SOLDIERS II. RITLI RÓBERT ROLAND SOLO EXHIBITION

The Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca (MACN), a public cultural institution under the authority of the Cluj County Council, invites you to visit the solo exhibition of artist Ritli Róbert Roland, entitled Soldiers II, on view from October 1–12, 2025. The exhibition opening will take place on Wednesday, October 1, at 5:00 PM, in the presence of the artist and the exhibition’s curator, Kis-Pállukács Hajnal.

Born in 1999 in Carei, Ritli Róbert Roland is a promising young visual artist, active in both traditional and contemporary graphic art, and appreciated on the local as well as the international art scene. His works have been presented at prestigious events such as the Miskolc Graphic Triennial, the Székelyföld Graphic Biennial, the Győr Graphic Biennial, the International Triennial of Digital Art Digital Agora, as well as in group exhibitions in Poland and China. In 2023, he received the Spanyolnátha Art Journal Prize at the Miskolc Graphic Triennial, and since 2024 he has been a member of the Barabás Miklós Guild.

The exhibition Soldiers II represents the second stage of a project initiated in 2024 at the Károlyi Castle in Carei. This new chapter continues the artist’s explorations and experiments, where the figure of the soldier is not only a visual motif but also a symbol: of the individual caught in the machinery of history, caught between social roles and personal dilemmas, in search of their own identity. In his works, Ritli cultivates a visual language at the intersection of the figurative and the abstract, where soldiers, identities, and human markers converge into expressive signs that reveal hidden depths.

The theme has particular resonance today: in a global context marked by military conflicts, the figure of the soldier is simultaneously familiar and threatening, carrying universal questions about the human condition. Ritli does not propose didactic messages but instead opens a dialogue, offering viewers the opportunity to reflect on their own questions about power, loyalty, loss, and human dignity.

The originality of his creations lies in the combination of traditional and digital techniques: the authenticity of drawing and the innovation of digital reproduction enter into a fertile dialogue. This versatility of mediums is not merely a formal experiment but an integral part of a more complex content. Ritli’s soldiers are at once archaic imprints and contemporary signs, bridges between past and present, between personal and collective experience.