The BUCHAREST BIENNALE continues to build a strong partnership between Bucharest — a geocultural space where the political is reflected in all aspects of life—and the rest of the World. In transcending specific geographical, historical, or political frameworks, it connects to a broader complexity, namely the one of “resistance” within the quotidian realm.
As a biannual cultural event, BB’s temporary structure allows for a deconstruction of the systems supporting and underlying what has been called the “experience economy”. The Bucharest Biennale goes beyond merely orchestrating memorable “events” that aim for prescribed notions of customizable transformation, which are characteristic of this economic model and, importantly, reflected in the global biennial format as well. Instead, the Biennale offers a platform to analyze, and potentially redirect, current social, political and economic imaginaries. It intends to make visible the power structures supporting such spheres of control, addressing the ways in which they are organized and coordinated, as well as implemented across broad segments of society.
The Biennale is an attempt to turn these scripted “experiences” upside down, to re-think and re-imagine processes of domination, while positioning the city of Bucharest as a field of cultural action and exchange.
With its innovative model refined throughout the previous ten editions, the Bucharest Biennale is now regarded as one of the most vital biennials in Europe, holding a widely respected position within the international art scene.
The twelfth edition of the Bucharest Biennale in 2026 adopts the theme Freiraum—German for “Free Space”—a concept that speaks to the creation of open, unrestricted environments for expression, creativity and dissent. Long associated with artistic, academic and political experimentation, Freiraum advocates for spaces where ideas can be tested without external constraint and where the imagination is permitted to roam ahead of institutional limits. In contemporary cultural debate, the term has gathered new momentum. It sits at the crossroads of radical democracy, queer theory and decoloniality, acting as a framework for resisting hegemonic power and amplifying voices pushed to society’s margins. Urban activists, social movements and cultural institutions increasingly invoke Freiraum in efforts to rethink public and private space beyond state or commercial control. Bucharest Biennale 12 will explore these ideas not only in theory, but across the city itself. Major urban landmarks will become temporary sites for dialogue, reflection and experiment—turning Bucharest into a living platform where art, politics and civic space intersect. The curatorial direction looks back to the European movements of 1968 — from Germany and Czechoslovakia to France, the Netherlands and Italy — to examine how the promise of liberation continues to shape contemporary artistic practice. The Biennale asks how freedom is defined today, and who is entitled to experience it.
If the people are expecting to restore, heal and re-balance their appreciation, sensibility and knowledge through the artworks, the updated collective and collaborative planning, the conceptual, sensible and functional unity of Bucharest Biennale guarantees the longstanding influence of the exhibition into the subconscious of the people.
