About the project
Access Constellation: Co-creating Inclusive Cultural Futures started with a simple idea: how can we make culture accessible from the very beginning?
We believe that cultural participation is a shared responsibility. It is something we must work on together.
Access Constellation: Co-creating Inclusive Cultural Futures is a collaborative European arts and disability project.
It brings together disabled and non-disabled artists, accessibility experts, cultural institutions and local communities. Together, they will discuss new ways to make culture accessible to everyone.
EUNIC Romania started this project. The project aims to make it easier for disabled people to attend theatre performances, concerts, exhibitions and other cultural events.
The project also aims to teach people working in culture how to make their spaces more welcoming to everyone.
Nine European cultural institutions are working together on this project. They are:
- Italian Institute for Culture
- British Council
- Polish Institute
- Goethe-Institut
- Czech Centre
- Instituto Cervantes
- Romanian Cultural Institute
- Austrian Cultural Forum
- French Institute
Two people helped to develop this project. They are called co-curators. Their names are Olga Macrinici and Ruxandra Mateescu.
Olga is a playwright and theatre director. She is disabled.
Ruxandra has a disabled daughter and advocates for the rights of disabled people.
Access Constellation has four stages during 2026:
- Stage 1 – from April
EUNIC institutions will assess how accessible their own organisations are. - Stage 2 – on 3 and 4 September
The Accessibility Academy will take place in Bucharest. - Stage 3 – September and October
The Accessibility Incubators will offer practical workshops where people can learn about accessibility.
- Stage 4 – 22 and 23 October
The Arts and Disability Forum will take place as part of the National Theatre Festival in Bucharest. It will bring together experts working in culture and disability.
Local context
This project uses information and recommendations from the 2026 British Council study Arts and Disability in Romania: From Fragmented Practice to a National Framework
Although one in twenty people in Romania is disabled, disabled people are still largely absent from cultural spaces and audiences. Even fewer disabled people work as artists.
There are laws intended to prevent this. However, these laws are not applied equally or consistently. As a result, many places and activities remain inaccessible.
The cultural sector is creative and determined, but it faces many barriers. Collaboration can be difficult and receives little funding. Organisations must compete for the few resources available.
There is also a major lack of training in inclusive practices. Disabled people therefore continue to be largely invisible in the cultural sector.
We believe that accessibility can become an important cultural value. To achieve this, we need laws that are properly applied, suitable training and funding that rewards collaboration instead of competition.
Access Constellation: Co-creating Inclusive Cultural Futures is a process. It is moving forward slowly but steadily, through collaboration.
We know that cultural institutions in Romania still have much to learn. Our ambition is to create the right conditions for inclusive cultural spaces to exist and to make sure they are truly accessible to the people who use them.
This project is organised with the support of our local partners and experts:
- AMAIS
- Animest Împreună
- CODA – Fundația Farmecul Tăcerii
- Creier Divers
- National Theatre Festival, organised by UNITER – the Romanian Theatre Union
- Pitești Prison Memorial
- Supereroi printre noi
- Constanța State Theatre and SEAS – the Summer Season of Performing Arts
Access Constellation: Co-creating Inclusive Cultural Futures is a project created by EUNIC Romania and supported by the EUNIC Cluster Fund 2026.
EUNIC – European Union National Institutes for Culture – is a European network of national cultural institutes and organisations. It has 39 members from EU Member States and associate countries.
Through its activities, EUNIC Romania supports international cultural relations, collaboration and knowledge exchange. It also promotes inclusion, accessibility, sustainability and community participation.