BMW Art Car World Tour expands to new frontiers: Historic debut in Romania and return to Stockholm. BMW Art Car #1 by Alexander Calder at RAD Art Fair and BMW Art Car by Julie Mehretu #20 at Market Art Fair.

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.