See you at MNAC
We promised you dates, and here they are. After a summer on trains through France and Romania, our characters are moving into a museum. On 5 November, The Resilience of the Forgotten Fairy Tale: Modernism opens at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest (MNAC). You're the first to know.
The Resilience of the Forgotten Fairy Tale: Modernism
A participatory exhibition by the Micul Haos team
The team: Maria Mandea (artist and designer), George Marian Preduț (photographer), Alexandra Elisabeta Moț (curator), Ruxandra Antal (architect), Dana Pârvulescu (project manager), Hera Amuzescu (communication)
Opening: Thursday 5 November, 17:00–21:30, part of the opening of MNAC’s Autumn–Winter 2026 exhibition season
MNAC Bucharest, Palace of the Parliament, wing E4, ground-floor mezzanine
Last entry from Calea 13 Septembrie at 21:30. Inside, the evening continues until 22:30.
On view until 17 January 2027.
The museum I first walked into out of curiosity
MNAC is a partner of this project, and for me it's more than a venue. I first went there in 10th grade, with my deskmate. We were both in the intensive computer science class. Nobody had sent us and we knew close to nothing about contemporary art. We simply wanted to see what was inside. It was only the first of many visits.
What I still remember from that day is Earthcake, a film by Geta Brătescu, made in 1992 with Alexandru Solomon. For seven minutes, Brătescu becomes an alien creature that feeds on earth. Standing in front of it, I wondered: is this art? If art could be exploration, curiosity, even the absurd, then maybe it was something I wanted to do too, one day.
In 2022 I came back to MNAC as an artist, with Rousseau Game. Now I'm returning with sixteen characters who took the train across Europe to visit modernist buildings. Exploration, curiosity, a little absurdity: maybe I'm still answering the question that film asked me.
The Rousseau Game, MNAC, 2022
The Rousseau Game, MNAC, 2022
What's inside
Each character starts from a figure of modern architecture, from Eileen Gray, Adrienne Gorska and Sophie Taeuber-Arp to Lucia Creangă and Marcel Iancu. We photographed them, mostly on 35 mm film, at their own scale, in the spaces these figures built, imagined or never got to see.
At MNAC, the photographs form a labyrinth of large prints. Around them are three vitrines detailing the process and a 130 cm cardboard Unité d'habitation where the characters live.
It's a participatory exhibition, so you're not only there to look. You can take a cardboard character with you and photograph it among the prints or around the city. Send us the photos, and they become part of the exhibition.
If you can't make it on 5 November, the exhibition is open until 17 January 2027. If you can, come and say hello: the characters will be there, and so will we. And if you're far from Bucharest, we'll tell you all about it here.
Sketches for where the characters will be housed
Sketches for the exhibition plan
Workshops and guided tours
Trying out different stands
Workshops for teenagers. With De-a Arhitectura, we're preparing free architectural photography workshops for teenagers aged 15 to 18, using our book as a tool. One session will take place at MNAC and the others around the city. The results will enter the exhibition. The workshops are in Romanian, and we'll announce the dates in the coming weeks.
Guided tours with George and me. We'll also take you through the exhibition ourselves and take pictures together. Dates coming soon.
Places are limited for both. We'll send you the sign-up link soon. If you know a teenager who'd enjoy the workshops, forward them this email. Questions? Write to us at hello@miculhaos.com.
Keep playing,
Maria & the team
Organised by Asociația Laborator Artistic. Partners: the French Institute in Romania, MNAC Bucharest, De-a Arhitectura Association, Institutul Jocului. Media partner: Zeppelin. Film developing: Isopatrusute.
The cultural project “The Resilience of the Forgotten Fairy Tale: Modernism” is co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Cultural Fund Administration. The National Cultural Fund Administration is not responsible for the content of the project or for how the project's results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grant recipient.