Art Safari opens on Thursday in a new 4,500-square-metre exhibition space at 13 Amzei, with exhibitions dedicated to Nicolae Vermont, Mihai Eminescu and Felix Aftene among the highlights of the season running from 26 March to 19 July.
"We are in a new home. And I say 'new' because we have moved eight times so far, but I am very pleased to say this will be our home for a long time, thanks to our partnership with the Sector 1 City Hall,' said Ioana Ciocan, managing partner of Art Safari, at a press conference on Wednesday.
She added that the Art Safari New Museum will be an open space for the community, where heritage, contemporary art and education bring people together and reconnect them with the city, highlighting a rich programme of events, from guided and night tours to workshops for adults, meetings with artists and interactive experiences this season.
"We are organised into three pavilions - the Museum Pavilion, the Historical Pavilion and the Contemporary Pavilion, - alongside the relaunch of the International Pavilion. Their structure will remain unchanged and easy to navigate for both specialists and the general public, and we expect our already sizeable audience to grow further in this new venue. The programme will continue to include educational activities for children and teenagers, as well as popular art courses for adults," Ioana Ciocan said.
She also underlined that Art Safari New Museum is held under the High Patronage of Romania's President, Nicusor Dan, and with the generous support of Banca Transilvania.
The director of the Goethe-Institut Bucharest, Markus Huber, highlighted the very good relationship with Art Safari over the years.
"I am very pleased that we can continue this journey through photographic collaborations and by bringing in international perspectives. Our institute builds intercultural and transnational cooperation with local partners in Germany, encouraging dialogue and cultural exchange, so the opportunity to collaborate is very important for us. (...) I am glad this project aligns very well with the Goethe-Institut model. Much success in the future," Markus Huber said.
Maria Bilasevschi, curator of the exhibition "Felix Aftene. Journal", said it will represent, for each viewer or art lover, "a page from their own existence".
"Because it spans 30 years of creation, 30 years since his exhibition debut, with works from his student years, explorations of memories related to family, society and the changes taking place within it. The works have been arranged so that the division can be read not as we may have read our own diary, but in an evolutionary sense," the curator explained.
Maria Munteanu presented the exhibition she curates, "Vermont and the Charm of the Belle Époque", while Monica Dumitru introduced "R: Eminescu. The Rational Poet", which brings together 400 items.
The director of the National Museum of Art of Romania, art critic Erwin Kessler, scientific consultant of the exhibition "R: Eminescu. The Rational Poet", said that Eminescu reflects a long-standing personal concern regarding representations of all myths.
"This exhibition is largely an inventory of documents relating to Eminescu and, first and foremost, an inventory of representations. This is what 'R: Eminescu' stands for: representations of Eminescu. We revisit these representations because they have formed, in all our minds and in our visual world - on the street, in books, in films - a recognisable figure, perhaps the most recognisable figure of Romanian culture: Eminescu. This figure is a myth, and this exhibition is the inventory - not the invention, but the cataloguing - of a myth," the art critic said.
From 26 March to 19 July, the first exhibition season of 2026 will take place, bringing together heritage and contemporary art - paintings, sculptures and installations from museum and private collections, along with special scenography.
Visitors will be able to see the exhibitions "Vermont and the Charm of the Belle Époque", exploring the artistic and social effervescence of the late 19th century; "R: Eminescu. The Rational Poet", dedicated to a century of artistic representations of the national poet; and "Felix Aftene. Journal", by one of Romania's most acclaimed contemporary artists, alongside international exhibitions organised in partnership with the Goethe-Institut and the Czech Centre.
The architectural concept is signed by Diana Nicolaie.
The exhibitions can also be explored through guided tours dedicated to students, seniors and the general public.
The season of special events also includes concepts such as Brunch at the Museum, The Art of Yoga, and art workshops - Art, Bubbles & Desserts - combining art with relaxation and memorable experiences.
A cultural project financed by the Ministry of Culture, Art Safari is organised in partnership with the Bucharest Municipality Museum. Over its 17 editions so far, it has recorded more than one million visitors.
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