Marilena Preda Sânc

Feminism in Romania did not take hold as it did in Western countries. During the Communist era, men and women in theory held equal positions, but in reality domestic work was still done primarily by women. Policies regarding reproduction also placed constraints on women's control over their sexual and reproductive life. After the revolution, women still experiences hardships, facing more difficulties finding work than men and receiving less pay. Although information access has increased in the country and there is more freedom to protest gender inequality, there is often a lack of interest in doing so. "The weak representation of feminist art in Romania is based on inconsistencies in information, prejudices, and negative value judgments: the majority of art training's interest is focused on making art as a means of expression without applying any serious gendered analysis" (Olivia Nitis). Wanda Mihuleac is considered to be the only artist pre-1990 to have any feminist approach in her work. After the revolution there were still very few to engage in this type of dialogue, even to the point of refusing to discuss what it was like being a woman in Romania during the Communist time. This is partly due to the negative connotation feminism has in the country and the idea that it lacks relevance in contemporary society. Marilena Preda Sânc is one of the only artists who embraces this term and addresses issues of gender inequality in her work. She uses her art related to feminism as a "self-referential statement," often incorporating themes related to body (e.g. Bodyscape, Handscape, Mindscape 1993). Preda Sânc sees social and political criticism as very personal, incorporating internal identity with external issues. One exhibition that she participated in that was related specifically to feminism was Perspectives in 2008. The project, organized by Olivia Nitis (curator, art critic, and feminist writer), was intended to "explore the cultural and historical differences between countries with no connection or with a direct and more appropriate connection to the waves and changes feminism has produced." One of Preda Sânc's works exhibited in this show was the photography/video installation Diva. In 2013, Good Girls.Memory, Desire, Power international exhibition happened at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest. The project had three sections: "Memory", "Desire" and "Power", and was accompanied by an international symposium. Marilena Preda Sânc was its initiator and one of the sixty women artists exhibiting there. The show was initiated by Preda Sânc out of her "desire to set up in Bucharest a larger exhibition of women artists, preferably of those who decided, like herself, to take a feminist position." (Bojana PEJIĆ)

Preda Sânc received her B.A. from the National University of Arts in Bucharest in 1980. She later received a Ph. D. in visual arts in 2002. Her early work in the 80s was confined by the censorship regulations of the Communist government, but emphasized the exploration of the relationships between body and space (e.g. My Body is Space in Space, Time For Memory of All), and the expression of self-analysis. She states 'I am concerned about the idea of the inner and outer landscape of the human body; about places for meditation thoughts and emotions, opening a path toward a deeper penetration of multiple layers of reality.' Even though she faced restrictions, her art was still considered very experimental for the time, as seen in projects such as her intervention photographs and photo collages. After the 1989 revolution, Preda Sânc expanded her work to include a critical analysis of social and political norms in the country. This was because of the increased freedom for expression in the Eastern European art world as well as increased access to information from the Western world. During this time she also diversified her technique to include globe objects, video performances, and multimedia installations. Influenced by the war in Yugoslavia in 1999, she explored issues of globalization and political and cultural conflict (e.g. Remapping the World). She also no longer was separated from the feminist movement and was one of the only Romanian artists that actually embraced this label.

Marilena Preda Sânc (born April 17, 1955 in Bucharest) is a Romanian visual artist, art educator (current position – professor at National University of Arts, Bucharest, and author of feminism and Public Art writings. She is known for being one of the most active feminist artists in the country. She uses a multidisciplinary approach by employing various media such as drawing, painting, mural art, book-objects, video, performance, photography, and installation, and her work has been shown in museums, galleries, conferences, symposium, and broadcast venues around the world.