Sofia Paper Art Fest 2016

AMATERAS FOUNDATION

Organizer of

SOFIA PAPER ART FEST 2016

AMATERAS Foundation presents once again for the sixth consecutive time the SOFIA PAPER ART FEST (SPAF) in the period April 28-June 13. This year the motto of the Festival is TRANSFORMATION IN PAPER and this is what the various expositions presented at all the five locations of the Fest have in common. The ambition of the organizers is to show a program that is once again full of brightness and optimism, innovation and creative energy by young as well as by already established artists. The Festival includes the main panel in Bulgaria where for the first time the event will be held in partnership with other cultural events, and will also present various other events imbued with the spirit of tolerance and European values.

In 2016 the Festival will be focused on the intercultural dialogue and on presenting professional networks and associations in Sofia, and collections of the Fest in other countries beyond Europe – Latin America.

Paper art is a new section in contemporary art bringing together traditions and modernity, innovations and hi-tech achievements, It has inspired a number of artists around the world to experiment a new approach, and many world-famous museums or biennales display superb paper artifacts. Since its first edition in Sofia the Fest has been presenting famous artists whose works can be seen in many museums around the world, and this has been attracting the attention of the critics and the international culture observers. It is no accident that the SOFIA PAPER ART FEST has been awarded with the European Label by EFFE, thus turning it into one of the selected events in the European Festival family.

THIS YEAR SOFIA PAPER ART FEST HAS THE FOLLOWING MAIN PRIORITIES:

TRANSFORMATIONS OF SPACE
TRANSFORMATIONS OF IDEAS AND IMAGES
SOFIA ABROAD – VISITING EXHIBITIONS PROGRAM
VISITING PROJECT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PAPER-MAKING AARTISTS IAPMA
YOUNG TALENTS FORUM

One very important event in the program is the discussion on May 5 on the TRANSFORMATION of the space of the National Palace of Culture. A specific priority is the reconsideration of this space carrying the burden of the past which could have a future and a new image, and could be given a new meaning through the creative power of art.

This year the program includes the presentation of over 200 artists from 31 countries in all sections of fine art and of over 100 theater artists in the drama section. Every year SOFIA PAPER ART FEST aspires to show intriguing expositions at different locations, exciting theatrical performances, a number of which have won Bulgarian and international awards, dozens of young people participating in the accompanying events, high professionals from Bulgaria and from abroad holding lectures, performances, demonstrations and workshops.

Invariably, the program places a strong accent on Japanese art, presented at the MAZDA Gallery. This gives refinement and elegance to the Fest.

This year all five locations will present brilliant expositions, contrasting each other but encompassing in a peculiar way the theme of transformation – spiritual, material and physical. Paper is only just a litmus of the imagination through which the ideas, the visions, the aspirations often experience a second even a third reincarnation and thus fill the space with their vitality.

Additional information is available at the AMATERAS Foundation in Face Book and in the program of the Fest at the site

(Information for the mass media)

OFFICIAL OPENING

TRANSFORMATION IN PAPER EXHIBITION

National Palace of Culture, April 28-May 17, 6.30 p.m.

For the first time this year the SOFIA PAPER ART FEST will be presented at the National Palace of Culture with a grand exhibition representing the SPAF 2016 concept. This will be a location of particular importance due to the interaction among the art works created especially for this space which is a big challenge for the Festival.The space at the National Palace of Culture is unusual for such exhibitions with specific requirements to correspond to the concept of TRANSFORMATIONS IN PAPER – the main focus and motto of SPAF 2016. The National Palace of Culture is far from being accepted as a space for exhibitions and it is yet to develop into an exposition site mostly for museum expositions. It was previously known as a space for commercial shows. However, boutique expositions with international participation of contemporary art and innovations is something completely new here, and the public is yet to be invited to see such cultural products. The public still has a barrier to visit the National Palace of Culture due to the above factors and this was the fundamental aim of the Festival jointly with the partners of the National Palace of Culture to bring down the barriers and create an exhibition space through the image and the program of the Festival. Apart from that, Daniela Todorova’s curator idea is to provoke many artists from the National Art Academy, the Architecture and Construction Institute, New Bulgarian University and the National Drama and Film Academy along with the leaders of the project, as well as with already established professionals and innovators, to develop this space. The aim is to transform this space into an attractive and provocative exposition site through the media of paper and spatial models which could be fitted there. The exposition will also include the visiting exhibition of artists and members of IAPMA. The exhibition is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Association with artworks which will tour over 15 museums around the world. The tour will begin in Sofia.

The program attaches great importance to the discussion on May 5 entitled TRANSFORMATION OF THE SPACE. Various projects will be presented by their authors. The National Palace of Culture will also be represented in order to determine their point of view on this matter. The discussion will be open to artists, architects and designers. The event will be chaired by the Executive Director of the National Palace of Culture Miroslav Borshosh who along with the organizers and his team will determine the best project related to the transformation of space. The discussion is in support of the activity and the mission of Miroslav Borshosh and his team for innovations, change and modern functioning of the space of the National Palace of Culture. Its spiritual climate has been undergoing great change in the past two years. The SOFIA PAPER ART FEST is willing to contribute to the progress of this inspiring process which is drawing new audiences, active young people and renowned innovators.

The lecture INFLUENCE OF PAPER ART TODAY and the presentation of IAPMA by Laura Behar from Israel will be held on May 4. Traditionally, the program of SOFIA PAPER ART FEST has a special section for the presentation of paper art technique, relevant events, biennales and international forums on paper art by countries with an ancient tradition and accumulated knowledge through the centuries. This has an enormous impact on the way of thinking of the young Bulgarian artists who are increasing in number every year and are more inventive in their work. This lecture will become the start of a series of such lectures which will be held in partnership with the National Palace of Culture through the year.

The opening of the Art Salon will be held on May 11 and hosted by the National Palace of Culture. SOFIA PAPER ART FEST will offer to the fans of art and culturea meeting place with many artists working in this field on the emblematic PAPER STREET This is an important event in the program and many children will be able to create a monumental work of paper art together with their mothers or with other participants. The event will start at 12.00 p.m. and end at 6.00 p.m. Interesting paper art works and demonstrations of different technique are also planned. On the same day the exhibition of Vladimir Dobrev entitled THE CITY SQUARES WITHIN ME will also be opened. This exposition will be an original interpretation of urban space and its inhabitants, their innermost feelings while walking in the streets or the strange illusions of reflections seen through the talented eye of the young photographer.

Additional information is available at

facebook – sofia paper art fest or amateras. community

Exposition of the AMATERAS Annual Mini Paper Art Exhibition Competition

Art Alley Gallery – May 3 – May21– 7.30 p.m.

The Annual Mini Paper Art Exhibition Competition is the prime cause for the appearance of SOFIA PAPER ART FEST in 2011, the grandest paper art project of AMATERAS Foundation in Bulgaria and in Europe as a whole. This has made the Fest an important part of the strategy of Sofia for the period 2013-2023. Many Bulgarian and foreign artists have been presented through this project within the eight years of its history and this has inspired both young and established artists for participation in the forums of this art all over the world.

In the period May3 – May21 seventy-nine artists from twenty-four countries will be presented at the Art Alley Gallery. This is an authentic jewel in the program of SOFIA PAPER ART FEST where aesthetics, design, beauty, imagination, tradition and innovation meet. Ever year the international jury carefully selects its awards for the most captivating artworks by striving to find the balance in distinguishing the artists working in different technique. Often the hand-made paper artworks are particularly attractive, but along with them there are also some brilliant samples of provocative decisions in industrial paper or old books, interesting paper artworks which have undergone transformation and have been given a new style, avant-garde sculpture-like works and exquisite fine art. This is a most colorful palette of ideas and conceptions representing the sea of opportunities in this art.

This year contestants for the awards are artists from Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico, Great Britain and some marvelous Bulgarian artists who are becoming more and more active with every following year, and it is for the second time that the nominations include so many Bulgarian representatives. This year there are two very young artists among the nominees both seventeen-years old – Simona Vladimirova and Gala Dimitrova – whose debut impressed the jury.The increase of young Bulgarian participants is a growing tendency thanks to the popularity and strategy of the SOFIA PAPER ART FEST in the past few years. The powerful participation ofJapanese artists who are also a dominating group is particularly impressive. Last year the SOFIA PAPER ART FEST was presented in two museums in Japan in cooperation with NEXUS professional organization due to which this year there is a very big participation of outstanding Japanese artists in the AMATERAS exhibition and in the big format JAPANESE INNOVATIONS Exhibition at the Mazda Gallery. Many of the awards through the years were claimed by Japanese artists and this year, once again, the nominations for the Grand Prix are Noriko Amano and Hitomi Ueoka in competition with the IAPMA artist Kathrin Dardel from Switzerland. The other two awards are presented in cooperation with IAPMA and in that sphere the competition is between Gerda Ritzmann from Switzerland,Irene Ramennsee from Germany and ICHIRO MATSUO from Japan. A galaxy of talented young Bulgarian artists is competing for the Bulgarian Artist Prize and for the Young Artist Prize –Krasimira Drenska, Tzveta Petrova, Denis Russev, Adriana Boyadjieva, Martina Karaivanova and Nada Nedelkova.

The Art Alley Gallery is an emblematic location in Sofia and the long-standing partnership between the AMATERAS Foundation and the Gallery has created a striking event in the heart of Sofia. The beautiful old house uniting history and modernity will once again host an exposition which will provoke the excitement of the inhabitants of the capital, and such a tradition is indeed a rarity in Sofia.

All those who wish to share the enchantment of this exhibition are welcome the ART ALLEY GALLERY at 51-A Gladstone Street, May3-May 21, 2016.

SPIRITUAL MESSAGES EXHIBITION

VIVACOM Art Hall, May 11-May 21, 6.30 p.m.

This is a project which will show the profound relationship of Bulgaria with a number of cultures around the world through art embodying history, myths, legends, mysteries, memories and archetypes.

The VIVACOM ART HALL location will have the special mission of presenting an exposition of art related to the intellectual heritage of Bulgaria and her contribution to and influence on world history and culture. The exposition presents in an allegorical way the enigma of the ancient Thracians, the Hun Bulgarians, the Bogomils, the achievements of Christianity, the Glagolhic alphabet, the Hun-Bulgarian Roboshitza writing system, the ancient Proto-Bulgarian calendar, all of which are presented through the media of paper – the most loyal friend of history and culture. The exhibition is a display of the ancient heritage of Bulgaria in an innovative way through multi-visual media. The exposition is planned to show the image of Bulgaria abroad within the framework of SOFIA PAPER ART FEST 2016 – in Georgia and Great Britain. The project has a specific approach and is entirely different from the other expositions of the Fest. Ever since it was founded the SOFIA PAPER ART FEST has always paid particular attention to the cultural heritage of Bulgaria and every edition has expositions or accompanying events with an accent on our ancient history. The above project has been invited to be shown in Georgia in the period June 3 – June 22 , 2016 and will later be presented in Great Britain in 2017. The solar symbolism which is the main focus of the exposition implies antiquity and the spiritual teachings on the territory of our country, which have played an enormous role in the development of Europe and of its system of spiritual values. Orpheus deeply affects all the other teachings of divine love later developed. This theory will be elaborated in the lecture THE SONG OF ORPHEUS IN THE BULGARIAN TEXTURE by Galina Gerasimova on May 17 at 6.30 p.m.

The works of art are predominantly installations with an air of discrete mysteriousness, witha composed aesthetics of the symbol and the abstract. The exhibition hall with its muted lighting intensifies the mystery of the spreading scrolls and the panels with a monumental effect in the rigid aesthetics of black and gold. The feeling of antiquity, sacredness and deep sensitivity is the basis of this project. Since ancient times genuine knowledge has been wrapped in the blanket of time, of the shadows, of the enigmatic symbols and the hidden messages of the old texts. This is a collection invoking eternity and spreading the invisible threads of knowledge from our lands to other ancient civilizations as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Colchis, Crete, Rome, China, India, Japan and many other ancient lands and cultures.

The theatrical performance SILIYAN THE STORK will be presented on May 21 – the Night of Museums and Galleries. The performance is in cooperation with the CHANCE THROUGH SKILLS Society. The performance has a special message for transformation of the soul and the complicated road to the eternal truth about love and family. The participants in the performance are children and young actors. The dramatization is based on the Bulgarian fairy tale of the same title written by Margarita Drumeva. The performance is full of enthusiasm and love for art. In the program on May 21 the fans of exotics will be surprised by the magnificent performance of the duo Bilyana Muller and Mario Molle with their unique Indian rhythms.The program is especially prepared for that performance.

Additional information is available at:

facebook – sofia paper art fest oramateras. community

The WHITE, WHITE, WHITE Exhibition

Sofia City Gallery, May 12-June 12, 6.30 p.m.

Sofia Art Fest has had an excellent partnership with the Sofia City Gallery ever since it was founded, and the exhibitions shown in 2011 and 2013 eradiated the refined aesthetics specific of paper art with the innovative character of the artifacts. Now again a selection of works of art brimming with all the nuances of white will be presented. This year the exposition has a very special message to the citizens of Sofia. In times of complicated relationships and rebelling spirits in the whole world turning to intellectuality is the natural response to these processes. White has always been a symbol of silence, wisdom, refinement, purity, and has borne the perfect aesthetics of Light. White is determined in the ancient teachings as a leading and uniting symbol. The vibration of white is magnetic and in the harmony with the specific ethereality of paper art it is transformed into a fairy-world of tenderness and exquisiteness. The collection at the Sofia City Gallery will present artworks of Bulgarian and foreign artists selected especially for this project. Some have already been displayed, but now they will have a different image in the company of other light-bearing works of art. In the silence and under the enchantment of this aura of the most refined energy we are embraced by structures and symbols, delicately swaying installations and relief as if sprouting from the walls. Among the participants we should mention Angiola Churchill, Margareta Manervick, Jimmy Poolly, Ayako Abe Miller, Daniela Todorova, Yoshio Hasegawa, Valentin Balev, Yuko Nishimura, Ina Damyanova, Raghildur Stephansdotir, Renata Girlero, Lilo Schaer, Kathrin Dardel, Atanas Mihalchev.