The National Museum of Contemporary Art – MNAC Bucharest launches its 2026 Summer Exhibition Season through an extensive curatorial program activating the museum’s entire visitor route and bringing together some of the most significant voices of the local contemporary art scene. The new season will open on Saturday, May 23, 2026, between 6:00 PM and 12:00 AM, with a large-scale vernissage inviting the public into an exhibition journey centered around memory, experimentation, and contemporary artistic practices.
On the ground floor, CAMPO SANTO (concept: Călin Dan, curators: Călin Dan and Celia Ghyka) transforms the museum’s central space into a contemporary reliquary dedicated to memory and disappearance. Drawing from both the material and symbolic dimensions of sculpture, the project reflects on the relationship between museum, monument, and funerary relic. Produced with the support of the Interart TRIADE Foundation and first presented within the national cultural program “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture 2023,” the exhibition is presented at MNAC in an expanded version featuring works by George Apostu, Pavel Bucur, Alexandru Călinescu-Arghira, Gheorghe Coman, Roman Cotoșman, Bela Crișan, Horia Damian, Céline Emilian, Dan Gavriș, Nicolae Golici, Petre Grăjdeanu, Peter Jacobi, Ernest Kovács, Bata Marianov, Ion Mândrescu, Ion Lucian Murnu, Alexandru Nancu, Vladimir Predescu, Silvia Radu, Liviu Russu, Paul Vasilescu, and Benno Werth.
In the Marble Hall, CRISTIAN DIȚOIU. ECLERAJE (curator: Călin Dan) presents a striking intervention dedicated to abstract painting and its serial possibilities. Built through accumulation and repetition, Cristian Dițoiu’s works develop a self-referential and anti-narrative visual language in which rhythm and subtle variation become essential tools of visual investigation.
The first floor hosts BENT CROSSES. A VICTORIA & MARIAN ZIDARU RETROSPECTIVE (curator: Cătălin Davidescu, exhibition design: Călin Dan), an extensive exploration of the artists’ stylistic, symbolic, and spiritual universe. Through the coherence of their individual and collaborative practices, Victoria and Marian Zidaru have constructed a powerful symbolic language infused with messianic undertones and articulated through a distinctly contemporary formal vocabulary.
The mezzanine of the first floor presents ROMAN COTOȘMAN. 110 SOLITUDES (curator: Irina Radu, exhibition design: Călin Dan), dedicated to one of the most discreet yet radical figures of the Timișoara neo-avant-garde. Bringing together works from the MNAC collection, the exhibition creates a universe of silence and introspection, where minimalist geometry and meditative sensitivity transform material fragility into a deeply concentrated visual experience.
On the third floor, LAURENȚIU RUȚĂ. CONTINUOUS REVELATION (curator: Székely Sebestyén) marks the first retrospective dedicated to the artist, organized three years after his passing. Bringing together objects, installations, photograms, video works, and archival materials, the exhibition traces Ruță’s enduring fascination with transformation, movement, and light, constructing a display reminiscent of an astronomical observatory.
The fourth floor hosts TITU TONCIAN. AROUND MY NAME (curator: Mara Rațiu), an exhibition highlighting the deeply reflective and multidisciplinary nature of the artist’s practice, developed between experimentation and introspection. Toncian’s multimedia works — ranging from sculptural ceramics and drawing to experimental photography, film, and installation — revolve around questions of identity and self-representation.
In the Auditorium and Café spaces on the fourth floor, CECI N’EST PAS POP (curator: Nicoleta Coman) brings together works created by Ioan Augustin Pop over the last twenty-five years, outlining a visual discourse situated between personal reflection and lucid observation of contemporary reality.
The exhibition season is further complemented by the anniversary project BOÎTE. BOX. BRÂNCUȘI, marking 150 years since the birth of Constantin Brâncuși and exploring the ways in which the artist’s legacy continues to be reinterpreted in contemporary artistic practice, as well as by the permanent exhibition LEVIATHAN. INSIDE THE COLLECTION, conceived as an open labyrinth offering a renewed perspective on the museum’s collection and display strategies.
On the museum terrace, Constant and Bogman will shape the evening’s soundtrack through an eclectic selection of electronic music.
The opening event for the new exhibition season will take place on Saturday, May 23, 2026, between 6:00 PM and 12:00 AM. Public access will be available through Entrance B3 on Calea 13 Septembrie until midnight.
The exhibitions will remain on view until October 18, 2026.
