Witness Collaborative

Witness Collaborative is a long-term collaborative project conceived by interdisciplinary artist Alexandru Salceanu that engages refugee and immigrant communities in creating process-oriented autobiographical video portraits. Participants are guided through a shared creative process that centers agency, authorship, and ethical storytelling. Rooted in the artist’s personal experiences with his Romanian mother and Filipina mother-in-law, the project emerged from the healing power of memory and the urgency of preservation. Through near-static vertical video portraits, Witness challenges traditional documentary power dynamics and transforms recollections of trauma into acts of affirmation. This event will present fifteen portraits, projected and looped throughout the day, creating a continuous space for reflection, presence, and collective witnessing.

Artist Biographies

Alexandru Salceanu

Alexandru Salceanu is a Romanian-American interdisciplinary artist. Born in Communist Romania and emigrating in 1992, his work concentrates on reconciling his cultural identity with his assimilation into American life. Alexandru stitches historical facts and personal accounts together by using a variety of media—photography, video, projection mapping, painting, social practice, and mixed media. Through his work, he utilizes art’s transformative power to humanize issues, challenge perspectives and encourage a more personal encounter.

Alexandru Salceanu’s work was shown in solo and group exhibits at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; Root Division, San Francisco, CA; Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA; Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA; SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA; University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA; Kaleid Gallery, San Jose, CA; Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA; University of San Diego, San Diego, CA; Art Academy of San Diego, San Diego, CA; Millepiani, Rome, Italy; CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea; The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, Cork, Ireland; Galleri Heike Arndt, Berlin, Germany; among others.
He was awarded the SFAC Artist Grant, CCI Quick Grant, The Puffin Foundation Grant, and Cadogan Scholarship.