CENESTEZICA: Junior made me do this. (EN only, you'll see why)

So here’s the thing. I met Junior in Sofia, in Bulgaria, some 2 years ago. I rode my bike there looking for adventure. He was reading in his hostel room all day long, door open. I was passing around with some local beers, trying to get drunk by myself at a day’s end.

Anyways, we ended up sharing those beers, getting drunk, maybe rolling one or two, I can’t really remember, getting out, then sharing more drunken stories out on a balcony, long into the night.

Junior is thin and kind of skinny. Messy hair, messy beard. He looks like a thinner Jesus. He told me he was an anarchist, peacefully fighting against all norms and regulations as imposed by the traditional forms of government, corporations, fuel and energy based economic systems and so on. He told me haunting stories about street fights in Brazil, where he lived in Sao Paolo and shared some facts from a part of the world I didn't knew much of. Like anacondas and shootings in the streets. Like their opening for culture, arts, music and poetry. Like how the government makes all the big companies invest a part of their revenue in culture. That’s mandatory. Every year. Huge contrasts.

Junior is a poet. He’s a dreamer and an artist. In fact, I think he’s got his first book coming out. And check this out. He managed to start a movement in Brazil. And Brazil is a fucking huge country. He got in touch with all sort of authors and poets around Brazil and asked them to write. Amongst others, he got Canek Guevara, the nephew of Che, who is also a poet… Then he got in touch with all sorts of musicians around Brazil and asked them to make music, using those poems as lyrics. Then word got out in the press about this new cool thing. Artists of different media, working together, getting in touch. Producing.

All in all, he was on a long overdue holiday, spending 15 days in a city he never was in. In fact, he never traveled outside South America. And he chose Sofia, eyes closed, putting a finger on the map. So, as I had to head back to Bucharest, I told him to come over. See Bucharest in the same trip. In the end, he spent a week at my place. During the day he was by himself, but when I got out of work, we got drunk, we talked, we rolled, we met with friends, we strolled the city. Those were good times.

So, about 5 months ago, he told me that he wants to try a new project. Sending 4 different poems to several artists in the world – Brazil, Korea and Israel (I think). Each artist had to interpret those poems in his or hers means of expression: graphics, painting and so on. I had to translate his poems into a photo.

So this is what came out. For now, me and Junior are still chatting and hoping for more collaborative projects. He also managed to get an agent that will hopefully find a suitable space for an exhibition on this project, in Sao Paolo, somewhere in July. I’ll try to do the same thing over here.

Junior, cheers man! Let’s have a beer again, sometimes.