Viscri’s royal residence embarks on a new visiting season, unveiling “The Darkness Within, Copșa Mică 1988 – 1995” exhibition for the first time in Romania. This showcase, held within the reimagined barn of the historic Saxon property, delves into the profound human and environmental impacts of forced industrialization, as captured by the lens of British photographer Barry Lewis.
The temporary exhibition brings to the public a selection of 42 photographs taken during his visits to the area both before 1989 and in subsequent years, according to Business-Review.eu.
“I returned to Transylvania on January 6th, 1990. It was a harsh freezing winter. I knew things had not changed for the better when a few miles from the town the colour of the snow changed from white to grey and I met some shepherds with their blackened flock. The source of the darkness was 7 great missile-silo-sized filters to protect the people from pollution, but these filters were in a state of disrepair. Here, the people were black, the snow was black, the houses were black, the children were black, and nothing would grow in the black fields for miles around. As I walked on the frozen crust of blackened snow each footprint left a white impression, a sort of negative shadow and I felt myself entering a surreal world where everything was turned on its head.“, Lewis recalls.
Through his evocative photographs, Barry Lewis captures the desolation and resilience of the town’s residents amidst the darkness cast by Carbosin and Sometra factories. His work, later featured in Life magazine and honoured with the prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Award, sheds light on the human cost of industrial neglect and serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring struggle for environmental justice in post-revolutionary Romania.
“The Darkness Within” is the second exhibition of the British photographer in the House of King Charles III in Viscri, after the series of unique photographic portraits of some Romanian artists, exhibited here in the fall of 2023. “Seeing the entire photographic archive made by Lewis in Romania in the 90s, I was moved by the images made in Copșa Mică. The reality captured by these photographs was far beyond what I had imagined from the stories I had heard about the black city, giving me the conviction that such truths hidden in communism must be revisited as often as possible so as not to be forgotten or repeated. We owe it to those who lived in the dark for 60 years and were largely abandoned after the closing of the polluting factories.” Says Raluca Grigore, curator for The King’s House. The exhibition was curated in collaboration with the photographer Ionuț Macri.
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The King’s House in Viscri
The house in Viscri is open to the public until the end of October and continues to host the book and floral art exhibition The Transylvania Florilegium, as well as the permanent exhibition Preservation of historical roof coverings, made in partnership with the Monumentum Association and The King’s Foundation.
More than 38,000 Romanian and foreign tourists crossed the threshold of the king’s house in 2023. Visiting the house in Viscri, reopened this season under the name “The King’s House”, tourists will discover a simple, traditional Saxon household. The gift shop features a selection of products from local artists and artisans.
“Most of the profits generated by the house go directly back into the community. From these funds, this year we will cover part of the costs of cleaning the village, protecting it from car traffic and printing tourist maps. A large part of the funds goes to the projects for the children in Viscri: the little gardeners will have the opportunity to travel to England to visit His Majesty’s gardens there, and the village cycling team will have part of the costs of equipping and training for competitions covered. And last but not least, this spring, more than 100 saplings of traditional pear varieties were planted on the streets of Viscri, to continue this tradition specific to the Saxon villages. We are glad that the King’s Foundation is still involved in the village and we thank those who step on the threshold of the house in Viscri, because without them these projects would not be possible“, says Mihai Grigore, administrator of The Kings’s House, Viscri.
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