Art thumbs nose at Ceausescu

Reaction is mixed in Bucharest to the new Romanian Museum of Contemporary Art, the Guardian newspaper of London reports. The reason: It is in the same building as the parliament, a huge palace constructed during the reign of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, executed in 1989.

Those feelings are explored in one of the museum’s exhibitions, “Romanian Artists Love Ceausescu’s Palace?!”, according to the newspaper. Some artists decry the connection between art and government, while others see it as sending a positive message.

“It’s better to put art there than many other things,” argues artist Iosif Kiraly. “... This is a way of parasiting the building. It’s not what Ceausescu would have wanted for it -- and that’s important.”