On March 13th, 2025, I had the pleasure of speaking at the research seminar Estudios sobre la Noche / Night Studies / Études sur la Nuit, hosted by the Centro de Investigaciones sobre América del Norte (CISAN) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The event was part of a collaborative initiative with the Institut de Géoarchitecture (UBO), the Institut des Amériques (France), and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Montreal (McGill University, Canada).
My talk, titled “The Night as a Space of Dynamic Experiences: Proximity Tourism and Urban Transformations,”focused on Mi-e dor de tine—a public neon art installation that has traveled across Romania and several diasporic contexts in Europe. Literally meaning “I miss you” in Romanian, the phrase has triggered a powerful affective response wherever it has been displayed, particularly in transnational urban settings.
I examined how the installation operates at night as both a visual and emotional landmark, activating complex narratives of absence, belonging, and cultural memory. Through a sociological and aesthetic lens, I proposed that Mi-e dor de tine offers a paradigmatic example of what I term “transnational emotional infrastructures”—affective assemblages that circulate through light, language, and space, and that produce shared meanings across borders.
Moderated by Alejandro Mercado Celis (CISAN-UNAM), and co-coordinated by him and Yolanda Macías (UAM-C), the event took place in the “Mónica Verea” Conference Room at CISAN, and was streamed in hybrid format. The audience—composed of scholars, students, and artists—contributed to a rich discussion on art, diaspora, and the nocturnal city.
I am sincerely thankful to the organizers and participants for creating such a thoughtful space for dialogue, and for the opportunity to reflect on how nighttime artworks like Mi-e dor de tine help reconfigure urban imaginaries and diasporic attachments through light and longing.
Manuel Garcia-Ruiz 