Researcher Doina Lemny, Austria's Ambassador to Romania Ulla Krauss-Nussbaumer, as well as artists Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan are among the guests of the cultural programme prepared by the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monuments in Bihor County (Oradea Heritage) for the FestiFall, from 8 to 11 October, featuring contemporary art exhibitions, lectures on heritage, a concert dedicated to love, mosaic workshops and guided tours of several historic sites in the city.

According to the organizers' release, the programme kicks off on Thursday at Darvas-La Roche House with the exhibition 'Open-Air Poems,' preceded by an artist talk by Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan, the artists representing Romania at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (9 May - 22 November 2026).

The exhibition, organised by the Art Encounters Foundation in Timisoara in collaboration with Oradea Heritage, continues its exploration of contemporary and avant-garde art and brings together works by artists such as Stefan Bertalan, Victor Brauner, Stefan Roll, Eva Cerbu, Victor Ciato, Anastasia Dumitrescu, Mihai Platica and Silvia Radu.

'The artists recreate Constantin Brancusi's famous 'The Wisdom of Earth' from a block of salt and place it in different landscapes across Romania, inviting animals to interact with it,' the release informed.

Oradea Heritage will mark Brancusi Year on 9 October through a meeting with Doina Lemny, one of the leading researchers of Constantin Brancusi's work, who will give the lecture 'Brancusi: an unpublished photographic collection. The most beautiful tribute to the artist on his anniversary.' The meeting, at Darvas-La Roche House, will highlight a collection of 40 original photographs taken by Constantin Brancusi, donated in 1965 to the 'Ion Andreescu' Institute of Fine Arts in Cluj.

On Saturday, 10 October, architect Alexandru Szuz-Pop will give the lecture 'Contemporary interventions in historic spaces' at the NOCA Contemporary Art Gallery, about transforming historic urban flats into contemporary living spaces.

On the same day, the F Building of the Oradea Fortress will host the concert-performance 'Hymne a l'amour', performed by Duo Minerva, made up of Austrian musicians Johanna Gossner on clarinet and Damian Keller on accordion. The concert is organised at the invitation of the Oradea Heritage Foundation and the Austrian Cultural Forum Bucharest and will take place in the presence of Austria's Ambassador to Romania Ulla Krauss-Nussbaumer and Austria's Honorary Consul in Timisoara Georg Bardeau. The programme features works by Kurt Weill, Nino Rota, Erik Satie, Georges Bizet, Gustav Mahler, Ludwig van Beethoven, Django Reinhardt and other composers.

On Sunday, between 10:00 and 18:00, the public will have free access to Oradea Heritage's sites, namely Darvas-La Roche House, NOCA, Sion Neolog Synagogue, the City Hall Tower, the Masonic Temple and the Jewish History Museum. Guided tours and ceramics workshops will also be organised.

The programme concludes with the lecture 'Oradea's Sion Neolog Synagogue: a sacred industrial hall?,' given by Oradea Heritage documentarian Deodath Zuh at NOCA. The lecture offers a perspective on the Sion Synagogue as a large and flexible structure at the intersection of 19th-century industrial culture, Reform Judaism and the contemporary reuse of heritage.

'The programme brings together contemporary art, heritage, architecture, music and the city's stories,' Oradea Heritage representatives said.

Admission to the events is free, but prior registration is required for some of them and places are limited. The Oradea Heritage programme complements the events organised by Oradea City Hall from 9 to 11 October as part of FestiFall, dedicated to the city's day, celebrated on 12 October. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Eugenia Pasca; EN - writing by: Rodica State)