by Valentina Iancu<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Karl Marx\u2019s redefining of labor and its role in society entailed a symbolic glorification of the worker in the Marxist imaginary. \u201cThe reason for the ascent of labor in the modern age has been its productivity, and Marx\u2019s seemingly blasphemous idea that labor (not God) created man, or that labor (not reason) set man apart from other animals, simply meant the most radical phrasing of a state of affairs which the entire modern age agreed on.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n In this context, artists sheepishly reached out to social classes that had been ignored for centuries. The interest in physical labor \u2013 and in the effort and attrition it entails \u2013 surfaced in Romanian art in the first half of the 20th<\/sup> century in the work of left-leaning artists. Yet the theme remained a marginal one. The artists\u2019 lack of interest in the life of the worker or in improving the image of workers and manual labor overall, runs parallel to the state\u2019s lack of interest in the livelihood of working people. Lacking any political protection, working people become social outcasts. By tracing the absence of representation in various historical periods, one can observe the real status of workers in Romania: ignored before the Communist period, idealized during it (while still living precariously) and vilified after 1989.<\/p>\n Gallery:<\/strong><\/p>\n