Smaranda Ciubotaru

PhD Student

Threads of Subversion in Romanian Textile Art of the Ceau葯escu Era 1965-1989

Supervised by Dr Klara Kemp-Welch

Funded by AHRC/

 

Education

PhD Candidate, 91影视 (2023- present)

MA History of Art, University College London (2018-2019)

BA History of Art, University College London (2015-2018)

 

Conferences/ Lectures

2026

鈥淔abric of the Nation: Craft Aesthetics and Collectivity at Romania鈥檚 Communist Textile Enterprises,鈥� on panel 鈥淭extiles East: Industrial Fabric Design as Socialist Art鈥�, sponsored by SHERA, Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Annual Convention, Chicago. 12-15 November.

Body Languages, Consortium for the Humanities & the Arts South-East England (CHASE) Encounters Conference. 91影视, London. 5 June.

Courtauld Third Year PhD Symposium, Conference co-organized with Alison Braybrooks. 91影视, London. 30 April – 1 May.

鈥楨very Fiber of Our Being: Textile Traditions, Ethnonationalism, and Exclusion鈥�, Panel. Association for Art History (AAH) Annual Conference. University of Cambridge. 8-10 April.

鈥淏eehives and Bobbins: Manifestations of the Feminine Imaginarium within the Romanian Textile Industry of the Communist Period,鈥� on panel 鈥淢odern Women and Textile Politics鈥�, 114th College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference, Chicago. 18-21 February.

2025听

鈥淢aterial Girls: Artisanal Knowledge as Dissidence among the Female Fibre Artists of the Ceau葯escu Epoch,鈥� on panel 鈥淎bstraction, Artisanal Knowledge and Craft Epistemologies鈥�, Association for Art History (AAH) Annual Conference. University of York. April 9-11.

鈥楾apestry and Fiber Art: An Overview of Global and Local Contexts鈥�, Lecture. National University of Arts, Bucharest. March 25.听

鈥淐rafting Subversion: Intermediality and Artisanal Knowledge Among the Female Fiber Artists of the Ceau葯escu Regime,鈥� on panel 鈥淭extiles I: Tradition and Subversion鈥�, Feminist Art History Conference. American University, Washington D.C.. 26-28 September.

Professional Experience

Curator of European Decorative Arts, National Museum of Art of Romania (Bucharest)

 

 

Research Interests

  • Tapestry and fiber art
  • Intermediality
  • Nationalist ideology and cultural politics
  • Vernacular textiles and traditional craftwork
  • Cold War politics
  • Eastern European art
  • Industrial textiles

Citations