IAȘI: Romanian Creative Week 2026, the largest event dedicated to the creative industries in the European Union, held for the first time under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, brings to Iași from 13 to 24 May contemporary art, cinema, and entrepreneurship.
From 13 to 21 May 2026, the ACT section – art house cinema, an auteur cinema programme that highlights films about desire, identity and the border between reality and the imaginary, includes this year eight films, two of which presented in national preview. The screenings will take place outdoors, in the Palas Gardens, transforming the space into a meeting place for film buffs and those interested in cinema from different cultures.
The programme includes titles by established directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Richard Linklater, François Ozon, and Sally Potter, alongside contemporary productions that show the directions in which auteur cinema is evolving. Special screenings include previews of The Stranger directed by François Ozon, and A New Dawn directed by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, alongside essential titles such as À bout de souffle by Jean-Luc Godard, Orlando by Sally Potter, and the Before trilogy by Richard Linklater.
Over 500 entrepreneurs are expected in Iași on 14 May at the Iași Entrepreneurs Summit, presented by UniCredit Bank. The conference brings together business leaders, investors and experts, in a context marked by accelerated changes in the economic environment.
The Iași Entrepreneurs Summit proposes a practical framework for learning and experience exchange, focused on the strategies that shape the business environment in 2026. From entrepreneurship and leadership, to marketing, sales, investments and legislation, the event offers participants access to relevant know-how for developing and scaling businesses in an economy increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence.
The agenda brings together entrepreneurs and professionals who have built solid businesses on the Romanian market and who bring to the table concrete experiences and applicable solutions: entrepreneur and investor Cristian Onețiu, strategy professor and angel investor Radu Atanasiu, Social Media expert, university professor and organic growth specialist Diana Coman, entrepreneur Mihai Zânt, founder of 2Active Corina Bârlădeanu, lawyer Luca Dejan, and CEO of ROCA X Alex Bogdan. A central point of the event is the financing component, supported by Antoaneta Curteanu, Executive Vice President Retail at UniCredit Bank Romania, who will present financing opportunities for SMEs and strategies through which entrepreneurs can accelerate business growth using external resources.
The International Center for Contemporary Art – Turkish Bath in Iași will host the exhibition “LUT: Hidrophoria”, a project that transforms one of the city’s most powerful heritage spaces into an artistic experience about water, memory and the body. Curated by Caterina Pruteanu and realised with an exhibition design signed by architect Carina Lăcătușu, the exhibition builds an immersive route in which the works directly dialogue with the architecture of the place. The exhibition brings together nearly 20 artists, along with over ten students and alumni of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, who are joined by international artists such as Ayala Braidman, Janice Cormier, and Sophie Agullo.
The Metaphora exhibition, hosted by the Palace of Culture in Iasi from 13 and 24 May, and curated by Marian Palaie, brings together artists, concepts and the public, in a context that explores new directions in contemporary art.
Last but not least, the exhibition “… and Portraits” at the Palace of Culture, signed by the visual artist Alex Gâlmeanu, proposes an unconventional way of looking at the portrait, not frontally and exposed, but through an almost intimate gesture, in which the image is gradually discovered, through curiosity and proximity. The photographic series brings together portraits taken over time in an organic way, freely constructed, without the pressure of a brief or an imposed direction.
From painting to conceptual interventions and interdisciplinary approaches, each project in the Arts section, powered by UniCredit Bank and made together with partners Ploom and Jidvei, invites the audience to look at reality from different angles.
Romanian Creative Week, designated in 2023 by EUIPO as the largest creative industries event in the European Union, is organised by the Federation of Employers of Creative Industries (FEPIC), the only nationally representative employers’ federation active in the creative industries sector. It was founded in Iași in August 2011, and it has so far organised, directly or through its member employers’ federations, over 100 projects for the national and international promotion of the creative industries.
The institutional partners of the Romanian Creative Week are: Iași City Hall, Romanian Ministry of Culture, Iași County Council, National Museum of Romanian Literature Iași, National Museum Complex Moldova Iași, Union of Visual Artists of Romania Iași Branch, “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iași, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University Iași, “George Enescu” National University of Arts Iași, “Gr. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iași, University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, UAD 100Order of Architects of Romania – Iași, Municipal Museum.
More information HERE.
