English bellow.

С малко повече интегритет и достойнство тази криза може да бъде преодоляна – личните нападки няма да улеснят положението.

Ние търпяхме 25–30 години вашето арогантно и пренебрежително поведение. Не искаме да ви „унищожаваме“, а просто да замълчите и да видим как с какви средства ще бъдат преодолени вредите, наслагвани с години върху българското изкуство и култура.

Вашите фалшиви авторитети не са нашите. Не ви искаме, а арогантното ви поведение през годините намира отзвук днес не в един или двама, а в над 1500 души.

Заличаването на положителни фигури в изкуството в продължение на десетилетия беше продиктувано единствено от протежиране и пренебрежение към всички останали. За да се осигури вашия достъп до финансови инструменти и влияние на високо ниво „консултациии“ бяха предоставяни на хора, които не разбират нищо от изкуство, но на които се натрапваха вашите  идеи за „елитарност“, за да си осигурите ръководни позиции и облаги.

Самопровъзгласилият се „Институт за съвременно изкуство“ наложи присъствието си в консултантски практики, творчески съвети и механизми за разпределяне на средства, диктувайки кой художник заслужава внимание и подкрепа и кой – не. Централизацията на културния живот в България доведе до явни преференции за малка група, самопровъзгласила се за „елит“ на художествения живот.

Заблудата мина всякакви граници – младите хора са отвратени и не искат да имат нищо общо с инсинуации и съмнителни схеми от миналото, нито да взимат страна в тази толкова дълго продължила битка за ресурси и влияние.

Вие не представлявате художествения елит на България и тази лъжа повече не може да продължава!

Вие не представлявате никого, освен себе си, и не желаем нито един от вас на толкова важен пост в Националната галерия. Там очевидно се популяризират псевдоелитарните идеи на малка група художници, които претендират да представляват единственото значимо в българската художествена сцена, като същевременно придават космическа важност на меркантилни и, меко казано, недостатъчно убедителни тенденции, които не заслужават такова влияние.

Домакинството на Guerrilla Girls в Националната галерия се оказа твърде голяма хапка за вас в тази ситуация. Респект към БФЖ за поканата на този толкова значим за феминисткия активизъм колектив – Guerrilla Girls са своеобразни икони на равнопоставеността, демократичните ценности и лобирането за правата на жените в изкуството. Но вашата позиция не издържа на това предизвикателство – съгласете се!

#Je suis Guerilla girl

И тук не става въпрос за броя жени на ръководни позиции в България, нито за исторически прецеденти, а за дълбоки ментални нагласи, които трябва да бъдат разградени. Свободата и равноправието на жените в изкуството не трябва да бъдат ограничавани от цензура, псевдофункции или авторитарен стил на управление.

Свободни  в смисъл – совобдни от ненужните, налагани с години у нас маскировки на свободната жена – самостоятелно решаваща и управляваща своя хабитат, но същевременно сведена до ролята на следваща единствено мъжки принципи за власт и домогване до ресурси.

от Независими артисти в София

*Подписката подписана от повече от 1600 човека, беше свалена от петиция бг с аргументите:

Reason: We are responsible for the content published on our website by our users. While we believe it is important to provide space for citizens to criticize people in high positions, we unfortunately do not have the resources to verify whether the strong accusations in this petition are true.
We apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

With a little more integrity and dignity, this crisis can be overcome—personal attacks will not make the situation any easier.

We have endured your arrogant and dismissive behavior for 25–30 years. We do not seek to “destroy” you; we simply want you to remain silent so we can see how and with what means the damage inflicted on Bulgarian art and culture over the years will be addressed.

Your false authorities are not ours. We do not want you, and your arrogance over the years resonates today not with just one or two people, but with over 1,500.

The erasure of positive figures in the arts for decades has been driven solely by favoritism and disregard for everyone else. To secure your access to financial instruments and high-level influence, “consultations” were provided to people who had no understanding of art but were indoctrinated with your ideas of “elitism” to guarantee you leadership positions and benefits.

The self-proclaimed “Institute of Contemporary Art” in Sofia has imposed its presence in consultancy practices, creative councils, and funding distribution mechanisms, dictating which artists deserve attention and support and which do not. The centralization of cultural life in Bulgaria has led to blatant favoritism toward a small group that has declared itself the “elite” of the artistic scene.

This deception has gone too far—young people are disgusted and want nothing to do with the insinuations and dubious schemes of the past, nor do they wish to take sides in this long-standing battle for resources and influence.

You do not represent the artistic elite of Bulgaria, and this lie can no longer continue!

You represent no one but yourselves, and we do not want any of you in such an important position within the National Gallery. It is evident that pseudo-elitist ideas are being promoted there by a small group of artists who claim to represent the only relevant aspect of Bulgaria’s artistic scene while at the same time attributing cosmic significance to mercantile and, to say the least, insufficiently convincing trends that do not deserve such influence.

Hosting Guerrilla Girls at the National Gallery turned out to be too big a bite for you in this situation. Respect to the BFW for inviting this highly significant collective in the global feminist activism movement—Guerrilla Girls are iconic figures in the fight for equality, democratic values, and advocacy for women in the arts. But your position could not withstand this challenge—admit it! #Je suis Guerilla girl

And this is not about the number of women in leadership positions in Bulgaria or historical precedents but about deeply ingrained mentalities that must be dismantled. The freedom and equality of women in the arts must not be restricted by censorship, pseudo-functions, or authoritarian leadership.

Free in the sense – free from the unnecessary, imposed for years in our country masquerades of the free woman – independently deciding and managing her habitat, but at the same time reduced to the role of following only male principles of power and access to resources.

/Independent sector in the arts Bulgaria

*Petition signed by 1600 pepple has been removed by administartors of perticiq.com with the following arguments:

OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPATION AT WATER TOWER ART RESIDENCY – DECENTRALIZED EDITION VARNA 2021

20 – 30 SEPTEMBER 2021

•ORGANIZED BY  NGO IME

Contact: Nia Pushkarova

Artist and Organizer/ Curator of Water tower art residency/fest in Varna 2021 and Chairwoman of Ngo Ime

http://watertowerartfest.com/en/

watertowerartfest@gmail.com

With kind support by Embassy of United States in Sofia

• Details on event and curator’s concept

For the fifth year, Bulgarian and foreign artists will exchange experience. This time the event will be in Varna – the sea capital of Bulgaria, as an act of decentralization of the cultural life of Sofia for the maximum usage of the potential that arts and culture possess for greater social inclusion.

The tried and true method of the “mentoring program” is to combine progressive creative social strategies with their implementation in a local context.  Both online and in person workshops will be initiated in public spaces and in main partner’s venue ( an old bunker at district Talyana, Varna) leading to resulting in a final exhibition event of residency with especially invited  team members as mentors working and collaborating in different disciplines such as performance art, film and art in public spaces and socially engaged practices.

Water Tower Art Residency is a new, separate chapter, but also a natural extension to the book of the NGO IME and Water Tower Art Fest – whose original format (international contemporary art festival in abandoned buildings) ended in 2016 with the 10th anniversary of the festival, including more than 80 contemporary art offerings -  painting, sculpture, video and photo projections, installations, performances – from over 10 European countries, as well as the world.  Based on years of experience and a network of participants and partners, the essence of Creative Water Tower Residence is to continue the set tone and tradition: the artistic development of artists and their audiences, and the creation of works in a specific context at a specific location – site-specific art.

Our partner will be ReBonkers as well as a network of independent artistic initiatives dedicated to the development of Varna . The places we are about to integrate (old bunker and various public spaces-in and outside city center) within our program are going to be the scene for inspiration and a subject of collaborations between guest mentors – team members and young participants.

Interaction and empathy between people and an inclusive attitude towards different ethnicities and cultures as well as empowering young women are the topics that we will encourage to develop through creative workshops in our residency.

The problem with the elitization of art and culture and the lack of clear access to cultural events of communities on the outskirts of settlements is big, because most people, especially from marginalized communities, are influenced and led only by mass culture, which narrows their horizons.

 As part of our strategy to integrate such communities and develop their sense of belonging, it is our choice of neglected public places to interact over the years. As some of these places have a certain value for our city from a historical architectural or aesthetic point of view. Touching them is a touch to the geographical memory of a culture, nation, community and by living and socializing them through art, we provide an opportunity to reconsider values ​​related to the spirit and history of the place, as well as to pay attention to our internal neglect and the need for continuity and development through empathy.

Selection procedure

We welcome VISUAL ARTISTS working in the sphere of installation/film/video/mural and graffiti/performance/sound design etc. ​

WE PROVIDE THE ARTISTS WITH:

• Free of charge participation to all workshops by especially invited mentors

• Help in developing personal art projects with the help and guidance by residency mentors

• transfer from the airport to the accommodation area and back,

• assistance with finding cheap accomodation

• materials required for their work (arranged prior to arrival)

• promotion and presentation of the produced artwork,

• transportation,

• cultural activities

Expenses paid by the artist:

• travel

• accommodation

• meals

• medical insurance

• personal needs​

THE SELECTION COMMITTEE will take into consideration the following criteria:

- Presented project plan submitted by the candidate-artist;

- Its relevance to local and international art standards;

- Its feasibility and how artists from different parts of the world and of different backgrounds, using different mediums, may interact, enriching each other’s work processes and results.

START OF RESIDENCY 20 September

20 September arrival and first meeting at The Bookstore

21 September – 10:00 – 14:00 Organized Art tour at Re Bonkers club and public spaces in Varna

15:00 Workshops start

22- 27 September workshop sessions

Mid presentation 25.09 – 18:00 to 22:30

End of Residency 30.09.2021 ; 11:00 Departure

*Program is indicative and may undergo some changes

ARTISTS PARTICIPANTS AS MENTORS:

Ruby Cedar

She/her

Ruby studied her undergraduate in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins specialising in their XD (cross disciplinary) pathway where the focus was in how art engages and works with communities as well as being free in adopting different mediums. She went on to exhibit in Berlin, London, Sofia & Chicago where she won ‘Best of Show’ at the 21st International Open Exhibition at Woman Made Gallery IL in 2018. In recent years she has continued as a multidisciplinary artist and curator but has focused more on Filmmaking as both visual art and narrative cinema. This summer will conclude her Masters in Filmmaking at the University of the West of Scotland where she will have made 3 short films, two fiction and one documentary. Her film work hopes to build unsettling worlds with dark tones, creepy erotica and fragile characters.

Artist Workshop: Make a Short Film

In this workshop you will each produce a 2 minute film to be exhibited in the final presentation of WTAR. We will follow the process through from idea inception, practice pitching, idea development to filming as well as watching and discussing other short form films. The form the film takes is up to you, it could be documentation of your art work or of a performance. It could be an experimental art piece in itself. It could be a documentary or a narrative fiction film. The only constraint is it’s length (2 minutes).

If you have a camera, sound recorder and/or lights then fantastic but the minimum you’ll need to have is a decent camera phone. We will be looking at how best to use lighting, sound, framing and general planning/storyboarding in order to produce the best image without necessarily having the most expensive kit. As artists we are resourceful! And with this in mind the workshop is aimed at artists who are interested in adopting film as part of their toolkit.

The artist leading the workshop will be editing the films (unless you are keen on doing this yourself and have editing software) which is why we have the limit of 2 minutes, to give her time to have the pieces ready for exhibition.

• Session on ideas (inception & development) 2 hours

• Screening and discussion of short films (mixture of fiction, documentary, artist documentation forms) 1.5 hours

• Practice pitch: Artists pitch their ideas and receive feedback & questions from the group 3 hours

• Development: Artists develop their ideas and how best to plan for the shoot to minimise post production i.e lighting, sound, framing & storyboarding 4 hours

• Artists film all day

Specifications:

In order to take part all you need is a decent phone camera, although if you have a better camera or any other equipment for example sound recorder, lights then fantastic.

Chuyia Chia – https://chuyia.wordpress.com/

Chuyia Chia moved to Singapore in the late 1990s and is now based in Gothenburg. Her artistic training is originally painting, but her main artistic practice is now within the realm of performance and installation art. Chuyia Chia’s artistic direction has developed with of her identity as an immigrant in the 1990s, giving her global outlook and concern. Thus in her work she pays particular attention to environmental responsibility and food, focusing on relationships and the communication between people. Her perspective is often how the body can express these contexts and communicate knowledge and emotions to the viewer. Chuyia has participated and have commissioned international exhibitions, festivals and events in more than 32 countries includes China, Poland, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, France, Belgium, Peru, Argentina, Russia, Canada, USA, Finland, Germany, Mexico, Thailand, Italy, Cameroon and so on. Her most recently commission work is the Singapore Biennale 2016.

*Online session

Haruka Tomatsu – https://kailih.wixsite.com/artwork

She studied Butoh techniques with Setsuko Yamada, Toru Iwashita, and Theater Theory with Shogo Ota. After graduating in 2007-2008 she joined the Glorious Future Dance Company (Director: Kim Ito). 2008 she also started her career as a freelance dancer and performer.

She participated in various performances in Japan as well as internationally.

Since 2013 she has created her own work as a choreographer, dancer and performer.

Therefore she focuses on the relation between existence and absence with a strong approach to space, objects and body in everyday life.

Wotrkshop Concept and Information vol.1

Feel and observe the city of Varna on your body

Masks, disinfection, social distance.

It’s been a year and a half since we started living with Covid-19.

The shape of people’s lives has changed rapidly.

And the distance and relationships between people have changed.

Isn’t the sensation that our bodies feel also changed as a result since

the lifestyle is changing by Covid-19?

In this project,I would like to objectively observe the space in which we

are by using the five senses to feel and output what kind of space we

live in with such a changed body.

Feeling of the body: Not only seeing, but also walking around Varna city

while making maximum use of touch, smell, taste, and hearing, and

expressing the feeling there through installation and performance.

These feelings as the installation are stored in Bunker and shared with

people.

Ginny Sykes- https://ginnysykes.com/about

EXPERTISE:  Over a 40 year practice, I have made art to tell stories of personal and historical merit informed by feminism’s resistance to prescriptive or institutional ideas of a universalized female experience. Centering women’s stories is in itself a critique of patriarchal codes that have occupied and over-determined artistic content over millennia of arts production; codes that valorize certain values at the expense of others, lead to dangerous levels of ecological imbalance, wreak havoc on women’s lives, and foster cultures of violence. Within this framework across all the genres of my work, but especially in performance and video, I address subjects of individuation, aging, loss, resiliency. Jung’s theories on alchemy and dreams inspire me to explore ideas of individual and collective unconscious. I use myth and ritual in layered imagery to create symbolic meaning, to unearth the shadow side of a story, and suggest the transforming potential of art to heal the splits within us all.

Ginny Sykes is an interdisciplinary artist inspired by mythology, Jungian psychology, ancient monuments, and dreams. She employs a poetic, layered aesthetic across all genres of her practice, to invite a consideration of the transforming and healing potential of art, and to encourage access to one’s inner world. Selected recent exhibitions in the US and internationally include Legler Regional Library and Woodson Regional Public Library, Chicago Art Source, Woman Made Gallery, and Loyola University Art Museum, Chicago, IL; LACE, Los Angeles, CA; Art Performing Festival, Naples, Italy and Forte Marghera, Venice, Italy; Dryphoto Arte Contemporanea, Prato, Italy; Water Tower Art Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria; top Schillerpalais, Berlin, Germany; Saltillo Contemporary, Saltillo, Mexico; Pinacoteca Communale de Arte Contemporanea, Gaeta, Italy; and Can Gelabert Casal de Cultura, Mallorca, Spain. Sykes taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in many community based art programs, where she loved working with teenagers. She has created over 40 public art projects, including On the Wings of Water at O’Hare Airport. Sykes holds an MA in Women Studies and Gender Studies from Loyola University, Chicago, IL, a BFA from Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, and studied painting and art history at Studio Cecil Graves in Florence, Italy. When not living in Chicago, she lives in Naples, Italy.

I propose to do a short performance work that will start with my physical body and that transforms into a ritual art object of contemplation that others can interact with.

Daisuke Takeya – https://daisuketakeya.com/

Born and raised in Japan, Daisuke Takeya obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Graduate School of Figurative Art at the New York Academy of Art and received Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. As a live performance artist Daisuke has collaborated with artists from various genres, including classical musicians such as cellist Vernon Regehr, violinist Lynn Kuo, Music in the Barns Chamber Ensemble, Les AMIS Ensemble, and deVah Quartet. Daisuke’s interest has been extended to vitalization of communities via art. He has co-directed and performed at Ashita: Artists for Japan, a Tsunami Relief Fundraiser in March, 2011, which featured the visual, music, dance, performance, and literary art communities of Toronto. Daisuke is also a past programming director and board member of Gendai Gallery, an artist and ambassador of ARTBOUND and an organizing committee member of Onagawa Art Season, an art festival at the most devastated town of 2011 Tsunami in Japan. He is currently a co-director of DAICHI Projects, the representative and curator of Field Trip Project, Field Trip Project Asia, and POWER TO THE PEOPLE initiative. He is the executive director of Responding: International Performance Art Festival and Meeting erected in 2018.

*Online session

Ana Vujic

Ana Vujić (*1981/Serbia), lives and works in Basel    www.anavujic.ch

For years I have been realising large-format drawings with charcoal or ink that focus on the constantly changing conditions of human life. The works often address situations of transformation, the fragility of the social construct and question our role as individuals. In doing so, I am less interested in retracing real images that have already been seen. Rather, the works are about inner pictorial worlds that also tell of opposing emotional worlds through an abstraction of content.

As an artist, I also consciously place my drawings on public city walls or so-called “non-places”. For me, art and everyday life are inseparable.

Ana is invited to do a specially developed project with wall murals in public space as a socially engaged artwork in collaboration with local and other artists.

Ivelina Ivanova www.vimeo.com/krivi

 is a multidisciplinary artist based in Sofia. From 2014 to 2017 he studied and lived in London, where he started experimental animation and created several short films, recognized by a number of international festivals. Currently, her main creative activity is in the field of 3D animation, video mapping and interactive installation. Ivelina’s works are with mixed media: painted animation, 2D and 3D digital animation, film and sound collage.Ivelina’s works are with mixed media: painted animation, 2D and 3D digital animation, film and sound collage. From 2020 he holds a Master’s degree in Digital Arts from the National Academy of Arts.

The participants in the residency will be introduced to various techniques for analog and digital animation, digital video image processing and transmedia collage. The ultimate goal of the lessons is to make a collective experimental animated video.

Nina Foltynowicz- sound artist, DJ – https://soundcloud.com/ninchetoo

Nina is a DJ from Silesia, mining area of Poland. When she was 6, she said she doesn’t need to learn how to read, cause she loves music and that’s enough. Her all life is connected with sounds, beats and instruments. If you could use her eyes for a moment, you would see tons of instruments everywhere. Her mixes are a vibbing journeys through many genres, but house and disco are the most perceptible ones.

Malwina Hanna Kleszcz

Highly-creative Visual Media Artist with an extraordinary experience of innovative digital projects, 3D modeling and animation using the best available technical programs. https://www.artstation.com/malware83

https://www.instagram.com/malvine_gaye/

Nina and Malwina are going to give workshop together of visual and sound short animation

BY

NIA PUSHKAROVA

TITLE OF PROJECT:

„GREETINGS FROM THE BLANK SPOT“

 I have decided to publish my proposal for curatorial project to present Bulgaria at Venice Biennale in 2019. The selection was made and a different project was chosen to present us. Nevertheless i think it is important to share our visions.

Since 1964 we, as a nation have abdicated from participation at this most prestigious forum of contemporary arts and have not declared any desire for participating on national level.

Despite frequent forays to apparently blind and deaf to such complaints Ministry of Culture (with some exceptions lying on personal interests) that it is of particular importance to us as Bulgarians. And the sporadic personal participation of ambitious curators and artists, without representing the nation in any way, through a consensus of their participation, can not replace the status of a National Pavilion.

In 2017 also on base of a personal initiative, I presented Bulgarian Pavilion, with performance action supported by Chinese collective. Whether it has unlocked or helped us decide on our participation, I can not say.  but I think that even the image of a spray-coated back on my white dress “Bulgarian Pavilion” has provoked somewhat the Bulgarian public, or at least those who know how important this forum is.http://nia.watertowerartfest.com/?p=919

Through our participation, we declare ourselves as a nation in modern times

In the context of the theme of the 58th Venice Biennial, the idea is related to the resulting dynamics of the Chinese curse “Live in Interesting Times” where everything is possible. Like the use of omnipotent digital information, a fake news, and the choice of whether or not to recover from the white field of collective memory loss. A white spot in the psycho-geographic map of the world. Where nobody returns from, because they do not know where it is. Where there are whole nations, despite their diminished visibility. Just by declaring we engage even with our own existence.

„May You Live in Interesting Times springs from a belief that interesting art creates forms whose particular character and delineation raise questions about the ways in which we mark cultural boundaries and borders. Intelligent artistic activity involves creating forms that call attention to what forms conceal, and the functions that they fulfil. The Exhibition will highlight art that exists in between categories, and which questions the rationales behind our categorical thinking.

Finally, May You Live in Interesting Times will be formulated in the belief that human happiness depends on substantive conversations, because as social animals we are driven to both create and find meaning, and to connect with others. In this light, the Exhibition will aim to underscore the idea that the meaning of artworks are not embedded principally in objects but in conversations – first between artist and artwork, and then between artwork and audience, and later between different publics. Ultimately, Biennale Arte 2019 aspires to the ideal that what is most important about an exhibition is not what it puts on display, but how audiences can use their experience of the exhibition afterwards, to confront everyday realities from expanded viewpoints and with new energies. An exhibition should open people’s eyes to previously unconsidered ways of being in the world and thus change their view of that world.“ Ralph Rugof

Our modern nation-psychology is related to a personal and collective abdication of the Bulgarian himself, to recognize or rather to make his own point of view. He is convinced that, in addition to being inadequate and undesirable from the rest of the attractive active world (think the West), with its own self-esteem and “valid” viewpoints, it is equally insufficient for itself. That’s why he copied – imitating values. We have made temples of such, through the skillful benefactors –  the contemporary architects of our nation’s weaknesses, such as indifference, cowardice, grooming, alienation, tendency to corruption and loyalty.

Imitation (from Latin: imitatio, “copying” 1) is a specific behavior in which the individual observes and repeats behaviors, gestures, clothing, and so on. to another individual. the word imitation can be applied in many contexts, from animal training to international politics [2].

“The societies, as well as the crowds, are governed by the instinct of imitation and cowardice.” – Marcel Proust

The simulation of happiness is one of the most treacherous ones that has brought us to a distance from our true nature, rightfully belonging to us. While shifting, by copying the happiness of others, has become our first nature.

Copying and imitation go as far as to conclude that we have consciously lost any connection with ourselves as humans, and we continue to copy with that amazing expectation of assessment in the eyes of naive children, even if they themselves know they are they lied and did not do their homework, but they think … will somehow pass. This “somehow will pass” is at the root of copying everything that has been given to us by the Western world. Copying is like a special kind of drug that gives you a connection with something that makes sense, and even if you do not understand it, play it safe by copying it. Moral values, fashion, way of speaking, raising our children, urban planning, music, art, political decisions, etc. Without being even slightly intrigued by what might possibly be lying neglected and precious under your feet. You imitate in exalted excitement and at the end what you get is that, with the act of copying yourself, you consume valuable energy and make incredible connections through what you learn while copying. And somehow you are surprised when you see the result, which is no worse than the original itself, and somehow resembles something vaguely familiar deep within you, which may be yours and true and not copied but still beautiful and valuable. But it takes you much more time and energy to pursue it, and that’s why you’re copying.

What remains after imitation is the real life and looking deeper, it is in no way different from any other, but during all this time of conscious adjustment and imitation of alien achievements and role plays, you missed to see and appreciate with your own eyes. What is yours! As we imitate, we can not look and recognize the real, which is equally valid. But in our frantic desire for resemblance, because of unbelief in ourselves, we are blind to the truth, seen by all others, but ourselves.

What I propose as a concept is related to the idea of ​​the return of a revenant after a memory loss, after an accident the return from the no-man’s land, where is difficult to tell exactly what is there and where he was, because there is only a white spot in memory.

It is a kind of naming, a desire to recapture our memory, to overcome the dependence on copying and to occupy our place in the world, where we take boldly and responsibly what we say and think. Without fear of evaluating us or not, without being influenced more than the external evaluation in favor of our inner voice. Are we incapable of thinking alone, working in our lives as we want? Are we ready to accept all the wrong truths, to imitate and adopt as ours ?! The idea is related to the voluntary loss of memory due to stress experienced by the whole nation. The revenant is incapable of having his own context, and hence copies those values ​​that are offered and displayed to him. The sense of survival prevails and we adapt. White Spot Syndrome is not an isolated case in modern history, it is not a trademark of our country. Complying with the white spots of human history is a demanding priority for the great powers. There are many other white spots in world psycho-geography, but the act of declaring presence in the white spot is important for us as well as for the rest of the world. The world needs us, as we ourselves.

In this context I foresee an action in which a real object - scratched wall of a house in Koprivshtitsa by the occasional tourists visiting the city, left their signature - tag on it, is built in a precise copy in the corridor on the third floor of Palazzo Lollin.

In parallel, a visit of a randomly selected class of high school students in the last class from Bulgaria to Venice is organized, just before the opening of the Biennale. Where, in addition to being given the opportunity to visit the city of Venice for free, they will sign and leave their Tag, name, logo on the specially made copy of the house wall in Koprivsthitsa. In the context of the theme of recovering from the white spot of loss of collective memory, the action provokes reflections on what is lost and what is not in our time. It is not by chance the choice of scratched wall of a house in Koprivshtitsa. Besides the association of the white spot in our memory, through the intentional scratching the upper blue layer of the plaster, in the outburst and the desire for the expression of the randomly chosen, deprived of any sense of cultural belonging, wrapped in oblivion, innocent adolescents;  the heights of the chosen location for the Bulgarian Pavilion – the last floor of Palazzo Lolín, remind us very much of the height level of the rooms in the houses in this Bulgarian Renaissance town, not higher than 2.60m. In an absolutely arbitrary or not, principle of choice of location for our National Pavilion, we are in line with our perception of inner potential and self-esteem. So, we are at home.

The action, as well as the whole journey of the group of students, is captured and projected in parallel in space as an integral art of the work at the opening.

Separately, in each room there will be an artist presenting his work in space – a room, seen only when one enters the room. It is impossible to see whether and what is in the rooms from outside, because of the blind spot where the works are.

The artists selected by me are relatively young and unknown, and some of them are Bulgarians living abroad or of Bulgarian origin. Because, in my opinion, through their self-confidence and potential there is a better chance of returning our memory and our self-confidence as a nation. I have not mentioned to them that it is about taking part in the most prestigious event in the world of art – the National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale – just so not be stressed out of the responsibility and to prevent them from getting away from their true nature of creators. The works will be made specifically on the topic, and this is a process starting from the selection of the project by the commission until its appearance and installation in our National Pavilion.The submitted photo material is indicative and illustrative for each of the artists, and the lack of illustration is for those in the process. The technical requirements are structured to suit the principle of work and budget.

I believe that this is acceptable given the short deadlines that have been placed since the date of opening the invitation and applying the full information about the specific location and parameters of the Bulgarian Pavilion until the deadline for submission of proposals by the Ministry.

I believe that through the project I have presented, we have the chance to present for the first time in 30 years Bulgaria at this prestigious forum, as decent citizens of the world. With a great deal of self-irony and at the same time posing important questions about the vision of a common future where a small country like ours has a reason to play on the world chess field of contemporary art.

©Nia Pushkarova

By Vivi Kieffer

http://www.vivikieffer.com/

http://www.aletheia-art.com/

Art sublimes emotions and allows the artist to live in another world, with less boundaries, more freedom and more beauty. Victor Hugo, the well-known  French author of the 19th century, felt that opening schools would result in closing prisons, and nowadays many government programs are based on the understanding that opening artistic programs result directly in a diminution of delinquency.

This is an accepted point of view; allow me to add another one. For me, the main social function of the arts is rediscovering a country’s identity, sometime lost or forgotten.

A little personal history to illuminate the subject…I left my home country France, to discover new and unknown horizons. When I arrived in Peru, I was nine… Back then Peru was slowly waking up from the somber times of Sendero Luminoso, The Shining Path. And when I speak about waking up, I speak about its culture, its roots. Cuzco of course was always a very touristic citadel, even in those times, but indigenous Nazca signs and Inca symbology were not often referenced or artistically presented as they are now more than two decades later.

Was it political stability that drove culture and its subsequent tourism to what it is today ? Or on the reverse, is it culture, that over time, and through determined authors, that helped the country to heal from its political injuries? Is there any causality to be seen, or just the mere chance of timing ?

Let me then take another example, one that is closer to my artwork and to the mission I feel that is given to me as an artist. I have been living in a world touristic destination, a safe haven, called the Dominican Republic. Whenever I speak those two words, I see all my interlocutors picturing themselves in a hammock swaying in front of the beautiful turquoise sea… This scene could be a real one, but it’s not the only.

Dominican Republic was also the first interface between Europe and the pre-Hispanic culture, the first point of encounter, historically dating back to 1492.

However when you visit the so-called DR, you really have to be a willing and motivated tourist to discover more than traces of Spanish footprints. How many of the almost 6 million tourists annually try to go to the places of the conquest or seek to see the pre-Hispanic legacy? Well, not as many as I would want… And, of course, it is not surprising, because the country’s  nationals themselves are still not inspired by its legends.

Some years ago when I was told about the Taino woman warrior called  Anacaona, I was mesmerized by her and the myths surrounding her. This woman, coming from a pretty horizontal culture (with no hierarchy) is said to be the first one of the Caciques to oppose herself to Spanish colonization. It was only after Columbus’ second arrival to the island that the Spanish succeeded in taking complete control.

I envisioned Anacaona (also called Flor de Oro or Golden Flower) as a golden amber, three dimensional flower resting over calm waters at sunset, and therefore built a volumetrical abstraction,  as I call my artwork trend. Then I created  “Genesis”, the video-art I am very happy to show at WTAF this year. “Genesis” is a fusion of images from the Dominican Republic – its Spanish history, its wonderful and incredible landscapes and my volumetrically abstracted structure “Anacaona”.

This artwork inspired Lilian Carrasco Art Critic for El Caribe newspaper to write:

“It seems that the artist [Vivi Kieffer] has found a way to project over time the legacy of the queen of the Jaragua’s chiefdom [Anacaona] so that future generations do not lose track of their

indigenous past and the wealth that inhabit their traditions.”

And to tell the truth I do not know what I am more proud of, the aesthetic value of the video-art work “Genesis” itself, or making a bridge between generations and offering, through art, a way of rediscovering one’s cultural roots.

By any means, for me art’s main social function will always be to help people build an identity and rediscover long forgotten roots.

What kind of things I saw during the festival that I organize….
I know this is not a very usual way of dealing and I don’t have the know how of how to do everything especially right now
But this is how I saw it
I saw brilliant work and artists that did recognize each other and all of that happened in Sofia
It allowed me to be part of where I want to be, and stay in one place only.
Everything that I ever wanted
The amount of time my heart missed a beat during all of those years is a lot
And I don’t count them anymore
I just want to say thank you in the more appropriate way possible, because those people do not play the game of superficiality – the usual attribute to the false pretence and pointless excuses.
I know that it doesn’t even depend on me anymore or what I am trying to do in order to change the way things are for the better. In reality the change wanted and sought is not really the one induced by the “right” people. The strangely allocated feeling of being far and beyond form here and now is something which gives us time and space to see where your soul abides in the future. Those kinds of people are present at the festival. I am not undermining the initial force, but now I want to talk about the content rather than the inspiration itself. The fulfillment at the end of the day; the fulfillment of a good hard working day; the fulfillment of the substance left behind in the form of sparks in the eye just like seeing a dream come true.
I’ve lived in front of the computer every day since it all started to be of that proportion and I am there until the day of festival begins – 7 times in a row.
And those days always do come.
The dynamics of what has happened in each and every of the artists work is important to the overall presentation of the festival.
For example the start of the Norwegian bunch’s work began a year before the actual piece took shape and place and in a complete transformed way from its first initiation.

In 2012 following the white rabbit in an interview in the national TV station TV 7 the interviewer didn’t even had the patience to wait until the full story opened and developed before us – the story of the Oslo city lights by Constance Guilsnes.
In fact, the whole theme was not perceived as thought in the first place – To follow the white rabbit in 2012, had that distant connotation of following something throughout the black hole so it will lead us at the end of it; meaning – end of the world conspiracy by Mayan calendar 2012 and the mass hysteria over it. So our message was to be strong in believing in your world as it is rather than consisting only of sporadic prophecies by ancient civilizations – that has nothing to do with us and our present will power and vision for the future!
In that thought path the 2010 theme of festival had the utmost and creative attitude than any ever since – “Clairvoyance”! I can not outperform myself by naming the festival with a better title.

The internal dynamics of the festival also have its place – they did not allow some of the artists to flower and blossom. (2011 interference in the artwork, some undermined in 2012 – and change of place in 2013)

While other have happened instead and despite of themselves and surprised even their authors. (2012 young students work, experiments and performances)

What happened before each of the festival the proceedings is as much and as important to the whole process as the result itself.
The time spent in meetings and conversations on the phone or in person – sometime obviously pointless, but even though always lead us somewhere. The fact is that now to use alternative spaces for art events is a daily routine in the city of Sofia, while in 2006 it was an impossible task by itself. Pioneering is not always a very good thing, I have had numerous of occasions when my ideas have been realized by others, not so humble as me, in a better way because of the brilliance of the idea and in combination with not taking it so seriously and stealing it – wrapped up by much bigger budget advertising campaigns; it works wonders.

The undelivered credit to all of the great artist’s participants is one thing that would lie like a Damocles sword on top of my head, but even though I do not feel guilty.

Epiphany
On the hour
The very urge to do all of this was connected at the beginning with the trembling emotion of being in touch with art and live with it – the eminent
Understanding what paintings is
Understanding what it means to get into the mind drawing process and using colors and lines
It is the same as understanding mathematics as a beautiful form aesthetic point of view
It is the same urge to make others understand why it is so special when you sit in front of a canvas and make making make believing and do and create the thought in your mind tell you which line should you go and what it means
Of course you can go backwards and by understanding it to come close to the mind
But the shivering emotion of following the line of your own is bringing you closer to god, to truth.
That is why I dared think that sharing that knowledge I will be open, honest and true
I didn’t know then that I will be dreaming our house night after night with the simple notion of protection. May be it was wrong and Prometheus- like, nevertheless.

The poisoning came from the closest ones, the misunderstanding, and the measure in that way:
“The trend discerned by Wilde a century ago, of course, has only accelerated in recent years, as the line between trashy celebrity exposés and serious biographies of eminent artists, statesmen and thinkers has grown increasingly blurred. — Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 20 May 1994” – very true indeed!
I think it is engulfing not only ours, but everyone’s society, and surely not adequate only for the 90’s.

Now I need to find the altruistic silver line within me in order to continue and still it is not going to be enough to feed the hungry.

I would like to tell you a story connected with the basic meaning of being an artist and the variety of difficulties accompanying that choice.
In 2011 I had an idea it involved me being slapped on the face multiple times and falling on a different background behind me. The idea was a straight forward one, with not too much of detail to read behind it. The existentiality especially for someone – an artist is heavy and sometimes you have to bear a lot in order to survive. Not to mention the Christian and historical traditions.
In that case I was almost done I just needed to take care of some formalities over the shooting of the film , finding and convincing someone to slap me hard enough in order to make me fall on my back, choose the right background and of course be careful not to hurt myself more than necessary in the process.
So I finally made all arrangements possible and believe it or not being also a festival organizer I received a video the last moment – of a UK based artists with disabilities called: “Who do you think you are entertaining” By Juan Del Gado (a very good friend of mine at the moment) which was exactly the same idea I had. I dropped it straight away and enlisted his video for screening at the festival.
As soon as I got the video there was not even a dilemma – his work I sought at the moment as a savior!

So, I can tell that much about making choices and how difficult is to be an artist, for now!

To be continued…..

Nia Pushkarova