The Romanian Creative Week (RCW), the most important event dedicated to the creative industries of Romania, which took place in Iași from 19 to 28 May 2023, broke several records this year, in its third edition, including more than 1 million viewers and a recorded European premiere.

Music gallery Photo: Romanian Creative Week

According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO – Intellectual Property Office of the European Union), Romanian Creative Week is an event that brings together the largest number of creative industries at the European level, 11 in total: Film, performing arts, art, crafts, design, music, architecture, advertising, fashion, new media, games.

Livia Jonascu, EUIPO’s Intellectual Property Specialist, relayed through the RCW organizers: “The Romanian Creative Week is the biggest event of its kind in Romania and Europe in terms of the creative industries it brings together. In fact, the format of this event confirms and emphasizes the Romanian creative and innovative spirit. In recent years, Romania has been setting the creative tone in Central and Eastern Europe, offering highly talented minds that bring a new touch of creativity and freshness.”.

The third edition of the Romanian Creative Week this year meant: more than 1 million spectators who took part in more than 100 events organized during the 10 days of RCW, 1000 Romanian and foreign artists present in Iași, physically or through their works, 500 people on staff, 300 volunteers, 80 influencers, dozens of partners who made RCW organization possible.

“The Romanian Creative Week this year managed to unite an impressive number of people, according to our preliminary estimates, at least one million. We are already in the third edition, and people already know about the event, look for it in the city, discuss it, and are happy to be with us. Iasi has become the European pole of creative industries. This extraordinary energy that comes from the audience really charges us and gives us the strength to go forward. I thank all our partners, without whom the Romanian Creative Week would not be possible.” stated Iryna Shrotterpresident of the Romanian Creative Industries Patronage Federation, RCW organizer.

Cătălin Alionte, director of Romanian Creative Week, said: “For two years and three editions of Romanian Creative Week, we have already managed to create a tradition in Iasi with this event. The impressive number of people who participate in our events, the increasing number of partners we have around us, the increased interest of artists who come to us and want to participate in RCW, all this shows us how hungry we are for culture, for beauty, because the freedom of good exists in Iasi.”

The Romanian Creative Week 2023 was built on six pillars: Arts and Crafts, Content creation, Creative entrepreneurship, Design, Innovation and digital technologies,New media. Dozens of exhibitions, 50 fashion shows, fine art shows, concerts, a film festival and a dance festival, conferences and master classes on the topics of innovation and entrepreneurship – these are just some of the charms of this year.

The list of Romanian Creative Week 2023 events included, among many surprises:

Romanian Fashion Week, which gathered dozens of young and recognized designers from May 26 to 28. More than 50 fashion shows were held in Palas Gardens, on the grandest catwalk in the country. Romanian Fashion Week is curated by Ovidiu Butafor the section Romanian designersand Lucian Brosketean and Ioana Cholakufor The innovative platform of the future. Beauty teams under the guidance Alexander Abagiufor Lancôme and Sorin Stratulatfor Philips, completed the fashion shows.

One of the premieres was RCW 2023 HazarDance, which took place on May 22-25. A. participated in the dance festivalfor modern dances, flamenco, theatrical dance and street dance performances, seven of which are performed by Romanian groups and one by Spanish artists – El Salto. A street dance competition and two hip-hop workshops concluded HazarDance, a festival curated by Stefan Lupu and Teodora Velescu.

Arts and Craftshe prepared11 exhibitions that challenge the public’s imagination in the Palace of Culture, Turkish Bath or Braunstein Palace. In the list of exhibitions: Diachrony (curator Marianne Palier), Impatience fever and Manifest of Now (curators Elena Visiteu-Ionescu and Marlene Herbert), Metaphors are thinking that the waves are the sea (curator Bohdan Yakov), Night shift (Christian Tudose), Humanity on display (curators Maria Bilasevshchyna and Felix after dinner), Playescapes (curator Oana Stanchu), Looking back with new perspectives(organization Order of Romanian Architects – Iasi Territorial Branch).

Moldovan Film Festivalbrought, this year, eight international award-winning feature and documentary films, as well as special guests: Sean Wang, documentary filmmaker A wonderful travelogueand the Romanian-born actor Stefan Gota, who settled in Belgium, the main character of the film here.

A week of concerts, a creative camp and a conference on a musical theme. This is what the music festival at RCW 2023 was all about NeMOcurator Katelyn Alionte.Among others, Vama, Maidan, Blanco, GSA, Comann, Lia, Paulina, DJ CS84 performed.

New mediasection by the curator Andriy Kozlaktwice awarded by UNITER for video mapping and supported by glo, this year with dozens of installations and visual art performances held on the spectacular axis of Iași, between Stefan cel Mare and Sfant and Kopu boulevards.

Creative entrepreneurshippillar with the support of UniCredit Bank, came to meet entrepreneurs with the Becoming year master class Entrepreneurproject Residence of entrepreneurs and the largest fashion design fair in Romania, Creative Collective.

Another first at RCW 2023 was RCW HUB, which expanded the universe of Romanian Creative Week with a series of events organized by artists from all over the country and included in the RCW calendar. The list of events included Music galleryexhibition organized by the Cluj Jazz in The Park team, exhibitions The sin of wonder (done Otilia Chitich, Tit Ivan, Bohdan Kurtianu) and INTEGRATED 2.1 by KSA (curator Ana-Sabina Drinchanu), but also an architectural project Iasi open their yards (organized Order of Romanian Architects – Iasi Territorial Branch), bythe courtyards of six historical monuments or buildings of prestigious architectural value in Iasi were enriched with impressive installations.

ABOUT THE ROMANIAN CREATIVE WEEK

Romanian Creative Week is organized by the Federation of Creative Industries Employers (FEPIC), the only nationally representative employers’ federation working in the creative industries sector in Romania. Founded in Iași in 2011, FEPIC has organized more than 50 national and international actions to promote Romania’s creative industries.

Strategic partners of Romanian Creative Week: FEPIC, Town Hall of Iași, Palace, Ministry of Culture, County Council of Iași, National Museum Complex “Moldova” Iași, National Museum of Romanian Literature Iași, University “Alexander Ioan Cuza” Iași, National University of Arts “George Enescu” Iași, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Gr. T. Popa” of Iași, Association of Visual Artists from Romania – Iași Branch.

Partners who have endorsed the six core principles of RCW 2023: UniCredit Bank, Iulius Group, glo, Lancome, Philips, Amazon, Voxilily, Stella Artois, Vodafone, Mobexpert, Perwoll, Syoss, Banca Transilvania, BMW APAN Motors Iasi, Greenfield Copou Residence, Stella Artois, Dorna Medical, Smartwater, Dorna, Printco CIIR, Strunga, Vitamin Aqua, INDFLOOR, Ely Bass, Fabrica de Print, Union of Romanian Architects (UAR), Iasi – Vaslui Branch, APLA, AkzonNobel, UNATC, Quasar Dance, AfroVibes, 2Hustle, HTRS, TanNăNaNa.

Friends of RCW: Noir, Prosecco Doc Italian Genio, Italtex Hangers, Promotop, Acaju, AkzoNobel, Savana, APLA, Cafenea Piața Unirii, FONTIS, Beer Zone, Happy people and nature, Military Emergency Medical Clinic “Dr. Jacob Chigach” of Iasi, Tarom.

Media partners: PRO TV, HotNews, Elle, Tiktok, Perfecte.ro, Voyo, Newsweek, Presshub, Wink, Ziarul de Iasi, Investigatoria, SunMedia.

Media partnership