Ana Bălan, performance, 2025

Musician and visual artist based in Basel, Ana Bălan is interested in post-socialist Romania and living archives. She wrote her master's thesis on her family's experience with music and celebrations before and after the fall of the communist regime.

Inspired by her parents' collection of 1980s cassettes and passionate about old and new electronic music, she writes songs about love and grief, shadows and ghosts.

For her performance at CALM – Centre d'Art La Meute, Ana Bălan presents an experimental sound piece that draws on forgotten elements of Romanian music, electronics, and noise, creating an introspective soundscape that addresses themes of alienation, transformation, and melancholy.