The Urban Art Annual
A city is not just the place where we live.
It is the way we choose to be together.
Artown began with a simple question: Can art still bring us closer to our own city?
Since then, Ploiești has become a territory of experiment, encounter and transformation. Over 350 artists from more than 30 countries have brought works, ideas, gestures and questions into public space. Not to be looked at from a distance, but to be walked through, inhabited and lived.
Because we do not believe in art kept apart from life. We believe in art that steps into the street, shifts perspective, provokes encounters and reopens the conversation about what we hold in common.
In 2026, Artown NOW #5 opens a new chapter with its theme, The Grammar of Freedom.
Between 18 September and 4 October, the UZUC Factory and the city become the space for a collective exercise in freedom. How it is learned. How it is practised. How it is lost. How it is defended.
Because freedom is not a destination.
It is not a right we tick off and then forget. It is not something we are given and keep automatically.
Freedom is a verb. It is movement.
It means: Being open. Being present. Being attentive. Being curious. Having the courage to speak. Being together.
Having the courage to listen. Having the courage to change. Being free.
The Grammar of Freedom is a playful but firm exercise in how a city learns to be. About shared space and the responsibility of building it. About the freedom to imagine other ways of living, of meeting and of existing together.
Over 17 days and more than 100 events (murals, sculptures, installations, street interventions, exhibitions, concerts, workshops, theatre, performances and guided tours) we will turn the city into a living laboratory of freedom.
Above all, Artown NOW #5 is an invitation to take ownership of our city
and to practise our freedom. Together.
Dumitru Gorzo (RO) / Alex Baciu (RO) / Robolito (BR) / George Goodnow (AU) / Refreshink (IT) / OCU (RO) / FACIO (ARG) / IRLO (RO) / KJ263 (DE) / Delia Cîrstea (RO) / ROMB (RO) / Miss Dorys (PL) / Iulia Sandu (RO) / WHYCS (RO) / Spenser Little (SUA) / Misha Diaconu (RO) / Liliana Marin (RO) / Ciprian Tauciuc (RO) / Cristina Garabetanu (RO) / Nichita Rădean (RM) / Ilie Maxemciuc (RM) / Aurélia Bizouard (FR) / Ciprian Apetrei (RO) / Adrian Piciorea Cadar (RO) / Sînziana Piciorea Cadar (RO) / Mihai Grecu (RO) / Sergiu Chihaia (RO) / Liliana Basarab (RO) / Paul Barbu (RO) / Carla Schoppel (RO) / Alina Marinescu (RO) / Ștefan Radu Crețu (RO) / Mihai Zgondoiu (RO) / Elena Waldorf (RO) / Lorena Breaza (RO) / Monica Efimov (RO) / Oana Barbonie (RO) / Diogo Divagações (PT) / Andrea Ariano (IT) / Pietro Dal Bianco (IT)
Art needs space. It needs time. It needs people who believe a city can be more than what it is today.
With your contribution you support the artists, the works and the projects that turn urban space into a place for meeting, experiment and imagination.
Every donation helps us bring more art into the city, activate forgotten spaces and build contexts where people can look at their city with different eyes.
With the support of
Project co-financed by
Presented by
Inclusivity Partner
Main partners
Sponsors
Friends
Hosted by
NGO's
Institutional partners
Main media partner
Strategic media partners
Media partners
Local media partners
Monitoring partner
GRATEFUL TO OUR PARTNERS
Impact is born when we all work in the same direction.
Disclaimer: This project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or for the way its results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.
OPEN
CALL
We aim to amplify the artistic community in public space and continuously push its boundaries. Reach out and take part in reshaping it.
Artists
A permanent, open invitation for muralists, street artists, illustrators, visual poets. For anyone who uses public space as a canvas for imagination, memory, protest, or play. Send us your portfolio and your ideas. Selection takes place throughout the year.