The last exhibition of 2025, "Las Meninas of Timisoara", will open at the Pygmalion Gallery on Thursday at 18:00, and can be seen as a unique visual dialogue where Spanish and Romanian traditions meet in a surprising way.
Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour) evoke a fairytale world, where heroes take on colossal dimensions, descending from the fabulous into our world.
"Las Meninas of Timisoara" brings together creations by more than 20 children who, inspired both by Velazquez's famous work Las Meninas and by Banat folk costumes, present the public with original artworks, according to the website of the Timis County Directorate for Culture.
The project started from Velazquez's celebrated painting Las Meninas, which has fascinated art lovers for centuries. Infanta Margarita, the girl at the centre, her direct gaze, the ladies-in-waiting, and the enigmatic relationship between painter, subject, and viewer - all these elements have inspired entire generations. The figure of the Menina, so distinctly Madrilenian and instantly recognisable, has become a symbol of the Spanish capital.
The artistic endeavour displayed at the Pygmalion Gallery brings together the work of 28 children from Timisoara, who reinterpreted the Menina statuette, decorating it with motifs from the Banat region and transforming it into a character who moves naturally both through 17th-century Madrid and the villages of Banat, explained Jose Miguel Vinals, president of the Cultural Association Via Rumania Cultura and Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Spain in Timisoara.
"The traditional costume from Banat remains a living lesson in rural elegance, where fine embroidery, balanced colours, and skilled details tell the story of a community that has transformed its identity into art," added ethnographer Marius Matei, one of the project coordinators.
The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Cultural Association Via Rumania Cultura, dedicated to building cultural bridges between Spain and Romania, and Atelier - Galeria din Curte, coordinated by visual artist Dr Oana Bolog-Bleich. They were joined by ethnographer Marius Matei and photographer Adrian Teghiu.
The project is carried out in partnership with the Timis County Directorate for Culture.
The exhibition can be visited from 11 December 2025 to 15 January 2026.
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