Bucharest Design Festival has begun

The festival programme is here. Photo gallery with the first inaugurated exhibitions

Over 100 artists, designers and architects exhibit for one month, across 10 festival locations

The first edition of Bucharest Design Festival was inaugurated on 20 May, in two locations in Bucharest, marking the entry into the circuit of the festival, organised by THE INSTITUTE Foundation, in partnership with Bucharest City Hall. The festival runs until 21 June 2026 and brings together across 10 central locations, as well as in over 150 other spaces throughout the city professionals from design, art and architecture, cultural organisations, embassies and international cultural centres, alongside the general public.

At the opening ceremony at the Cotroceni National Museum, the following were present: Raluca Turcan, Member of Parliament of Romania, Oana Țoiu, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramona Chiriac, Vice President of Therme Group, Jean Valvis, President of Valvis Group, and George Tuță, Mayor of Sector 1.

The full programme can be consulted on the BDF website and in the Bucharest Design Festival app.

Opening day: two exhibitions in emblematic locations for Bucharest

The festival debuted with the exhibition BDF Highlights – Branding Romania Through Creativity, at the Cotroceni National Museum (Cerchez Salon). The exhibition will remain open to the public until 21 June. Hosted under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, the exhibition brings to the forefront a selection of Romanian creators with international recognition, from fields such as architecture, interior design, product design, graphic design and fashion design: ADNBA, Ancuța Sarca, Corvin Cristian Studio, Dan Perjovschi & Lia Perjovschi, Fabrik, Meze Audio, Mircea Cantor, Murmur, Zeppelin Design and others. The exhibition design is by Attila Kim Architects.

More information about BDF Highlights here: https://www.institute.ro/bdf-highlights

At the opening ceremony, Bucharest Design Festival received the High Patronage Diploma.

“The granting of the High Patronage of the President of Romania is a natural sign of institutional recognition for an endeavour that goes beyond the boundaries of a cultural event. Bucharest Design Festival speaks about the contemporary identity of Romania, about the way in which creativity connects people, cities and ideas, but also about the way in which creativity can generate that real force that contributes to development and public representation,” stated Diana Punga, State Counsellor for relations with civil society Department of Administration, Public Policies and Civil Society.

On the evening of 20 May, at the National Museum of Art of Romania, art and design enthusiasts attended the opening of the second exhibition, part of the six formats built around the festival.

BDF Young, a format by DIPLOMA Show, presented by UniCredit Bank, opened on the ground floor of the National Gallery of MNAR. The exhibition can be visited until 30 May and follows the professional path of 24 former DIPLOMA Show participants: from their graduation works to recent projects, a visual journal about what artistic life looks like after graduation. The exhibition is complemented by integrated works alongside furniture pieces by Romanian designers.

BDF Young visiting hours: 21-30 May | Wednesday-Friday: 10:00–18:00 | Saturday-Sunday: 11:00-19:00

More details about the BDF Young format here: https://www.institute.ro/bdfyoung

What’s next at BDF

BDF Communities, a format presented by Banca Transilvania, from 23 May to 31 May, brings together three complementary programmes in the central area of the city.

BDF Communities Brezoianu

Entrance Store hosts Dan Perjovschi x Comme des Garçons. A Story About A Collaboration (23–30 May)
FABER, the cultural centre from Timișoara (Palatul Universul – Mezzanine) with the exhibition Legături Chimice / Chemical Bonds (27 May – 21 June)
The ADC*RO A-ards Showcase exhibition at Apollo 111 Barul (27 May – 21 June)
HOT LAGOON a fair dedicated to independent design and local production (23–24 May and 30–31 May)

BDF Communities Amzei (28 May – 21 June, deGalben cultural hub, Bucharest Architecture Forum and Mobius Gallery) brings together six exhibitions:

Local Design Awards 2025 by Local Design Circle
Brâncuși and the Muses of Dance
Suntem B21 by Clusterul B21
In itinere / În mișcare / On the Move by the University of Art and Design from Cluj-Napoca
Bucureștiul Estetic by the Order of Architects of Romania – Bucharest Branch
RITUAL – Romanian Cuisine by ARDI

BDF Communities Grivița (29 May – 21 June, Grivița Creative Corner, Grivița 53 Theatre, National Museum of Romanian Literature) includes four exhibitions:

ALT+REALITY by the Faculty of Arts and Design of the West University of Timișoara
Exhibition dedicated to Irish designer Simone Rocha, presented by Grivița 53 Theatre and Aparterre
Romanian Animated Films by Andrei Tripșa at Grivița Creative Corner
Phenomena Laboratory with the exhibition feelings 0526: ma – liminal space

BDF Professional

From 5 June to 21 June, BDF Professional, by RDW and presented by UniCredit Bank, brings to Bucharest 10 international exhibitions and 13 local design and architecture exhibitions, across two distinct spaces.

Local Design (5-21 June, CINA building, 10 Benjamin Franklin Street) includes a curatorial selection of remarkable Romanian projects. Romanian Design Brands. Objects of Romanian Design, curated by Mihnea Ghildus, Matter over Data, curated by Bogdan Ciocodeică, The Outsider by Andreea Macri complete the programme alongside other exhibitions by Sfântu Gheorghe Design Week, the Order of Architects of Romania Timiș Branch, the Illustrators’ Club & Seneca Publishing House, the Union of Architects of Romania and others.
International Design (5–21 June, Mincu Gallery, “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, 18–20 Academiei Street) brings together 10 exhibitions supported by embassies and international cultural institutions: the Embassy of Sweden, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Polish Institute, the Royal Danish Embassy, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain x Instituto Cervantes, the Liszt Institute, the Czech Centre, the Embassy of Slovenia and also MINI.
Architecture Studios Night an event that invites and brings Bucharest’s public closer to the world and projects conceived within architecture studios. The event takes place on 11 June.

More details about BDF Professional here: https://www.institute.ro/bdf-professional

BDF Satellites

Under the BDF Satellites format, the festival includes three independent exhibition programmes with their own schedule throughout the city. At SCÂNTEIA+ (Casa Presei Libere, 15 May – 15 August) The Picture. Explaining Photography in 37 Works can be visited. At ARCUB – Hanul Gabroveni (3 April – 26 July) the exhibition Lia & Dan Perjovschi – DRAFT for a joint retrospective is open. MuzA – the