Projects 2007

Strategies for dealing with the authoritarian past – the artists’ view

Bela rechka 11-14 October

Idea:
After the fall of Communism Bulgaria has not managed to achieve a position on communism shared by majority of the society and to condemn the crimes of the regime. The result is a „ quiet 'civil war of memories' of the recent past“(as one of the researchers of Communism, prof. Ivailo Znepolski, puts it), where everything seems relative and is presented as having equal rights to public legitimacy, which after all results in silence about Communism.

The question, then, appears – how have artists been dealing with the topic that has been so hard for the whole society?
How have individual artists looked at their own totalitarian experience, have integrated it in their own life and works and what kind of strategies have they used?

The meeting will try to:
- map the situation in different post-totalitarian societies (not only communist)
- find sensitive and relevant questions worth exploring
- draft an initial idea for a common one-year international travelling art project with the partners involved

During the meeting we expect:
- everybody to share his/her own experience in the field that he/she has been involved
- have open discussion in small groups and plenary sessions

Number of participants:
Around 20 people.

GOATMILK 2007

Memory festival, 24 - 26 May
The GOATMILK festival is a meeting place where a special attention is devoted to the memory and the way we connect with our own memories...

The programme

Bela Rechka Center

cultural and eco center
The New Culture Foundation starts working in 2007 on a long-term project about developing a cultural and eco-center GOATMILK (draft name of the project) in Bela rechka – the activities of the center will be focused on bringing more opportunities for cultural and domestic development in the region of Varshetz Municipality and Northwestern Bulgaria through developing small projects in the field of collective memory and personal memories, personal past and history.
OUR AIM is to keep the intimacy that Bela Rechka is offering to all of us and to help for the natural development of the place into creative laboratory for research, work, art and living. We aim to help the region in what it needs most – equal opportunities for cultural development and participation in cultural life by developing and researching the unique specifics of local life and history.
The Center will give us the opportunity to create working places, involve local people in our activities, organize concerts, exhibitions, art, new media and film presentations, give scholarships to students from the region and develop a special residence program for researchers, writers, journalists and writers.
The project will be developed in close cooperation with the Varshetz Municipality, The Borderland Foundation –Poland /www.pogranicze.sejny.pl/ and our current partners and friends.
Be a part of our network and our future activities!