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The Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna Presents
“Graphic [Re]Sources”, an Exhibition by Professors
from the National University of Arts in Bucharest
The exhibition marks a new focus in the gallery’s
international programme and expands the connections of
the Varna Biennial of Graphic Arts with the contemporary
European graphic art scene

The Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna presents “Graphic [Re]Sources”, an exhibition by artists from Romania. The
exhibition will open on 9 July at 6:00 p.m. and will remain on view until 28 July 2026.
The exhibition features lecturers from the Department of Graphic Arts at the National University of Arts in
Bucharest – one of Romania’s leading academic schools in the field of graphic art.
Among the participating artists are Prof. Dr. Eugen Alexandru Gustea, Vice-Rector of the National University of Arts
in Bucharest; Ovidiu Croitoru, Head of the Department of Graphic Arts; Assoc. Prof. Carmen Apetrei, Dean of the
Faculty of Fine Arts; as well as members of the university’s academic staff: Andrei Ciubotaru, Anca Coller, Assoc.
Prof. Valentin Leonida, Assoc. Prof. Emanuel Borcescu, Constantin Medeleanu, Assoc. Prof. Marian Poiană,
Assoc. Prof. Matei Udriște, Assoc. Prof. Matei Șerban Sandu, Oana Bordeanu, Sebastian Oprița, Assoc. Prof.
Stela Lie, and Assoc. Prof. Ștefan Roban.
The project brings together, in two of the halls of the Boris Georgiev City Art Gallery – Varna, artists and lecturers
from different generations for whom graphic art is not only a technique, but also a way of thinking. From classical
drawing and printmaking techniques to multimedia experimentation, the exhibition traces processes of renewal in
visual language, in which tradition, technology, and personal artistic experience meet in contemporary visual
solutions.
Of particular significance is the participation of Acad. Mircea Dumitrescu – one of the major figures in contemporary
Romanian graphic art, painting, and sculpture. He is a long-standing professor at the National University of Arts in
Bucharest, a member of the Romanian Academy since 2012, and an artist whose work has contributed to the
development of engraving, illustration, and relief printing, including in combination with digital techniques.
The idea for the exhibition emerged during the 23rd International Biennial of Graphic Arts – Varna – a forum with
a long history and established authority, which the Gallery of Graphic Art organises and develops as one of the
enduring platforms for the presentation of graphic art in Europe.
“The reason to present Romanian graphic art in Varna came after a visit by our colleagues from Bucharest during the
23rd edition of the International Biennial of Graphic Arts. They were surprised to notice that Romanian participation in
the forum had been limited. This made us think about how often we turn our attention to more distant artistic centres
while overlooking our neighbours,” said Prof. Valeri Chakalov, Director of the Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna, in
conversation with Nina Lokmadzhieva.
According to him, the exhibition is a natural step towards a more active professional exchange between the Bulgarian
and Romanian graphic art scenes.
“Romanian graphic art is still relatively unfamiliar to our public, while art can build much more lasting connections
between neighbouring cultures. That is why we chose to present the Department of Graphic Arts at the National
University of Arts in Bucharest – a leading academic school where artists of different experience, generations, and
artistic pursuits work together.”
The exhibition also carries a broader institutional significance. It is part of the Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna’s
consistent work to expand the international contacts surrounding the Varna Biennial and to establish the gallery as a
recognisable place of encounter between classical graphic traditions and contemporary directions in the medium.

“The Varna Biennial has the longest history among similar graphic art forums in the region and continues to be an
important platform. Our aim, through the Gallery of Graphic Art, is to create new contacts, new opportunities for
participation, and a more active connection between artists, academic communities, and the public.”
The exhibition is expected to present various technological and artistic approaches – from woodcut, engraving, and
relief printing, traditional for the Romanian school, to more experimental forms that move beyond the frame of the
graphic sheet. In the contemporary practices of young Romanian artists, graphic art is increasingly developing as
object, installation, spatial structure, or work connected with movement, mechanics, and new technologies.
It is precisely this breadth that makes the exhibition important not only as a presentation of one national school, but
also as an occasion for a conversation about the future of graphic art – between the studio and the digital
environment, between printmaking tradition and spatial experimentation, between academic heritage and the new
sensitivity of young artists.
With “Graphic [Re]Sources”, the Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna continues to build its contemporary profile – as the
home of the International Biennial of Graphic Arts, as a space for professional exchange, and as an institution that
preserves the tradition of graphic art while also seeking its new audiences.
Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna

Reproductions: Gallery of Graphic Art – Varna