The NOCA contemporary visual art gallery will host its inaugural exhibition on 17 October, the Bihor County Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monuments (Oradea Heritage) announced on Thursday.
"On 17 October 2025, Oradea will witness a first: NOCA - New Oradea Contemporary Art - opens its doors to the public. It is the city's first centre dedicated to contemporary visual art and one of the few such spaces in Romania," reads the Oradea Heritage press release.
The inaugural exhibition, "A sphinx, a beast and a girl; a unicorn, a chimera and a mixed body," is curated by Suzana Vasilescu and Cristina Vasilescu and brings together works by emblematic artists from the Romanian and European contemporary scene: Apparatus 22, Vioara Bara, Stefan Bertalan, Alex Bodea, Ana Botezatu, Michele Bressan, Rudolf Bone, Christian Jankowski, Marta Jakobovits, Ciprian Muresan, Miron Schmuckle, Ion Tuculescu and Ecaterina Vrana.
The exhibition explores the realm of the fantastic and the hybrid, bringing playfulness into dialogue with the monstrous, and placing local art in conversation with global artistic discourses and scenes.
The NOCA Centre project belongs to Oradea City Hall and is managed by Oradea Heritage, the foundation that already oversees several heritage buildings (the Darvas-La Roche House, the Neolog Sion Synagogue, the Museum of Jewish History, Oradea City Hall Tower and the Freemasonry Museum).
Framed by the city's historic architecture, from Baroque to Secession and Neo-Romanian styles, NOCA adds a modern layer to Oradea's identity, being housed in a fully glazed building located in the city centre, on the banks of the Crisul Repede River.
"NOCA will be an exhibition space, but also a cultural laboratory that connects artists with the public and the community, a space where modern and contemporary art meet, where established and emerging artists, bold ideas and experiments come together," said Oradea Heritage Executive Director Alexandru Chira.
The centre's management team aims to organise two major exhibitions per year, along with projects dedicated to art students from Oradea and the north-western region, as well as emerging artists. They also plan to hold public discussions, performances, interactive workshops and educational meetings to foster interdisciplinary and transnational collaborations.
The foundation is launching its activities with the support of key partners, including the Museum of Recent Art in Bucharest (MARe) and the Suprainfinit Gallery, also from Bucharest. This collaboration reflects the centre's international openness and its ambition to connect artists, galleries, art universities and museums into a dynamic cultural network.
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