The eighteenth edition of the Art Positive project is TRANSPARENT. This word carries multiple meanings. It serves as both a code and a starting point for the concept and content of the upcoming exhibition.
Transparency as a theme in art offers endless possibilities for exploration and expression. It can be viewed literally – as a physical property of materials – or metaphorically – as a symbol of openness, truth, or vulnerability.
The transparent reveals, yet also conceals. It creates a space for interplay between the visible and the hidden, a transition between reality and imagination. Artists interpret the theme through various techniques – from layers of paint in painting to the effects of light in installations, from objects that refract light to videos that analyze the essence of revealing and concealing.
Participants::Antoniya Kostova, Vanya Valkova, Velina Hristova, Joshua Francis, Eva Petkova, Evelina Nova, Elena Francis, Emil Mirazchiev, Iva Vacheva, Ivan Ivanov, Ivan Karev, Ivan Kochevski, Lyubomir Krustev, Martina Vacheva, Meili Arslandag, Mia Novakova, Nadya Genova, Natali Petrova, Natasha Kyupova, Osman Yuseinov, Sevdalina Kochevska, Sonya Mitova /cAlma/, Yavor Kostadinov, Yana Kostova.
Kapana Gallery, 29 Rayko Daskalov St., Plovdiv
Opening: April 8, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
The project is implemented with the support of:
Plovdiv Municipality and
Goethe-Institut Bulgaria
Media Partners:
BNT2,
BNR,
Vpreki.com,
Katra FM,
Pod Tepeto,
Kapana.
Art Positive is a project by the Art Today Association, a member of the international network of German cultural societies abroad under Goethe-Institut.
For a Better World
The Art Today Association is announcing its thirtieth edition of the Week of Contemporary Art, Plovdiv, which will take place in September 2024 inside the Ottoman Bath exhibition space and at key public spaces across the city of Plovdiv. The Association will use this opportunity to reflect on the thirty-year history of the annual event, which has established its presence on the national and regional scene of contemporary art, and to open space for current social, political, and cultural issues through the contemporary arts.
"For a Better World" explores the transformative potentials of the arts with visual power and creative imagination. Themes include environmental justice, migration and diaspora, war and political violence, neoliberalism, decolonization, race, religion and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and more. The week will take place at multiple locations. The majority of the artworks will inhabit the unique historical building of the former Ottoman Hammam "Chifte Banya," which will open doors temporarily only for the exhibition, and at Cu29 Gallery. Installations, activities, and interventions will take place at key public spaces throughout the city. The program of the Week is joined by the project "Art for a Green Future", and by Sarieva Gallery with its own organized and produced exhibition.
Curators Zhivka Valiavicharska (United States/Bulgaria) and Emil Mirazchiev (Bulgaria)
Participants:
Albena Mihaylova-Bendji / Banya Starinna
Adela Ju_i_ / Banya Starinna
Asen Krastenov / Banya Starinna
Caitlin Manning / Banya Starinna, Cu29 Gallery
Christian Nyampeta / Banya Starinna
Dan Tenev / Kamenitsa stairs and neighborhoods
Duvar Kolektiv (Hannah Rose, Nikola Venkov, Yanka Simova) / Banya Starinna
Emil Mirazchiev / Garnizonna furna Park; Vegetarianska St., Proslav neighborhood
Ivan Ivanov / Bratska Mogila
Itsko Maznev 1964-2016 / Banya Starinna
Nadya Genova / Banya Starinna
ninavale (Nina Kovacheva and Valentin Stefanov) / Banya Starinna
Tanja Ostoji/ performance in front of Kapana Gallery / Banya Starinna
Tatiana Fiodorova-Lefter / Banya Starinna
Osman Yuseinov / Tsar Simeonova Gradina Park
Shirin Neshat / Banya Starinna
Sevdalina Kochevska / in front of Cosmos Cinema
Sa_o Stanojkovi_ / public space
Stanimir Panayotov / Banya Starinna (roundtable)
Suzana Milevska / Banya Starinna (roundtable)
Velizar Dimchev / Banya Starinna
Vesselin Aleksiev and Milena Kancheva / Banya Starinna
Yana Kostova and Dimitar Kostov / in front of Banya Starinna
Zhivka Valiavicharska / Vegetarianska St., Proslav neighborhood
September 3
5:00-7:00 pm: Warm-up action by Dan Tenev, stairs at Kamenitsa and neighborhoods
8:30 pm: Installation by Ivan Ivanov, Bratska mogila ("Art for a Green Future" project)
9:30 pm: Video mapping "Worlds" by Emil Mirazchiev, Garnizonna furna Park ("Art for a Green Future" project)
September 4
6:00 pm: Performance by Tanja Ostoji_ in front of the Kapana City Gallery, 29 Rayko Daskalov St.
7:30 pm: Exhibition opening, Banya Starinna
8:30 pm: Treat action by Yana Kostova
September 5
5:00-6:30 pm: Roundtable and discussion "Art and Social Transformation" with Suzana Milevska, curator and visual culture theorist, and Stanimir Panayotov, philosopher and writer, Banya Starinna
6:30 pm: Performance by Albena Mihaylova-Bendji, Banya Starinna
8:00 pm: Opening of video exhibition by Caitlin Manning, Gallery Cu29
September 6
6:00 pm. Opening of solo exhibition "Town of Shadows" by Kamen Stoyanov, Sarieva Gallery (organized and produced by the gallery)
The Week of Contemporary Art is a project of the Art Today Association, a member of the international network of German cultural societies abroad of the Goethe-Institut.
Thе project is realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, National Cultural Fund and in partnership with the Municipality of Plovdiv and Goethe-Institut. It is part of the cultural calendar of the Municipality of Plovdiv.
Media partners:
BNT2,
Въпреки.com,
Katra FM,
Под Тепето,
Капана.
