MARIA MANDEA
b. 1991, Bucharest, Romania
mariamandea[at]gmail.com
EDUCATION
2018-2022 - Doctoral studies in Visual Arts
National University of Arts, Bucharest, Research topic: Play Design
2019-2020 - Erasmus at Kunstuniversität Linz
Research mobility, 4 months, Linz, Austria
2012-2017 - Integrated Bachelor & Master in Product Design
University of Architecture and Urbanism, UAUIM Bucharest
2010-2012 - Architecture Studies - completed 2 years
University of Architecture and Urbanism, UAUIM Bucharest
2006-2010 - High-school - computer programming focus
WORK
2017-present - Lead Designer, Super:Serios collective
Design, project management, www.superserios.ro
2022-present - Associate Lecturer, UNATC Bucharest
Art of Game Design MA. Courses: Game Design, Game Art - Environment, Games as a Total Form of Art & Analog Game Prototyping
2020-present - Toy Designer, Micul Haos
Product design, prototyping, photography, social media, www.miculhaos.com
2023-present - Co-founder, Institutul Jocului
Research and development in artistic games, www.institutuljocului.ro
2023-present - Vice President, Laborator Artistic Association
Association dedicated to art and emerging artists
2023-2025 - Artistic Director, Art & Anthropology Residency
Artistic residency in Luncavița, Dobrogea
2026-present - Associate Lecturer, University of Bucharest
Faculty of Sociology, History of Ideas, Mentalities and Mass Culture MA. Course: Video Games in Contemporary Culture: Design, Analysis and Reception
2017-present - Lead Designer, Super:Serios collective
Design, project management, www.superserios.ro
2022-present - Associate Lecturer, UNATC Bucharest
Art of Game Design MA. Courses: Game Design, Game Art - Environment, Games as a Total Form of Art & Analog Game Prototyping
2020-present - Toy Designer, Micul Haos
Product design, prototyping, photography, social media, www.miculhaos.com
2023-present - Co-founder, Institutul Jocului
Research and development in artistic games, www.institutuljocului.ro
2023-present - Vice President, Laborator Artistic Association
Association dedicated to art and emerging artists
2023-2025 - Artistic Director, Art & Anthropology Residency
Artistic residency in Luncavița, Dobrogea
2026-present - Associate Lecturer, University of Bucharest
Faculty of Sociology, History of Ideas, Mentalities and Mass Culture MA. Course: Video Games in Contemporary Culture: Design, Analysis and Reception
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026 - Bucharest Design Festival, Bucharest
Project: Orașul Pedalează (curators: Alžběta P. Brůhová and Klára Brůhová)
2023 - Back to where it all began, Gaep Gallery, Bucharest
Group exhibition (curator: Tevž Logar), project: Restitutio in Integrum
2022 - Rousseau Game, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest
Solo exhibition
2022 - Professionally staging a dream, /SAC Gallery, Bucharest
Group exhibition (curator: Georgia Țidorescu), project: Rousseau de masă / Table Rousseau
2022 - Art in Progress - Coming Back to Our Senses, Combinatul Fondului Plastic, The Institute, Bucharest
Group exhibition, project: I ME OURS: Food
2022 - L’aire de Jeux, Maison des Arts Georges & Claude Pompidou, Cajarc, France
Group exhibition (curator: Thomas Delamarre), project: Proche Loin
2021-2022 - Y.A.C. - Young Artist Connections, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest
Group exhibition organized by SwitchLab and MNAC, project: I ME OURS: Housing
2020 - Simultan Festival #15: Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies, Garnizoana Timișoara
Group exhibition, project: The System in the Room
2020 - Ars Electronica Festival, Deep Space 8K, Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria
Festival exhibition, project: Divided
2019 - Fusion Urban Games Festival, Matera, Italy
Festival exhibition, project: Matera Narrative Puzzle
2019 - Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies, Fabrica de Pensule, Cluj, Romania
Group exhibition, project: Victoria Narrative Puzzle
2026 - Bucharest Design Festival, Bucharest
Project: Orașul Pedalează (curators: Alžběta P. Brůhová and Klára Brůhová)
2023 - Back to where it all began, Gaep Gallery, Bucharest
Group exhibition (curator: Tevž Logar), project: Restitutio in Integrum
2022 - Rousseau Game, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest
Solo exhibition
2022 - Professionally staging a dream, /SAC Gallery, Bucharest
Group exhibition (curator: Georgia Țidorescu), project: Rousseau de masă / Table Rousseau
2022 - Art in Progress - Coming Back to Our Senses, Combinatul Fondului Plastic, The Institute, Bucharest
Group exhibition, project: I ME OURS: Food
2022 - L’aire de Jeux, Maison des Arts Georges & Claude Pompidou, Cajarc, France
Group exhibition (curator: Thomas Delamarre), project: Proche Loin
2021-2022 - Y.A.C. - Young Artist Connections, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest
Group exhibition organized by SwitchLab and MNAC, project: I ME OURS: Housing
2020 - Simultan Festival #15: Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies, Garnizoana Timișoara
Group exhibition, project: The System in the Room
2020 - Ars Electronica Festival, Deep Space 8K, Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria
Festival exhibition, project: Divided
2019 - Fusion Urban Games Festival, Matera, Italy
Festival exhibition, project: Matera Narrative Puzzle
2019 - Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies, Fabrica de Pensule, Cluj, Romania
Group exhibition, project: Victoria Narrative Puzzle
ART INSTALLATIONS
2026 - Orașul Pedalează
Game installation at Bucharest Design Festival, produced by the Czech Centre. Based on anthropological research on cycling in Bucharest by Marinela Rață Panaite; curators: Alžběta P. Brůhová and Klára Brůhová
2026 - The Wireless Megaphone
Social game created for the event "Ba tu să taci!", organized by the French Institute in Romania as part of the 7th edition of the Youth Initiatives Forum.
Explorative urban game created with Super:Serios design collective, focused on the Tei Campus area in Bucharest and nature-based solutions
2024 - Decide/ți orașul
A participatory urban research methodology through play. Created with Super:Serios for the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR)
2024 - Persona & place
Artist in residence at Șona AIR as part of the Super:Serios collective, Șona, Făgăraș, Romania. Organized by the Ștefan Câlția Foundation
2023 - Țară, Țară, vrem copaci
Game installation in public space, Gloria Hall square, Bucharest. Project supported by the Accelerator Mentorship program
game-installation, Gaep Gallery, Bucharest; in the group exhibition Back to where it all began, curator: Tevž Logar
2023 - Table Rousseau
Game installation, /SAC Gallery, Bucharest (in partnership with C&S Gallery). Part of the group exhibition "Professionally staging a dream", curator: Georgia Țidorescu
2022 - I + Line
game-installation and contemporary dance workshop coordinated by Mădălina Dan, Minitremu space, Timișoara. Made together with Ștefania Ferchedău and Mădălina Dan, production: The Institute of the Present
2022 - Rousseau Game
exhibition, installation, game - National Museum for Contemporary Art - MNAC, Bucharest
2022 - I ME OURS: Food
game installation, Combinatul Fondului Plastic, The Institute, Bucharest, part of Art in Progress - Coming Back to Our Senses group exhibition
2022 - Proche Loin
adaptation of Aproape Departe for Cajarc; part of the exhibition L’aire de Jeux at Maison des Arts Georges & Claude Pompidou, Cajarc, France
2021-2022 - I ME OURS: Housing
game installation, National Museum of Contemporary Art - MNAC Bucharest, part of Y.A.C. - Young Artist Connections group exhibition
2021 - I ME OURS: Transport
ephemeral game installation in public space, Czech Centre Bucharest
2021 - I ME OURS series
game installations - developed with an audience in artist studio at Știrbei47, 5 games in 5 weeks, Bucharest
2020 - The System in the Room
game installation, co-author: arh. Teodora Ungureanu, part of Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies , Garnizoana Timișoara, Simultan Festival #15
installation game, co-author: arh. Teodora Ungureanu, WASP - Working Arts Space & Production, Bucharest, part of Life Long Burning Residency
2019-2020 - Divided
immersive installation game, Deep Space 8K, Ars Electronica Center, Linz, in Ars Electronica Festival 2020
2019 - Matera Narrative Puzzle
urban game, site-specific installation, Fusion Urban Games Festival, Matera, Italy
2019 - Victoria Narrative Puzzle
installation, part of Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies group exhibition at Fabrica de Pensule, Cluj, Romania
2017 - Eviction Notice
360° VR stop-motion animation short film, director, puppet creator, produced by CINETic, Bucharest
2016 - nunu collaborative game
participant, graphic designer, collaborative game for the cinema screen, part of the workshop Digital Stories at the French Institute in Bucharest
STAGE DESIGN
2025 - E-waste E-motion: O robofabulă
Set design and robot design, George Ciprian Theatre, Buzău (stage director: Marina Hanganu)
2025 - De/Loc de Joacă
design for stage, Teatrelli, Creart, Bucharest (performance by Mădalina Dan)
2021 - Bucuresti Livrator
design for stage, Masca Theatre, Bucharest (stage director David Schwartz)
2020 - Kunterbunt
puppet design for stage, Gong Theatre, Sibiu (stage director Ana Crăciun Lambru)
2014 - Memories from the School Age
stage designer, Comedy Theatre, Bucharest (stage director Radu Apostol, playwright Mihaela Michailov)
2014 - Theatre of the Child’s Rights
stage designer, Comedy Theatre, Bucharest (stage director Radu Apostol, playwright Mihaela Michailov)
2013 - Familia Offline
stage and costume design, "Teatrul Foarte Mic" Theatre, Bucharest (stage director Radu Apostol, playwright Mihaela Michailov)
WORKSHOPS & TEACHING
2025 - Play as method: Game Design as an Artistic Research Strategy
Applied seminar on playful design and artistic methodology, CINETic UNATC, Bucharest
2024 - Institutul Jocului Summer School 2024
Mentor and coordinator, 3-week workshop, Institutul Jocului, Amzei Creative Corner, Bucharest
2023 - Realistic Workshop, Surrealist Game
Realistic games workshop created with Super:Serios, National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest
2023 - Practici artistice, comunități de joc
Workshop for architecture students, Gaep Gallery, Bucharest
2022 - Vitamin P3 puppet making workshop
teacher, offline, held at Știrbei47 studio
2021 - Soft Toy Creation For Beginners
teacher, online course teaching craft through play exercises available on Domestika
2018 - Visual design workshop for Architecture Students
co-author: arh. T. Ungureanu, 3 weeks, UAUIM Bucharest
2017 - mic maraton
4-days design marathon for NGOs in the Prahova district - co-creator, designer
2015-2018 - Anina Mine of Ideas
participant in the workshop, later graphic designer and visual researcher, organiser Alba Verde Association
2013 - Initiation in Photography workshop for children
workshop coordinator, 2-days workshop about urban exploring through photography for children ages 5-12, part of the Victoria Film Festival
CONFERENCES & LECTURES
2026 - Designing the Playing Machine: Stage Design as Play Catalyst
Presentation in the Play Design track, Design Research Society (DRS) Conference, Edinburgh
2026 - Play as Expanded Artistic Practice. The Game Designer as Engaged Artist
Keynote — Playing the Field VI: Video Games and Labour, University of Bucharest
2025 - AI, the Urban Image and Participatory Artistic Practices - a case study
Presented with Super:Serios, AI in Art Practices and Research Conference, CINETic UNATC, Bucharest
2023 - The Planning Game - Game theory, economics, game design
Part of The Planning Game panel at ISEA2023, Paris
2023 - Game-installations, a participatory artistic medium
AR@K2023 Symposium, Kristiania University, Oslo
2023 - Games & Playful Participatory Practices
Lecture, École nationale supérieure d'art et de design de Nancy, France
FESTIVAL PARTICIPATIONS
Explore Dance Festival 2013, Temps des Images 2013, 2014, Poitiers Film Festival 2018, TAKAVOIR - laboratoire des nouvelles images 2019, Romanian Design Week 2019, 2021, Simultan Festival 2020, Ars Electronica Festival 2020.
AWARDS
The Schedule Monster, First Prize, Dash Design Awards 2020, Bucharest
Memories from the School Age, First Prize, Independent Theatre Festival FNTI, 2014, Bucharest
PUBLICATIONS
2028 (Forthcoming) - Interdisciplinary Artistic Methods for Teaching and Learning Design Thinking in Games
Co-authors: Diana Dragomir, Maria Bucurenciu, published book, CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group)
2026 - Designing the playing machine: stage design as play catalyst
DRS Biennial Conference Series, DOI: 10.21606/drs.2026.1437
2026 - Art devices - play devices: immersion vs. estrangement in art-games
International Journal of Games and Social Impact, Vol. 4 No. 1, DOI: 10.60543/ijgsi.v4.n1.03
2024 - Designul vizual al jocului. Către o pedagogie a jocului performativ [The Visual Design of the Game. Towards a Pedagogy of Performative Play] Editura Universitară, Bucharest, ISBN: 978-606-28-1774-9, DOI: 10.5682/9786062817749
2024 - Narrative Puzzle in a Post-Industrial City
Book chapter, Palgrave Studies in Performance and Technology, co-author: Teodora Ungureanu, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-66067-2_11
2023 - The System in the Room: Play as a Tool for Exploring the Concept of Urban Systematisation
Temes de Disseny, co-authors: Teodora Ungureanu, Tincuța Heinzel, Anca Băduț, DOI: 10.46467/TdD39.2023.114-137
2021 - Urban Games in Pandemic Times
Co-author: Teodora Ungureanu, DOI: 10.12753/2066-026X-21-074
2020 - The post aesthetic journey of an installation
UNATC Journal of Drama Teaching, Vol. 4 Iss. 2(7) 2020
2019 - Post-processing on scale models - a tool in design education
11th Lumen Proceedings, DOI: 10.18662/lumproc.110
Co-authors: Diana Dragomir, Maria Bucurenciu, published book, CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group)
2026 - Designing the playing machine: stage design as play catalyst
DRS Biennial Conference Series, DOI: 10.21606/drs.2026.1437
2026 - Art devices - play devices: immersion vs. estrangement in art-games
International Journal of Games and Social Impact, Vol. 4 No. 1, DOI: 10.60543/ijgsi.v4.n1.03
2024 - Designul vizual al jocului. Către o pedagogie a jocului performativ [The Visual Design of the Game. Towards a Pedagogy of Performative Play] Editura Universitară, Bucharest, ISBN: 978-606-28-1774-9, DOI: 10.5682/9786062817749
2024 - Narrative Puzzle in a Post-Industrial City
Book chapter, Palgrave Studies in Performance and Technology, co-author: Teodora Ungureanu, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-66067-2_11
2023 - The System in the Room: Play as a Tool for Exploring the Concept of Urban Systematisation
Temes de Disseny, co-authors: Teodora Ungureanu, Tincuța Heinzel, Anca Băduț, DOI: 10.46467/TdD39.2023.114-137
2021 - Urban Games in Pandemic Times
Co-author: Teodora Ungureanu, DOI: 10.12753/2066-026X-21-074
2020 - The post aesthetic journey of an installation
UNATC Journal of Drama Teaching, Vol. 4 Iss. 2(7) 2020
2019 - Post-processing on scale models - a tool in design education
11th Lumen Proceedings, DOI: 10.18662/lumproc.110
SOFTWARE:
Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Lightroom), Procreate, Cinema4D, Rhinoceros, p5.js, Microsoft Word & PowerPoint, Google Docs, Slides, Sheets.
LANGUAGES: English - fluent, Romanian - Native, Spanish - Beginner