his friends and associates, on occasion by professional photographers, documenting episodes of his life, his presence in certain places, events in his personal life or in his career. Here again, the diversity is great in terms of intent, of means, of functions etc., especially when one finds in Bernea’s interviews remarks highlighting the role of photographs made by himself in the formulation of some of his themes.
Another type of document we consider including are letters. We have in mind here letters of a more or less personal nature, such as his correspondence with fellow artists (a particularly rich example is his quite vast correspondence with Paul Neagu, e. g.) We don’t propose to include on the site letters of an intimate nature, unless they are crucial for the understanding of HB’s character or of a particular point in his life and career. What is of primary interest to us are letters that constitute occasions of exchanging ideas or impressions with people with similar interests. In some cases, a letter may be interesting or important for factual reasons. This brings us also to another category of letters or documents, those issued by official bodies or persons occupying a position of responsibility.
Posters announcing exhibitions or events with the artist’s participation, or touching upon an aspect of his work/activity, will also find their way here. We will be including here or elsewhere on this site photographs documenting the display of his works in exhibitions, or documents registering projects of such display. We hesitate for the moment whether to include such photographs or documents under Archives, or under a rubric where we would attempt to reconstruct a number of his exhibitions. This suggests that such examples may find an equally legitimate place in a rubric on display/curating/self-curating, or in a large and as yet hazy rubric on “research”.