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Munich/Bucharest/Stockholm. The BMW Art Car World
Tour continues its global journey with two significant new chapters: a
historic debut in Romania at RAD Art Fair (23–26 April), marking the
first-ever presentation of Alexander Calder’s pioneering BMW Art Car
#1 (1975) in the country, and a fifth consecutive partnership with
Market Art Fair in Stockholm (24–26 April), featuring the BMW Art Car
#20 by Julie Mehretu. With more than 55 stops already completed since
March 2025, these presentations represent pivotal moments in the
largest exhibition project ever undertaken for the BMW Art Car Collection.
RAD Art Fair 2026: Building Romania’s Contemporary Art
Future.
In its fourth edition, RAD Art Fair (23–26
April) has evolved into a vital collaborative platform dedicated to
strengthening Romania’s contemporary art scene and amplifying the
visibility of local artists and galleries on the international stage.
In 2026, RAD continues to expand its international reach while
refining its curatorial vision through a more focused, intentional
approach to programming. Strengthened global partnerships and a
growing international audience are positioning Bucharest as an active
and influential node in the global contemporary art conversation.
Bucharest honours the BMW Art Car Collection’s origins with
Alexander Calder’s BMW Art Car – the very first BMW
Art Car – making its Romanian debut at the fair. Alexander
Calder’s BMW 3.0 CSL
(1975) laid the foundation for the iconic BMW Art Car
Collection when French racing driver and art dealer Hervé Poulain,
together with then BMW Head of Motorsport Jochen Neerpasch, asked his
artist friend Calder to paint a car. The completely reimagined 3.0 CSL
patterned in red, yellow, blue, and white went on to compete in the 24
Hours of Le Mans in 1975 and became a crowd favourite. The car will
complement RAD Sculpture Park, open as a continuation of the Art Fair
until 15 May, at the Hotel Caro Gardens in Bucharest.
“I remember our first talk about the fair with the BMW team 4 years
ago, when the project was just a plan. I explained how important it is
to have a partner like BMW, who is such a great supporter of cultural
projects. Since then, we have been working together in an effort to
bring Romanian culture scene into a global focus. After just three
years, we are proud to be the venue for the first visit of a BMW Art
Car in Romania. Considering the connection that Alexander Calder and
Constantin Brancusi had through the years, it is very fitting that we
have this BMW Art Car here, while promoting the Romanian culture”,
Catinca Tabacaru, RAD Art Fair.
20 years of Market Art Fair.
For a fifth
consecutive year, BMW partners with Market Art Fair (24–26 April) in
Stockholm, the leading fair for contemporary art in the Nordic region.
Through its involvement in the fair, BMW continues to connect
mobility, innovation, and artistic expression, a tradition that has
been a central part of BMW’s global cultural engagement for more than
50 years.
As part of the BMW Art Car World Tour, the latest addition to the BMW
Art Car Collection by Julie Mehretu (BMW Ar Car #20)
will be exhibited on the ground. She first presented her artistically
designed BMW M Hybrid V8 to the public at the Centre
Pompidou in Paris in May 2024. After its race deployment in Le Mans a
month later, last year and this year mark the next chapter of the
project in cooperation with the BMW Group: the African Film and Media
Arts Collective (AFMAC). Cape Town hosts the project’s culmination:
the exhibition “Scaling Intentions” at the Zeitz Museum of
Contemporary Art Africa, from 11 December 2026 – 15 August 2027.
For the fourth year, a winning artwork has been selected to decorate
the BMW models transporting visitors to and from the Market Art Fair
in Stockholm, including the all-new BMW iX3, Neue Klasse, as well as
the BMW i7 and BMW X5. This year’s winners, Inka &
Niclas, an internationally renowned artist duo consisting of
Inka Lindergård and Niclas Holmström from Sweden, will bring a new
visual language to the streets of Stockholm, as they apply their
distinctive sculptural-photographic practice to BMW’s shuttle fleet.
The duo has been selected by an international jury.
“The selection of Inka & Niclas as the 2026 winners of the
BMW Art Car Commission feels like a perfect fit. As Nordic artists
with an international presence, they embody the essence of Market Art
Fair. For the first time in our project’s four-year history, artists
working with a photographic medium have been chosen, highlighting new
possibilities at the intersection of technology and creativity”,
says Sara Berner Bengtsson, Director Market Art Fair.
BMW Art Talks and Highlights.
RAD Art Fair
(23–26 April)
Art Talk: “Building
Local Scenes Within Global Context”
24 April, 5:00pm
RAD Pavilion
Panelists: Anca Poterasu (Anca Poterasu gallery), Ovidiu Șandor
(founder of Art Encounters), and Thomas Girst (Global Head of BMW
Group Cultural Engagement), moderated by Catinca Tabacaru
- Romania’s first-ever BMW Art Car presentation
- BMW Lounge featuring curated miniature collection spanning five decades
- BMW PhotoCamp book launch and photographer meet-and-greet
Market Art Fair (April 24–26)
Art Talk: “The
Future of the Art World. Where Do We Go from Here?”
25
April, 1:30pm–2:30pm, Pavilion
Panelists: Sara Berner Bengtsson (Market Art Fair Director), Azu
Nwagbogu (Founder, African Artists’ Foundation & Lagos Photo
Festival), and Thomas Girst (BMW Group Global Head of Cultural Engagement)
- Artist duo Inka & Niclas’s sculptural photographic practice
applied to BMW shuttle fleet - Six podcast episodes recorded inside the art-designed BMW iX3 in
collaboration with The Art Bystander - Julie Mehretu’s BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car on display
Denmark’s Parallel Celebration.
Running
concurrently through 21 June, Northern
Europe’s largest BMW Art Car exhibition at Classic Car House in
Denmark showcases eleven iconic Art Cars and original artist
models. This ongoing presentation complements the Stockholm and
Bucharest stops, demonstrating the tour’s unprecedented scale and its
ability to create simultaneous cultural dialogues across multiple
European venues.
BMW Art Car World Tour.
The BMW Art Car World
Tour, which kicked off in March 2025 and continues through August
2026, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the renowned BMW Art Car
Collection with an extraordinary journey across flagship art fairs,
museums, motorsport events, and cultural institutions worldwide.
Featuring more than 55 stops in over 30 countries, the tour has
captivated more than two million visitors with its iconic collection
of 20 BMW Art Cars, each a unique masterpiece created by some of the
world’s most renowned artists.
Highlights of the tour include Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Dubai, Auto
Shanghai, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Ultrace in Poland, the
24 Hours of Le Mans and Le Mans Classic, the Louwman Museum in The
Hague, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and The Bridge in the USA, the
Goodwood Revival, Contemporary Istanbul, Zoute Grand Prix in Belgium,
Frieze London, Market Art Fair and The Aurora in Sweden, as well as
Retromobile in Paris.
The BMW Art Car World Tour will culminate in its largest exhibition
to date at BMW Welt in Munich from 29 July–31 August 2026.
The BMW Group’s Cultural Engagement, with exclusive updates and
deeper insights into its global initiatives can be followed on
Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.
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