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Ioana Cîrlig

Zâne

Ioana Cîrlig Zâne

The word zână or zâne (plural) – fairy in English – refers to mythological beings endowed with supernatural powers from Romanian folklore. Through this project, which assembles photographs taken during numerous journeys, Cîrlig explores the relationship between people and nature in traditional Romanian communities from remote regions in the Carpathians and the Danube Delta. She captures fleeting moments right as the mist lifts in the morning or just as the sun is about to set, landscapes bathed in golden sunlight, caressing workers’ tired bodies, their skin toughened by the hard labours of work in the field.

Many of these scenes appear as if they were brought straight out of fairy-tales, possessed by some kind of charm, immersing us within their world. Indeed, the rhythms of life in the midst of nature are other, and people have to follow suit in order to survive. This might be a strange notion to those living within our hectic contemporaneity, yet nevertheless it is the force that propels rural communities forward, foundational for us all. Amongst Romania’s post-industrial ruins, confronted with ecological decline, Cîrlig excavates a deeper history, highlighting alternative, gentler, more caring ways of being and living. Fairies are, after all, reminders of the great extent to which we remain interconnected with all living beings on this planet.

Ioana Cîrlig Zâne