Romanian Creative week turns Iasi into a European hub of contemporary art and creativity.
About RCW
Romanian Creative Week 2026 has officially begun in Iasi and will continue until May 24. This event bring more than 700 events that transform the city into a large cultural route dedicated to art, technology, and the creative industries. Considered the largest event dedicated to creative industries in the European Union, the festival gathers more than one thousand participants.
These include artists, designers, architects, cultural entrepreneurs, and content creators from Romania and abroad.
This year’s edition is held for the first time under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and places a strong focus on the new generation of creators, with over 60% of participants being young artists presenting their projects alongside internationally recognized names from the contemporary cultural scene. The festival is structured around eight major pillars, including Arts, Design, Innovation & Digital, Education, Sustainability, and Creative Entrepreneurship.
RCW Opening: Conference at City Hall and Party at Palas
RCW officially started with an opening conference held at Iasi City Hall.
During the event, organizers presented the main directions of the 2026 edition and the special projects prepared for the public. Later that evening, the atmosphere moved to Palas Gardens, where visitors were invited to the opening party signed by Charles B, an internationally known DJ and producer. The event combined electronic music, contemporary reinterpretations of classical music, and an immersive open-air visual production featuring lasers and scenography.
“Creativity is becoming one of the most important resources of contemporary society,” said Irina Schrotter, founder of RCW and president of the Federation of Creative Industries Employers. She emphasized that Romanian Creative Week has evolved beyond a festival. It has become a cultural ecosystem connecting artists, audiences, and creative communities.
“Metaphor” and the Contemporary Art Route at the Palace of Culture
One of the central highlights of this year’s edition is the Arts section, which transforms Palace of Culture into a large contemporary art route. The central exhibition, “Metaphor,” hosted in the Hall of Voivodes and curated by Marian Pălie, presents a visual labyrinth built from transparent structures and translucent layers, allowing visitors to gradually discover artworks and constantly reinterpret the relationship between light, space, and perception.
The Palace of Culture also hosts several other important exhibitions, including “An Atlas of Belonging,” “Beyond Words, Unspoken Stories,” “… and Portraits,” and “Echoes of a Precious Mind,” each exploring themes such as identity, memory, and belonging. Outside the palace, the “Synthetic Daisy” installation reflects on the relationship between nature and artificiality.
“Malleus Maleficarum” and Joy Pavilion
Another major attraction of RCW 2026 is the exhibition “Malleus Maleficarum,” hosted at Braunstein Palace. The project starts from the famous medieval volume. This volume is associated with the Inquisition and develops a contemporary reflection on fear, stigmatization, and mechanisms of social control. At the center of the exhibition stands an original copy of the 1487 volume, displayed with the support of Brukenthal National Museum.
RCW 2026 also features one of the edition’s most striking urban interventions: Joy Pavilion, installed in Union Square as part of the Iasi Architecture Biennale. Designed by architect Eliza Yokina, the pavilion is conceived as an open structure without a ceiling, inviting visitors to freely explore the space.
The installation offers an experience based on emotion, perception, and direct connection with the present moment, in line with this year’s theme — JOY. Built from wood and highlighted through strong and changing colors, the pavilion becomes a space for introspection and interaction with contemporary architecture.
Open-Air Cinema and Creative Experiences Across the City
At the same time, Palas Gardens become an open-air cinema as part of the ACT – arthouse cinema section. Audiences can watch films directed by acclaimed filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard, Richard Linklater, François Ozon, and Sally Potter in a program that includes both classic productions and national premieres.
Joy Pavilion in Union Square
Every year, Union Square hosts an artistic or architectural installation that invites the public to dialogue and reflection. In 2026, the project takes an architectural direction. The curator of this initiative is architect Eliza Yokina, one of the important voices of contemporary Romanian architecture.
“Joy Pavilion” is part of the Arts section, powered by UniCredit Bank and developed in partnership with Jidvei. Designers created it as an open structure with no roof. The public can freely walk through it.
The installation offers a personal and unprogrammed experience. It becomes a space of emotion and reconnection with the present. It is aligned with this year’s theme of Romanian Creative Week 2026: JOY.
The architect describes the pavilion as a space of direct experience and presence. Joy, fear, and sadness are understood as intensities of the present moment. They emerge through the relationship between body and space. The pavilion does not impose a fixed path. It allows free exploration and changing perception.
Built from wood and defined by strong, shifting colors, the pavilion becomes a living urban intervention. It works as an exercise in perception. It also invites visitors to rediscover how they feel and experience space.
In addition to exhibitions and installations, Romanian Creative Week also includes conferences and dance performances. Moreover, multimedia projects, entrepreneurship and sustainability events, as well as the NeMO music festival. Through the scale and diversity of its projects, RCW continues to position Iasi as an important European cultural center. As well and a meeting point between art, technology, and community.
(Images source: Romanian Creative Week)
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