Sofia has not yet had the experience of such a large-scale European project. As the candidacy was developed over almost a decade, with broad participation, bottomup input, a gradual increase in the involvement of cultural operators and businesses, and step-by-step reforms bringing tangible results, we have the confidence that the 2019 project will be significantly innovative for Bulgaria, and to some extent for Europe as well. The fact that the process has been at “arm’s length” from the political structures and the administration of the city is a major step, and has created a partnership between the city and civil society, which is in fact groundbreaking.
13. In what way is the proposed project innovative?
The shift from centripetal to centrifugal forces is a powerful organizing metaphor for our goal, which is to challenge the traditional models of cultural delivery and consumption. Sofia 2019 will support an important array of innovations to help cultural organizations and institutions experiment with new artistic programs and imaginative audience engagement strategies; involve community residents in creating work; present art in unconventional venues where it can be seen by a larger public; and showcase work from minority artists and immigrant cultures. We will address themes that are new to our local cultural landscape and agenda, such as sustainability and art’s role in achieving resilient cities. We will experiment with urban community farms and gardens, slow food and slow travel, walking and biking projects. We will have a special department in our staff to consult project producers on footprint reduction. We have chosen to program across genres in an attempt not only to connect sectors and arenas/territories, but also to disrupt existing formats, in order to stimulate new partnerships and broader involvement in issues that are key to the notion of culture, identity, generation, and place. We have left behind the strict hierarchical structure of the existing cultural sector and its priorities/commitment. We try to mix, connect, infiltrate and create a new balance for the future. National structures, city structures, independents, commercially-run events and community initiatives are linked. We believe that this will provide a new dynamic through which we can share good practices, resources and experience for the “collective” good. We are not planning to build any new infrastructure, but instead reclaim, preserve and repurpose our abandoned industrial heritage sites and renew the often underused cultural centres, libraries and institutions from the communist era. We will also support independent groups in their attempt to find their “own” solutions, and we will advocate reform in the relevant rules and regulations to allow this to happen. “Homeless” contemporary dance, and migrant and Roma communities will have their physical meeting and presenting spaces. We will be piloting new revenue-generating approaches to sustain artists and new art spaces.
CHERNOBYL rEMEMBRANCE Destructive Creation installation,2014
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Sharing Sofia
We will put the Balkans as a cultural region on the map. The Balkans is home to many different ethnic groups who have struggled with various difficulties in sharing this common living space. The regional perspective makes them partners