What becomes possible when culture is shaped by everyone – and what will it take to make it the norm, not the exception?
Taking place over two days at the Small Hall of the „I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre Bucharest during the National Theatre Festival, the Arts and Disability Forum focuses on the performing arts as a sector that can set the pace on accessibility and inclusion for the wider cultural field. Organised in collaboration with UNITER, it is the closing event of Access Constellation: Co-creating Inclusive Cultural Futures, a project led by EUNIC Romania.
The event brings together people from across the arts, advocacy, education, and policy – from Romania and across Europe – to share experiences, build connections, and shape what a national framework for arts and disability could look like in practice.
Local experts will share expertise and lived experience that are essential to understanding what meaningful change requires in Romania’s arts and disability sector. International guests will share models and lessons from their own countries – not as fixed recipes, but as starting points for honest dialogue.
This is also a moment of transition. As the closing event of Access Constellation, the Arts and Disability Forum draws a line under what the project has begun – and opens what comes next. It is a space to take stock of what we’ve learned, name what still needs to change, and ask the harder questions.
Above all, it’s where we move from conversation to commitment. Not just resolutions, but real actions that all the involved stakeholders are prepared to own and act on.
The Arts and Disability Forum is part of Access Constellation: Co-creating Inclusive Cultural Futures, a project by EUNIC Romania, funded by the EUNIC Cluster Fund 2026.
Registration
Ready to join the conversation? Make sure to book your spot today by accessing this link.
The event is free. Registration is required due to limited space capacity.
Confirmed speakers
External:
Ben Evans (UK, Europe Beyond Access)
Miguel Ángel Font Bisier (ES, Cinema Inclusivo project)
Thibaut de Martimprey (FR, Accessibility Commissioner of Bourges 2028 – European Capital of Culture)
Jonathan Meth (UK, director, dramaturg, curator, The Fence)
Barbara Mundel (DE, Artistic Director of the Münchner Kammerspiele)
Filip Pawlak (PL, performer, activist (ADICLUS Cluster/EBA)
Local:
Olga Macrinici (Arts and Disability Curator)
Ruxandra Mateescu (Access and Mediation Lead; RO, President of “Supereroi printre noi” Association)
Teodora Borghoff (RO, Timișoara 2023 curatorial team, Ambassador of Leuven 2030 – European Capital of Culture)
Dan Simion (artistic director of Banatul Philharmonic, Timișoara)
Erwin Șimșensohn (theatre director, manager of Constanța State Theatre)
Alin Halațiu (president of “Help Me Be A Rockstar” Association)
Crina Nedelcu (Neuroatipic Foundation)
Alexandru Tache (actor and content creator)
Liviu Romanescu (actor, producer, and co-founder of “Vanner Collective”)
Mihaela Michailov (co-founder of “Replika” Centre for Educational Theatre)
Radu Apostol (co-founder of “Replika” Centre for Educational Theatre)
Oana Popa (actress, theatre director, founder of the Association for Personal Development “Grigore Popa”)
Andrei Antonescu (film director)
Simona Smultea (actress, co-president of “Ceva de Spus” Association)
Alin Firu (actor and dancer, acting student Craiova University)
Iris Popescu (PhD Architect, founder of “AMAIS” Association)
Ana Dragu (PhD, Clinical psychologist, cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, PhD in psychology, founder and president of the Autism Europa Association – “Micul Prinț” (The Little Prince) Autism Resource and Reference Centre, Bistrița)
Eduard Dragu (Pianist, a Conservatory student and an accompanist (répétiteur))
Ovio Olaru (translator, poet, lecturer at the University ‘Lucian Blaga’ Sibiu, EcoShapes project)
Valentina de Piante (choreographer, lecturer at the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L.Caragiale”, co-director of Areal-space of choregraphic development)
Ramona Laczkó-Dávid (Director of Centrul de Proiecte Timișoara)
Mădălina Radu (Inclusion Advisor, Bucharest City Hall)
Corina Bucea (Project manager at Centrul Cultural Clujean) TBD
Adriana Elena Borună (adviser, Ministry of Culture)