S.M.A.K. presents a major exhibition dedicated to the work of Romanian artist Ana Lupas
A deeply personal artistic testament looking back at seven decades of work by a pioneering figure of the Eastern European neo-avant-garde
S.M.A.K. presents On Ritual Time, a major exhibition dedicated to the work of Ana Lupas (b. 1940, Cluj-Napoca, Romania), widely regarded as one of the most significant artists in Eastern Europe. Conceived by Lupas in the final phase of her life and artistic career, the exhibition — her first institutional exhibition in Belgium — looks back on seven decades of a radical practice shaped by ritual, resistance, collective action and memory. Bringing together rarely exhibited works, new configurations and works by her partner S P A T A R U (Mircea Spătaru, 1937–2011), On Ritual Time can be understood as Lupas’s deeply personal artistic testament — and as a reflection on what remains when an artist entrusts her work to future generations.
Working in Romania from the late 1950s onwards, Lupas developed her body of work amid the political and artistic tensions of the communist regime. Moving between textile, installation, performance and collective action, she transformed techniques associated with craft, ancestral knowledge and rural traditions into a distinctly contemporary artistic language.
Her early experiments with weaving, sewing and knotting coincided with the emergence of Fiber Art internationally. Her participation in the International Tapestry Biennials in Lausanne in 1969 and 1971 positioned her within this evolving field, yet her practice consistently escaped conventional categories. At S.M.A.K., a monumental presentation of her earliest textile works, Prapori 1961–1964, comprising 53 free-standing textile works never displayed in their entirety, is one of the exhibition’s highlights.
Lupas’ engagement with crafts, ancestral knowledge, rituals, and spiritual traditions was further expressed through collaborative works with rural and peasant communities and monumental in situ projects. The exhibition presents some of her most important works such as Wreaths of August (1964-2008) inspired by harvest rituals, and Humid Installation (1970), early manifestations of art as social practice. While revealing affinities with neo-avant-garde movements such as performance, actions and Land Art, Lupas’s work remains deeply rooted in the cultural and historical context of Transylvania.
In a context shaped by censorship, propaganda, scarcity, and surveillance, Lupas’ oeuvre largely developed as a form of silent resistance against the social and political tensions of the communist regime. Questions of artistic freedom, identity, memory, and community acquired an urgent as well as a conceptual dimension. The exhibition opens with Coats to Borrow (1989), a series of handmade coats that were intended to circulate as long as the Ceaușescu regime was in place. Marked by their wearers, they transformed an everyday object into a vehicle for collective action and dissent.
An exhibition as an artistic testament
In addition to the production of new work, Lupas regularly revisits and reconfigures existing works, letting them evolve with changing social and political contexts. In this final chapter of her practice, that cyclical understanding acquires a new urgency: how does an artist determine what survives, how it survives, and how a body of work is transmitted beyond her own lifetime?
The exhibition follows this same logic. Alongside works that are rarely exhibited, several pieces appear in new configurations, establishing connections across different periods of Lupas’s career. The inclusion of works by her late partner, the artist S P A T A R U, extends this reflection from artistic legacy to shared memory, intimacy and loss. Throughout his artistic career, he developed an oeuvre marked by constant research and experimentation. As both an artist and a teacher, S P A T A R U, like Lupas, left a significant mark on subsequent generations of artists in Romania. On Ritual Time therefore becomes more than an art-historical presentation: it can be comprehended as a ritual of remembrance in itself.
First institutional exhibition in Belgium
On Ritual Time is Ana Lupas’s first institutional exhibition in Belgium and is accompanied by a monograph dedicated to her oeuvre, a co-production between Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; and S.M.A.K.
Over the past years, Ana Lupas’s oeuvre has undergone a strong international reappraisal. Her works are included in major institutional collections such as Tate Modern, London; Musée National d’art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; Museion Bolzano; and the Ludwig Museum, Budapest.
S.M.A.K. presents Ana Lupas’s work as part of its commitment to broadening the canon of Western art. As a female artist from Romania, Lupas offers a perspective that challenges dominant narratives of post-war and contemporary art, while drawing attention to artistic practices shaped by different political, social and cultural contexts. This exhibition continues S.M.A.K.’s engagement with artists such as Anna Boghiguian, Teresa Burga, Anna Bella Geiger and Rose Wylie.
Practical information
Ana Lupas & S P A T A R U
On Ritual Time
10 October 2026 – 21 February 2027
S.M.A.K., Ghent
Curator: Tanja Boon
Images: Download press images and credits here.
Press Contact
Micha Pycke
Club Paradis
micha@clubparadis.be
+32 (0)486 680 070
Belgium:
Fran Bombeke
fran.bombeke@smak.be
+32 (0)494 90 71 66
About S.M.A.K.
S.M.A.K. shows art from its own collection in dialogue with works of contemporary artists from all corners of the world. By means of contemporary art, S.M.A.K. seeks and gives meaning to this complex and fragmented world. In doing so, the museum makes every effort to be accessible and inclusive, because art is for everyone.
Opening hours
Weekdays outside school holidays: 9:30–17:30
Weekends, school holidays and public holidays: 10:00–18:00
Closed on Monday
Images
