The Brooklyn Rail

Art vs. Hacks: A Letter from Transylvania

It is a chilly 2:00 a.m. in Manastur, a monotonous, gray neighborhood on the eastern edge of Cluj-Napoca, Romania’s fourth largest city. The cityscape is classic eastern block: ten-story tower block apartments stretching on, row upon row. At street level the walls are a chaotic mess of posters advertising everything from local concerts to language classes to Coca-Cola.