Three days of exhibitions, workshops and participatory installations, September 11-13.
Casa Vintilă Brătianu, a historic monument building in the heart of the capital, is hosting, from September 11-13, 2026, the pilot edition of CREION: Illustrated Worlds, a cultural project built around children’s book illustration, storytelling and imagination, which aims to become an annual platform for children’s book illustrators and an occasion for interaction between authors, illustrators and their audience.
For the 2026 European Heritage Days, marking their 34th edition in Romania this year, CREION: Illustrated Worlds transforms a historic building into a living space and turns it into a meeting place: illustration steps out from between the covers of books, children’s drawings reach the heart of the house, and the rooms and courtyard become spaces for creation, play and experimentation, for children and adults alike.
The opening will take place on Friday, September 11, starting at 5:30 PM, and launches the two exhibitions of the first edition:
“Illustrated Worlds” takes the public, alongside the illustrators who gave them shape, behind the scenes of children’s books, among sketches, original drawings and the stories of characters such as Melcușorul, Bibina, Țepeluș and Ratonul Pălărie, together with materials showing the journey of an illustration, from idea to the final image in the book.
“Children’s Bucharest” looks at the city from the height of little ones: the drawings and paintings gathered here show the places children love, the details they notice and the way they see their own city.
The story continues in the courtyard of Casa Vintilă Brătianu, where “Ioanid de-o șchioapă” (“Knee-High Ioanid”) recreates the Ioanid subdivision at children’s scale: 25 miniature heritage houses, ready to be decorated by children, illustrators, artists and the general public. Also in the house’s courtyard, a long wooden wall becomes a page of story, “Țară, țară, vrem povești!” (“Country, Country, We Want Stories!”), through the ideas and drawings of TA Illustration and of visitors. Vintilă Brătianu’s former office becomes the Paper Room, the place where drawing on walls and furniture becomes the rule.
The event’s program continues on Saturday and Sunday with illustration workshops, reading circles and participatory installations, including workshops in which children and illustrators write and illustrate a collective volume.
“Book illustration is, perhaps, a child’s first encounter with art, and the one that reveals to them their first worlds. I recently found, together with my son, a book from my own childhood and realized that, after more than 30 years, I could picture its characters even with my eyes closed. And yet, splendid works remain in illustrators’ drawers, born of enormous care and of an artistic energy unlike any other. Through CREION, we want to bring this art into the light and build a bridge between illustrator and reader. For this pilot edition, we imagined the whole of Casa Vintilă Brătianu as a story within a frame: a house with its own story, from the ground floor and upper floor to the courtyard. Here, the map of the Ioanid subdivision, painted with the support of Policolor, becomes the base for the 25 little houses of the ‘Ioanid de-o șchioapă’ installation. CREION is aimed at lovers of beauty of all ages, at everyone who can still be won over by an image, a story, and by the beauty of things made with care and imagination.” Elena Kuji Buteică, producer and cultural director, Casa Vintilă Brătianu
Guest illustrators
The pilot edition features Raluca Burcă, illustrator of the book Inima ariciului (text by Mariana Buric, Editura Monitorul Oficial), whose main character is Țepeluș, Daniela Olaru, who signs the illustrations in Geografie cu Ratonul Pălărie (verses by Laura Dina, Editura Katartis), Georgiana Chițac, creator of Bibina the swallow from the series Bibina în lume (text by Cristina Andone, the Nemi imprint of Editura Nemira), and Veronica Neacșu, who illustrated Melcușorul (text by Lavinia Braniște, Editura Cartier), a story included among the 200 most beautiful children’s books in the world (The White Ravens, 2019). They will exhibit, lead workshops and work, over the three days, alongside participants.
The event takes place over the weekend of September 11-13, 2026, at Casa Vintilă Brătianu, at 19 Aurel Vlaicu Street, in the Ioanid-Icoanei neighborhood.
Casa Vintilă Brătianu, one of the emblematic buildings of the Romanian national style, was built in 1912, on plot number 25 of the Ioanid subdivision and land allotment, designed by architect Petre Antonescu, for Vintilă Brătianu himself, a prominent figure of the past century. The house, whose library remains intact, is also the place where Romania’s entry into the First World War on the side of the Entente was secretly signed. The “Ioanid de-o șchioapă” installation in the house’s courtyard reinterprets the historic subdivision on a small scale: 25 wooden houses, one for each of its houses.
The full program is available here. Access to the events is free, upon prior completion of the registration form.
