slobozia, texas (2021)

Slobozia means freedom in Romanian but is also the name of a sleepy town in the east of the country. Slobozia, Texas relives the strange confrontation in the 80ies of Romanians under communist rule with Dallas, the legendary American campy soap of that time. It shows oil-related landscapes, palace interiors and kitschy portraits. Dressed and made-up accordingly, ordinary Romanians re-enact scenes, gestures or gazes of Dallas. Blending fiction and reality, theatrical gestures, cinematic gazes, pastel colours, mirrors and eerie video stills, the images constitute a powerful throwback to the decisive eighties.

The small city of Slobozia has a permanent Dallas-vibe since a Romanian millionaire built a replica there of the mansion in the soap. Dallas ran for 13 years and was immensely popular worldwide. It tells the story of a family of oil barons in Texas, that turned ‘greed is good’ into a mantra. The Ewing family celebrated excess and showed what the hyper-capitalist eighties were about: money, power, success. The communist Romanian leader Nicolai Ceaușescu was a huge fan and allowed the airing of Dallas, which was at the time the only western fiction on state television. Allegedly because he thought the soap would prove to be anti-capitalistic with all its corruption, sorrows and misery. It backfired and according to some, Dallas even played a part in the Romanian revolution. Playing with the vertical lining in the Dallas soap, dark mirrors and the connection between still and moving image, Slobozia, Texas is foremost a construction of emotions, visualising a past moment of future hope.