This project has its roots in the Romanian holiday, “Mărţişor”, celebrated on the 1^st of March and associated with the beginning of the spring. On this day, men give to women or women to men (this varies depending on the region)  some small objects with a red & white lace attached to them, called “mărţişoare”.  These tiny objects are supposed to bring good luck and fortune to the person who wears them.

 

Through this project  I would like to offer a different perspective of seeing and thinking the “mărţişor”: as an object reflecting different aspects of the society, culture & education, taste and also observe its metamorphosis in the context of the society of consumption. What is the evolution in time of the “mărţişor” as an object: from small artifacts made from stones in ancient times, silver coins years later, to sparkling broaches made from plastic on an industrial scale, to the handmade “mărţişoare”, very “in fashion” nowadays.  The industrial sparkling plastic broaches “mărţişoare” coexist nowadays together with the handmade artisan “mărţişoare”, but they are bought by different social categories.

 

The project has three important axes of development:

 

1.  Part of my project will be focused on “mărţişoare” that are produced on a large scale, that tend to copy valuable shiny materials, like diamonds, but are made from plastic. I will also pay attention to the series of “mărţişoare” that reproduce different kinds of flowers, made also from plastic.

During the first phase of the project different clothing items will be decorated with this kind of “mărţişoare”. This process aims to produce an unique object out of large scale produced objects. The symbolic value of the object is also brought into discussion.

 

2. In the second part of the project, a series of photographs are produced, in the fashion photography style, to question the material value of an object, now, found in a total different context. Will be used the clothing items created in the first phase of the project.

 

3.  Making an archive with the most popular categories of "mărțișoare" is another part of the project - snowdrops, horseshoe, chimney sweep, cloverleaf etc.