More than 320 items, from the collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR), various national and international museums, and private collections, will be included in the exhibition “Romania– Identity Representation of Traditional Dress in Art” (“România – reprezentarea identitară a portului popular în artă”).
The exhibition, scheduled to open at MNAR on November 21, will showcase various depictions of the traditional Romanian blouse ia as captured in painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, film, music, posters, and more.
Among the works included in the exhibition are several by Henri Matisse, including the iconic La Blouse Roumaine, part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The work leaves France for the first time on loan for the exhibition, MNAR said.
Ia’s commercial success in the French and international fashion industry originates in Matisse’s version, a presentation of the exhibition notes. “These uses – sometimes abusive, as cultural appropriation – are presented in the exhibition, in order to reveal two major and correlated aspects of ia’s part in the current imaginary: the identity-ideological one and the decorative-commercial one.”
Constantin Lecca, Portrait of Mariţica Bibescu, [1840-1848] © Institutul de Istoria Artei George Oprescu
The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue highlight the use of the folk costume in art and especially of the ia in discourses associated with the establishment of national identity, from ancient times to the present day, the organizers said.
Besides depictions of the traditional blouse in Romanian art of the 16th century, the show will also include “decidedly ideological and propagandistic representations” of the 19th century. Among them are the portraits of Maria Bibescu by Constantin Lecca and Carol Popp de Szathmari and of Maria Rosetti by Constantin Daniel Rosenthal, Nicolae Grigorescu, and the latter’s followers. The exhibition also covers the photographic and painting depictions of Queen Elisabeta and Queen Marie wearing the traditional blouse, but also the way it featured in Romanian Avant-garde art, and later in the socialist-realist art and in the official art of the communist regime. The latter is contrasted with how the item was rediscovered by the spiritualist, anti-communist speech of the neo-orthodox groups of the 1980s and with the subversive approaches of current critical art.
Cătălin Rulea, Chupaia, 2020, © Cătălin Rulea
Throughout the duration of the exhibition, several other events will be organized, including debates, concerts, and film screenings on the topic. A lounge area allowing visitors to embroider, draw, take photos, or attend weekend workshops for children and families will also be available.
The exhibition is curated by Erwin Kessler, alongside a team that includes Judit Balint, Mălina Conțu, Alina Petrescu, Emanuela Cernea, and Costina Anghel.
It can be visited between November 21 and February 8, 2026.
All photos courtesy of MNAR. Opening photo: Henri Matisse – La Blouse Roumaine, 1940, © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Philippe Migeat, Christian Bahier
simona@romania-insider.com
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