How often do Eastern Europeans think about visiting other Eastern European countries? From our experience, not very often. Most of the time, we tend to think of Prague as a holiday destination, and only rarely of the Black Sea region. And yet, there are so many extraordinary places, stories, and people to discover in our own Eastern European “backyard.”
This story of finding extraordinary everything in Bucharest is one that Serbian artists Jana and Zmaja share. Both artists visited Romania for the first time, Jana in 2024 and Zmaja in 2025, and their general impression was one of “wow.” This is exactly what the BSBSA project aims to achieve: a structured, mindful exchange of artists between Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia, so that we can spread the word about the artistic possibilities in the region.
Even though Zmaja went to Bucharest via a different project, Romanian Street Art, organised by our partner Save or Cancel, both Street Art Belgrade and Save or Cancel have worked with her, and now we can proudly claim her as one of ours. Her story and experience of Romania are exactly what we want to share.
As mentioned, working on a mural for the Romanian Street Art project was her first opportunity to visit Bucharest. And her beautiful and unexpected impressions began as early as the bus ride from the airport to her accommodation. Her phone had died, so she couldn’t use navigation to find her bus stop or destination. She asked one person for assistance, but despite the language barrier, the willingness to help prevailed and she ended up with seven people calmly guiding her to where she needed to go. Where there’s a will, there’s a way; sometimes you don’t even need a common language.
“My first impression of Bucharest was that I had landed in Belgrade. There are so many similarities in the architecture, in the way people move around, in the general vibe of the city… If you didn’t notice the Romanian language, you’d think you ended up in a part of Belgrade you just don’t know so well.”
She was warmly welcomed by our colleagues Cristina and Andrei, who were both professional and kind, providing everything an artist might need to work in a public space. When she saw the open call for the wall, she especially appreciated the amount of information provided about the immediate surroundings, the context, the general expectations for the final artwork, and the creative freedom in choosing a topic.
“Since I paint animals in general, I wanted to do something typically Romanian. And because Romania has the largest bear population in Europe, I chose a bear as my lead character. They also have pelicans, so I added them, and a native breed of goat, which I included as well. I made a sort of homage to the Romanian fauna and called it Bear Express.”
Since it was summer and scorching hot, just like Belgrade in July, painting outdoors was quite a challenge. Luckily, she had two wonderful assistants who helped a lot, and a great photographer who documented the entire process so she could focus on her work. The wall she painted was across the street from a large park that provided shelter from the heat. She truly enjoyed the comfort of nature, and the park left quite an impression on her. It also made her pay more attention to other parks in Bucharest, and she fell in love with them – something not as prominent in Belgrade.
“There was a monument in the park where I spent a lot of time that inspired me, so I decided to include it in my artwork. Later, Cristina and Andrei explained that this monument had a troubled history but has since been reinterpreted in a new way. And it was okay to leave it in my composition.”
When we visited Bucharest last year, we noticed the city was full of murals. Everything was bursting with color. It was this bold use of color in public art that became a major source of inspiration for both Zmaja and Jana.
“In the evenings, Cristina Popa and Andrei Racovițan would take me on walks around the city, and I was amazed at how many huge, beautiful murals there are. They told me that Bucharest can be quite dark and gloomy when it rains, and that the colourful murals really brighten the surroundings. Another thing that really surprised me, in the best possible way, was the abundance of small interventions: stickers, paste-ups… they’re everywhere. That’s something we’re missing in our cities, except for TKV and Jana, of course.”
She also noticed a huge mural on the wall next to the Serbian Embassy in Bucharest – a detail worth noting.
While still in Bucharest, Zmaja submitted an application for another street art festival in Romania. She hopes to return on her own, meet Romanian artists, and explore more of the city. The Romanian mountains are also calling to her, especially during the hot summer months.
This story illustrates exactly why the BSBSA project wants to provide such experiences to artists in the region. We need to shift the old narratives, the stereotypes, and the low expectations, so that artists, and people in general, from Eastern Europe can begin to see their neighboring countries not as “the same old East” where nothing exciting happens, but as a space full of creative potential and vibrant inspiration.
Photos © Save or Cancel / George Andrei-Ilie
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The Small Scale Cooperation Creative Europe project 101131802 – BSBSA is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, under the Call for proposals CREA-CULT-2023-COOP.
The project consortium partners are Udruzenje Gradjana Kruna from Republic of Serbia, Mnogo Deinosti Enterprice from Bulgaria, and project coordinator is Save or Cancel production SRL from Romania.
This text reflects the views only of the author(s), and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.