An Interview with Săfițicuminți

Here’s the next in our series of interviews with artists/creators involved with ‘Slap It Up Ye!‘, Belfast’s 1st Sticker and Paste-up Expo. Today we’re chatting with the founder of Săfițicuminți, a street culture brand based in Bucharest, Romania.

Will you tell us the history of Săfițicuminți? What inspired you to create it and where did the name come from?

The story of Săfițicuminți began in May 2020. I stayed isolated since the beginning of February due to Covid, and I watched a good comedy with one of the biggest Romanian actors from back in the day, Dem Rădulescu. There was this scene where he’s telling some people ‘you should be nice (‘să fii cuminte’) to me if you want me to be good to you’ or something like that. After this scene I started to think about my tommy cat which was at my side through some major moments in my life. I decided to make a legacy for him, and so I’ve combined the 2 ideas to create the brand now called SĂFIȚICUMINȚI (be nice/ behave yourself) that supports the whole community of artists and craftsmen, with one major goal in mind: a big shelter for cats.

The store works with a wide variety of artists. What is the art scene like in Romania, especially in Bucharest? Are stickers and paste-ups popular in the city?

Paste-ups are quite popular in Bucharest and I think their popularity will grow more in the near future. For now, there are quite a few plastered around the city. The artistic scene is, at least to me, really wonderful, full of beautiful minds and a lot of unique ideas about spirituality, nature, love, and some of the nicest creatures in the world. You should definitely check out Gabor în civil for paste-ups.

I loved the Jordan 1 custom sneakers you created last year! Are you going to do more?

YES! I really plan on doing a lot of other projects along with Macrylic. In the past few years I have only bought sneakers and t-shirts, which are (I would say) my last 2 weaknesses 🙂 On these Jordans you can see the official face of Săfițicuminți @Curiboomboomthecat Besides designing wonderful sneakers and other fashion items, Cosmin from Macrylic is also an extraordinary video editor; check out @săfițicuminți community on Youtube.

Do you have any influences or inspirations, artistic or otherwise?

My main influence is my past. The games that I’ve played, the people I’ve met, the books I’ve read… the most important figures for me are Dali, Vasarely and Thievery Corporation because they take on a holistic approach with their art that I also try to implement in  Săfițicuminți.

What are the future plans for Săfițicuminți?

The main goal, like I previously said, is to establish a big shelter for cats, while at the same time to form a community whose members share the same values. A true family that will last at least 1000 years together!

Finally, is there anyone you want to shout-out or someone we should check online?

Diana Patrascu, Ana Maria Anghelescu, Adama, Alina Anghel, DEEA, Gabor în civil, Geo Dibu, CoOperativa, Catalin, FELEA, and Vvanderviata!

Make sure to check out Săfițicuminți on Instagram at safiticuminti and safiticumintigallery and check out more of what they do, as well as their online store at safiticuminti.ro !