The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) is set to organise a series of events in the coming period to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi on 19 February.
"Constantin Brancusi National Day is celebrated annually on 19 February, marking the sculptor's birth 150 years ago in Hobita. The year 2026 has been declared the Constantin Brancusi Year and is being marked by the Romanian Cultural Institute and its branches abroad through an extensive series of exhibitions, conferences, multimedia events, concerts, theatre performances and artistic interventions," the ICR said in a press release sent on Tuesday.
In Lisbon, the Romanian Cultural Institute, in collaboration with the National Society of Fine Arts, the French Institute in Portugal and the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, will organise on 19 February an event dedicated to Brancusi's work at the Library of the National Society of Fine Arts. Commemorative addresses will be delivered by Mathilde Vanackere, Alvaro Lobato de Faria, Eduardo Duarte and Marta Jecu. The presentations will highlight the sculptor's artistic legacy and his friendship with the Portuguese painter Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso.
In Paris, the Romanian Cultural Institute, together with the Romanian Embassy in France, the Romanian Consulate General in Paris and Romania's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, will present the open-air exhibition "Monumental Brancusi Targu Jiu" between 19 February and 22 November on the exterior wall of the garden of the Behague Palace, headquarters of the Romanian Embassy. On 24 February, ICR Paris will also host the conference "Sur les traces de Brancusi: de l'atelier parisien a l'Ensemble monumental de Targu Jiu"/"In Brancusi's Footsteps: From the Paris Studio to the Monumental Ensemble at Targu Jiu", delivered by art historian Doina Lemny in the Golden Salon of Behague Palace.
In Bucharest, until 23 February, ICR headquarters is hosting a large-scale sculpture exhibition organised within the 6th edition of "Brancusi Month", coordinated by the Romanian Artists' Union - Bucharest Sculpture Branch.
In Chisinau, the Romanian Cultural Institute Mihai Eminescu is partnering Romanian Sculptors' Month with the contemporary sculpture exhibition "INFINITE - Brancusi and the Transgression of Boundaries' (19 February - 8 March) and a lecture entitled "In Craiova I Was Born a Second Time - Constantin Brancusi" on 26 February.
In Istanbul, on 19 February, the Romanian Cultural Institute Dimitrie Cantemir will open the engraving exhibition "Brancusi or the Rediscovery of the World" at the Museum of Painting and Sculpture. Codrina Laura Ionita, researcher in the history and philosophy of art and professor at the George Enescu National University of Arts in Iasi, will deliver the lecture entitled "The Influence of Constantin Brancusi in Contemporary Art", while Dr Cristina Gelan-Olaru will speak on "The Geometry of the Spirit. Brancusi's Legacy in Modern Art", at the "Halil Dikmen" Conference Hall of the Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture.
In Vienna, ICR is hosting until 4 March a photography exhibition dedicated to the monumental ensemble "Heroes' Way" in Targu Jiu, featuring images by photographer Nicolae Cristinel Caval.
From 19 to 27 February, the Inter-Art Foundation in Aiud, the Constantin Brancusi National Museum in Targu Jiu and Kunsthaus Koflach will present the Romanian graphic art exhibition "BRANCUSI 150" at the prestigious Kunsthaus Koflach venue. The event is organised under the patronage of Romania's Ministry of Culture, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna and the Romanian Embassy in Austria.
A third project proposed by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna is an exhibition dedicated to Romanian and international contemporary art, with a focus on promoting works created within the Constantin Brancusi Workshops held in Gorj County. The exhibition will run from 25 March to 17 April.
As part of the Constantin Brancusi 150 series, ICR Vienna will also host the musical event "BrancuSING" on 26 March 2026, organised in partnership with the InoMusicArt Association and the Romanian Embassy in Austria, with funding from the National Cultural Fund Administration. The concert will feature soprano Rodica Vica and pianist Angela Draghicescu.
In London, ICR will open the "Brancusi 150" Season on 20 February with an immersive multidisciplinary event featuring violinist Alexandru Tomescu and pianist Sinziana Mircea, alongside designers Alina Moise and Iustin Baisan (Project Para).
In Warsaw, the Romanian Cultural Institute, together with the Constantin Brancusi Fine Arts High School in Szczecin - the only high school in Poland whose name is closely linked to Romanian culture - is organising, on 26 February, an event dedicated to the Romanian sculptor, conceived in the original vision of Professor Bogdan Achimescu of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.
Professor Achimescu's illustrated lecture, which he will deliver to students at the Constantin Brancusi Fine Arts High School in Szczecin, will combine theoretical presentation with a live drawing performance. The artist will draw in real time, and the sketches, through projections, will become part of a narrative constructed on the spot.
In Beijing, ICR will present the concert series "Brancusi 150: The Sound of Forms", performed by Diana Jipa and Stefan Doniga, and will host the exhibition "Brancusi's Birds - Flight to Infinity" from 1 to 19 March, featuring images of works held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. The documentary Timi2023 - Brancusi, narrated by Doina Lemny, will be screened during the exhibition.
In Tel Aviv, art historian Doina Lemny recently delivered the lecture "In Brancusi's Footsteps, in Search of the Essence of Things".
In Brussels, the Romanian Cultural Institute presented, between 12 and 15 February at the BRIGHT Brussels Festival, the video mapping project "The Infinite Walk / Drumul infinit. An immersive tribute to Constantin Brancusi", projected on the facade of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg Church at Place Royale.
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