The British art curator on discovering a city through its cemetery, holding your own in a political debate and getting far from madding crowds, says The Wall Street Journal.Whenever Jane Neal visits Cluj, Romania, she goes into Euphoria—literally. “It’s this amazing music hall with a beautiful garden,” says the 41-year-old British curator, who recently oversaw “This Side of Paradise,” a show highlighting Eastern European artists at Sotheby’s BID -3.10% S2 gallery. She found its Hungarian equivalent in Szimpla Kert, a Budapest beer garden she frequents with painter Zsolt Bodoni whenever she’s in town. Just avoid the local plum brandy, she says: “Every region has its own version and it’s incredibly potent.” We caught up with the jet-setter to talk about her favorite spots in Eastern Europe, being prepared for café debates and where to find boars near Budapest.
”I discovered Cluj’s main Házsongárdi Cemetery through Adrian Ghenie, who told me one of the first things I should do when discovering a city in Old World Europe is visit its cemeteries, including Prague’s amazing Old Jewish Cemetery and Olšany Cemetery. Throughout the whole Austro-Hungarian empire, in classical cities you find these monumentally beautiful cemeteries, including Vienna’s Hietzinger Friedhof and the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest. When you see memento moris on such a massive scale, it really hits you—the classical artist’s conundrum of how we are all born to die, so what does life and creating art mean for us?
Remember when you visit cafés and restaurants like Baracca, Via or Bricks in Cluj, or the plethora of restaurants in Budapest on streets like Andrássy út or Hajós utca near the opera house, that you are in Old World Europe. The EU smoking ban doesn’t seem to have taken hold at all. And there will be hat and coat stands, so don’t leave your jacket on the back of your chair, it’s rude!
If you want a good soup, this is the region to find it. If you don’t want a heavy dish, I’d recommend the warming and restorative Ciorba de perisoare, a meatball soup with clear broth”, says Jane Neal.
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Because people are passionate about debating politics and recent history within the Old World intellectual framework of bars and coffee houses in former communist regions, remember to brush up on current events—and the impact of communism—before visiting. I’d recommend Czech novelist Josef Škvorecký ’s “The Engineer of Human Souls,” plus “Auntie Varvara’s Clients” by the Romanian Stelian Tănase, who is a historical authority on communism but nowadays better known in Romania as a political analyst and TV show host. A pertinent book for today would be Dan Lungu ’s book “I’m a Communist Biddy!,” which considers the paradox of how people who suffered so much under communism and didn’t enjoy special privileges are now looking back on it with nostalgia. Cluj painter Serban Savu recommended it to me.
Victor Man first took me to Hoia-Baciu Forest near Cluj in 2005 to bike, which is a great place for wildlife. You can also barbecue there.
