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One Magazine Summer 2010



2010

  

edno.bg

2010
One Magazine Summer 2010

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 / Colofon

/ editor in chief bistra andreeva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bistra@edno.bg

/ art director vassil iliev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vurcolac@gmail.com
/ editor boiana gjaurova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . boiana@edno.bg
/ editor ivaylo spasov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ivaylo@edno.bg
/ photographer mihail novakov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . mihail@edno.bg
/ pre-press assen iliev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ycmama@gmail.com
/ advertising director jordan rashev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jordanr@edno.bg
/ assistant advertising joana ilieva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . joanai@edno.bg
/ administrative director emil shukadarov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . emilsh@edno.bg
/ account manager tzanka kalendzhieva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cankak@edno.bg

/ event manager ivan tchankov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ivan.tchankov@gmail.com

English Editor: Angela Rodel

Translators:

Angela Rodel

Boris Deliradev

Ralitsa Karieva

Bogdan Rusev

Yoana Stancheva

Biliana Deskova

, 4

One Magazine is a bilingual publication and comes out 4

times a year. Trade mark reserved. Reproduction of any part of

the content is forbidden. All rights reserved.

. .

Printed at Druzhba Printing House on recycled paper

One Magazine

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Tel. 02/981 2347, 988 1009

Tel. 02/981 2347, 988 1009

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,

Founders: Asen Asenov, Dimitar Slavchev, Iva Rudnikova

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 / Contents

we have to talk (interviews)

20
34
32
38
44
50
56
62

/ Vessela Dancheva & Petar Dundakov

/ Mario Grigorov
/ Charlotte Cheetham
/ Bruce LaBruce
/ Mihail Bilalov
Ghostdog / Svetozar Georgiev Ghostdog
/ Andrew Losowsky
/ Evan Roth

its a long story (feature stories)

70
82
92
106
120
132
146
160
174
184
198
212
222
234

Cinema Reloaded
Gimme That Toy, Boy
/ A Dance Workshop in Sofia
/ Vlaikova Cinema
Go East
/ Deal Or No Deal
Mellow Music Festival
More or Less Sofia Design Week
/ From Vitoshka to Vitosha in Ten Minutes
/ Life at the Top
/ Directors Cut
/ Sannah Kvist
/ Varna Summer
/ Water Tower Art Fest

 / Contributrs

.
, -
-.


. 132.

Rayko Baichev hovers in between journalism

and literature and likes to weave them
together. He appreciates the subjective, bold
style of writing because it is riskier and more
interesting. This is particularly evident in his
passionate report on the Sofia flea market a
mandatory read on page 132.

10 ,
.
,
, , , .
-

. 82

Snezhana Bezus has been listening to

electronic music for the past 10 years
and vehemently ingests everything that
escapes labeling. She writes about music
spontaneously and believes that words are
creative tools in the same way as music,
painting and photography are. In this issue
she presents three of the most talented
women in electronic music at the moment
on page 82.

32 ,
, ( . 184)
,

. ,
.

,
.

Vessela Yagodova is 32 years old, is bodily

from Sofia but wanders mountain peaks in
spirit (check out the results on page 184).
Winter is her favorite season because she
loves roaming the endless snowy fields.
Vessela enjoys traveling, taking photographs
and talking to people. She dreams of the
quiet, peaceful village life and sending us
her stories from there.

 ,
,
-.
,
Massive Attack, .
,
, .

. 44.

Martin Ruzhdashki is a cultural studies

major but wants to become a sociologist
to clear up certain things for himself. He is
learning how to write beautifully, his favorite
band is Massive Attack, yet he is not at all
mopey. He has lived in Paris for a long time,
now he is in Sofia and is getting ready for
Berlin. For this issue Martin interviewed the
actor Mihail Bilalov on page 44.

,

.
.
.

,

.

Iva Gulubova is among the guardians of the

Plastelin alternative space for contemporary
art. The lovely gallery is located in a beautiful
old house on Tzar Simeon Street in Sofia. Iva
obviously has a thing for independent places
for urban culture, which is why she joined
our team as a co-author on the Vlaikova
cinema piece.

Dauhaus.
, .

,
,
,
- .

Yovo Panchev is the person the cult-like

space for independent culture, Dauhaus.
After they became homeless, Dauhaus found
alternative places for their diverse cultural
events. The concerts and exhibitions that
Yovo organized at our favorite cinema house
Vlaikova are particularly interesting. It was
perfectly logical to invite him to write a piece
on the oldest cinema in Sofia.

, , -, girlpower
Captain Morgan Spiced,
.

(

-
1000 16)

Martina Karagyozova jokes about her life

being a series of snowboarding, hiphop,
girlpower and Captain Morgan Spiced. This,
however, didnt interfere with her recent
college graduation. She is currently thinking
of what MA to pursue and how to get to the
beach (perhaps because was researching the
best summer events within 1000 km for this
issue on page 16).

10

 ,
.
. 222

.

Assen Terziev holds an MA in theater studies

and a PhD in the history of European
theater. He is also coordinator-in-chief of
the Varna Summer International Theater
Festival. Judging by his text on page 222,
the international participants this year
will be incredibly noteworthy and not-tobe-missed.

.

. ,
,

. 234.

Billi Baleva prefers action over whining and

has the energy to lift two watermelons with a
single arm. She was our web editor for three
years, but now she is up to different things
and in the meantime is helping the Water
Tower Art Festival, which will bring some
fresh European video art this summer more
on page 234.

,
,
.
- (
70 120) .
,
.

Yoana Pavlova leads a fragmented life by

day she is an account manager, in the
evening she practices vin chun, and at
night she watches movies and writes about
them. In the free moments in her schedule
she visits the more exciting film festivals
(see which ones on pages 70 and 120) and
cleans. She also believes that film critic is
not a bad word.

22,
-
-
2010 , ,
.
,
( . 38)
open source
( . 62).

Hristo Mitov is 22, lives in Berlin and

refuses to call himself an immigrant. There
is nothing more confining to him than
thinking in borders, races, sexuality and
other categories in the year 2010. This shows
well enough in the two brilliant interviews
he conducted for this issue with the
underground gay icon Bruce LaBruce (on
page 38) and the incredible open source
artist Evan Roth (page 62).

12

www.replay.com

REPLAY STORES , . 45; MALL OF SOFIA, . . 101; , MALL PLOVDIV, . 8

FAN POINT STORES , SERDIKA CENTER SOFIA, . 48; THE MALL, . 115; , . 39;
MALL VARNA, . . 186; : GRAND MALL VARNA, . . ; , BURGAS PLAZA MALL, . 5

RE:
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14

- - Casino A4 .
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...

Hello. Have we met?

This is our first time speaking English too.
Last year one of the best independent magazines
that ever came out - the Finnish Casino A4 published their farewell issue. Not because of the
crisis, they just felt like doing something else. Its
not a big deal, who needs 100 issues anyway,
they said a tad mockingly and went fishing.
In February we published One Magazine as a
monthly for the last time. It was our issue 88. In
the course of those 8 years we have changed a
lot - whether it was planned or not, as planned
or not. In the meantime magazines all over
the world changed enormously. ext stepped
back and gave way to more visuals. Lifestyle
magazines, celebrity culture and the everpresent
hype have largely gone away. Many magazines
are looking for their niche. And so on. If you are
interested in the topic - head directly to page 56
- there is a whole interview there with a man who
knows a lot about magazines.
What I am trying to say is we felt we needed
a healthy change, so we did it. We cleaned up.
And we only left two things here, that we think
we are good at: interviews and feature stories.
Lots of them. No fillers.
We hope you enjoy them as we did.
Plus. we restarted the counter. You should try it
too. Have a beautiful summer!
And please note you can take us anywhere with
you now...

Bistra Andreeva

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1000 km
0 km Sofia | Bulgaria

400 km Novi Sad | Serbia

Mellow Music Festival / 2729 May

Exit Festival/ 811 July

Chemical Brothers, DJ Shadow, Josh Wink, Royksopp,
Miike Snow, Pendulum, The Exploited
exitfest.org

23 , , 30
. / More than 20 bands, producers
and DJs, and over 30 hours progressive music.
mellowfestival.com
More or Less Sofia Design Week 2010 / 411 June
, , . / Contemporary product,

418 km Sarajevo | Bosna and

Herzegowina
Sarajevo Film Festival / 2331 July
sff.ba

communication, interactive and graphic design festival.

sofiadesignweek.com

428 km Dubrovnik | Croatia

Sonisphere Festival / 2223 June

Libertas Film Festival / 26 July

libertasfilmfestival.com
Dubrovnik Summer Festival / 10 July 25 August
, / usic, dance
and theatre.
dubrovnik-festival.hr

Metallica, Rammstein, Slayer, Manowar, Alice in Chains

bg.sonispherefestivals.com
10th Open-Air Drum'n'Bass Summer Festival /
24 July
Noisia, Hazard, Nicky Blackmarket, Joanna Syze, and Mc
Eksman

473 km Belgrade | Serbia

hmsu.org

Belgrade Design Week / 29 May 5 June

, . / Design, fashion and
architecture.
belgradedesignweek.com
Mikser 2010 / 2529 May
, , ,
. / Design discussions, exhibitions,
presentations, films and live music.
mikser.rs

Massive Attack Live / 15 July

16

79 km Bela Rechka | Bulgaria

Goatmilk 2010 A Festival of Memories / 2124 May
T , ,
. / Workshops, films, live music and
discussions.
novakultura.org/bg

561 km Sfantu Gheorghe / Romania

403 km Burgas | Bulgaria

Spirit of Burgas / 1315 August
Apollo Four Forty, DJ Shadow, Gorillaz Sound System,
Andy C and MC GQ

Anonimul International Independent Film

Festival / 915 August
. /
Short fiction and animation movies under the sky.
festival-anonimul.ro

spiritofburgas.com

580 km Nyirbator | Hungary

296 km Bucharest | Romania
Bestfest Music Festival / 1618 July
Faithless, Gary Moor, Pink Martini

585 km Istanbul | Turkey

bestfest.ro
Bucharest Biennale / 21 May 25 July
. / Contemporary art
biennale.
bucharestbiennale.org
,

Azfeszt Music Festival / 1822 August

myspace.com/azfeszt

1000 .

Istanbul International Theatre Festival / 10 May

10 June
iksv.org
Istanbul Design Week / 410 September
istanbuldesignweek.com

601 km Monor | Hungary

711 km Athens | Greece

LB27 Reggae Camp / 28 July 1 August

- . / Some of the best Reggae bands from Jamaica
and the Balkans.
reggaecamp.com

Rockwave / 711 July

616 km Somogy | Hungary

794 km Ljubljana | Slovenia

Balton Sound Festival / 811 July

The Chemical Brothers, Tricky, Sven Vath, Jamiroquai,
Klaxons, Pendulum and many more.
sziget.hu/balatonsound

Ljubljana Summer Festival / 1 July 31 August

The Black Eyed Peas, Faithless, ., Fatboy Slim,

DJ Shadow, Massive Attack.
rockwavefestival.gr

, , , , ,
. / usic, dance, opera, ballet, theater,
art and films.
ljubljanafestival.si

673 km Zadar | Croatia

The Garden Festival / 211 July
Bonobo, Chali 2na, Crazy P, Floating Points, Adam
Regan, Karen P, Mr. Scruff, Mayer Hawthorne
thegardenfestival.eu
Soundwave Festival Croatia / 2325 July
DJ Vadim, Cinematic Orchestra, Dam Funk, Join the Dots
DJs, Yarah Bravo, Riot Jazz and many more
soundwavecroatia.com

800 km Pula | Hrvatska

Outlook Festival / 25 September
- . /
Europe's largest dubstep festival.
outlookfestival.com

803 km Trenchin | Slovakia

Phoda Music Festival / 1517 July

679km Zagreb | Croatia

Dance Week Festival / 25 May 3 June
dwf.danceweekfestival.com
Animafest Zagreb 2010 / 16 June
: . / International festival for animation
animafest.hr
Motovun Film Festival / 2630 June
. /A film festival for
independent cinema.
motovunfilmfestival.com
In Muisc Festival / 2223 June
Billy Idol, Mocheeba, Audio Bullys, Caribo
t-mobileinmusicfestival.com

Ian Brown, The Stranglers, Klaxons, Jose Gonzalez,

766 km Sopron | Hungary

La Rouxe, Hot Chip, Skunk Anansie, NOFX, Massive

Volt Music Festival / 30 June 3 July

The Prodigy, Dub FX, Air, Massive Attack, Andy C, Ed
Rush
myspace.com/voltfestival

769 km Budapest | Hungary

Sziget Festival / 1116 Aug
Faithless, Gorillaz, The Hives, Buena Vista Social Club,
Iron Maiden and many more.
sziget.hu

Skream.

17

pohodafestival.sk

877 km Burgenland | Austria

Nova Rock Festival / 1113 June
Green Day, Rammstein, Enter Shakiri, Deftones, The
Hives, The Prodigy.
novarock.at

880 km Sankt Plten | Austria

Frequency Music Festival / 1921 August
Attack.
frequency.at

1012 km Hradec Kralove | Czech

Republic
Hip-Hop Kemp / 1921 August
Sage Francis, Necro, Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest,
Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, Roots Manuva.
hiphopkemp.cz

festivals, concerts and interesting events within

1000 km from sofia this summer.

selection by Martina Karagyozova

18

We have to talk

19

20

. . . .

Vessela
Dancheva
& Petar
Dundakov

,
,
,
. ,
,


, .
1919 ,

,


.

-
.
Jameson,
.

When I meet Vessela and Petar at the

Rotterdam film festival, they both say they
are proud that the international premiere of
their animation Anna Blume will be in the
city where they once studied. Vessela graduated
here with a degree in animation, while Petar
studied composition. However, it wasnt until
they returned to Bulgaria that they started
working together their first project was the
British Councils animation campaign We
Are Human First, Different Next. Their latest
work is inspired by Anna Blume, the famous
dada poem written by Kurt Schwitters in
1919. The idea for a short animation based
on it arose four years ago when Vessela ran
into the Nigerian-born German-based artist
and producer Ebele Okoye. With the help of
the Robert Bosch Foundation and Bulgarias
National Film Centre, the poem has now
found a new life an unexpected onscreen
interplay of forms and moods. At the Golden
Rhyton Festival in Plovdiv last year, Vessela
and Petars film received the critics choice
award, and it has just been shown at the Sofia
Film Festivals Jamison Short Film Award
competition.

film. animation. poetry. music.

interview by Yoana Pavlova translation by Boris Deliradev photography by Mihail Novakov

21

22

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FinFilm, .
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How did you first decide to work with

Anna Blume?
Vessela: I had seen a U.K. animation film based
on a Charles Bukowski poem and was very
impressed by it. What appealed to me was the
idea of making visual poetry. I started looking
for a suitable text and came across Anna Blume
by accident. Its a dada poem but it also has a
plot. At the same time it is well-known love letter.
Even at first reading, there are images and colors
in it, and there is room for interpretation.
Initially, the idea was for me and Ebele to coproduce and co-direct it, but this turned out to
be impractical. So when we met again after a
year in which nothing had happened, we decided
that she would produce and animate the film
and I would direct it. I ended up making it with
my husband, Ivan Bogdanov, and we signed
it with our teams name FinFilm. It wasnt an
easy process we delved into this so-called love
letter and discovered all sorts of layers in it. We
sank and resurfaced many times. In the process,
we came across a recording of Kurt Schwitters
reading the poem himself, it had been made in
1932, and we felt that we had to use it.
Petar: It was the recording that brought us
together.
Vessela: Interestingly, there is nothing visual
about the recording, but it makes your hair stand
on end.
Petar: We started out discussing how we could
build a score around Schwitters voice he
speaks with a distinctive 1920s intonation.
Initially, we struggled with it. I tried various
filters and effects [unsuccessfully]. In the end, we
decided to leave it as it was, and we even left in
the original background noise. The next step was
to decide at which points in the film to use the
voice; it was clear that the poem didnt have to
accompany the visuals all the time. So we split
the poem into several parts, and this was our
only intervention in the recording.
Vessela: We went through several types of
relationships between the visuals and the text.
We started with a more literal approach, trying to
stay close to the poems rhythm, but this didnt
work. Then I decided we needed a story, even if

 . ,
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only an abstract one, so that the viewers are not

fixated [on the words]. So now, even if you dont
know the poem or you dont speak German, you
can still follow and understand the story.
How did you synchronize everything
between Bulgaria and Germany?
Vessela: I made the storyboard, Ivan came up
with the design ideas and Petar was with us
from the very start thinking about the music.
The other person involved was Emil Iliev our
sound designer. The idea for the film came easily,
but the execution was a trippy experience. Craftwise, Ebele did the animation, but the creative
impulse was all Bulgarian from beginning to end.
Petar: Our film is part of a new wave in
Bulgarian animation that involves creative people
who have lived abroad for some time or who are
quite cosmopolitan. Until now, most successful
animation by young Bulgarians has dealt with
[cultural] identity
Vessela: Yes, thats right. Until recently, most of
the animated films from Bulgaria have focused
on themes from everyday life, there is Donyo
Donev and so on
Petar:... while Anna Blume is a film without
a cultural identity, it could have been made
anywhere in the world, but that doesnt mean we
have given up on Bulgarian themes.
Vessela: Not at all!
Petar: Weve all come back to Bulgaria with a
clear sense that we belong here.
Vessela: Yes!
Petar: It turns out, though, that what we do has
wider significance. I am a great proponent of the
idea that we must express the Balkan as well as
the Bulgarian. But in the case of Anna Blume
we are talking about leaving clichs behind
altogether and creating new opportunities.
After all your time spent abroad, how do
you feel about living in Bulgaria? Are you
comfortable here?
Petar: I decided long ago that what matters to
me is what I do. I try not to depend on the
environment, I try to shape the environment
myself to have my own dreams and pursue my

23

 , .

24

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own projects. Thats something I learned both in

Bulgaria and the Netherlands. So I am inclined
to have a positive outlook and believe that what
matters most is personal development. I think
that the more we adopt this mentality, the greater
the space for creative work will be. Our time
is unique. We have the opportunity to travel a
lot and to take part in all sorts of international
projects and events. If you are active enough, if
you believe in what you do, you stand a chance
of succeeding anywhere.
Vessela: I would agree completely. As Petar said,
it doesnt matter where your base is. In fact, I
believe that we are stronger in Bulgaria because
this is our place.
Petar: There are two Bulgarias one of them you
can read about in the papers, and the other one
is the one we create. We work for the second one.
What is your next challenge?
Vessela: Ivan and I, and another colleague
Maria Stanisheva have recently founded
Compote Collective. After I returned to Bulgaria
I realized there are a lot of talented young people
there who are unable to produce their first
film. Their thesis projects are great but then the
environment sucks them in, they work here and
there, and somehow end up losing themselves.
With Compote Collective we want to initiate
all sorts of projects both commercial and
independent and to encourage unique visual
styles.

26

. .

Mario
Grigorov

... ?,
,

Precious,


.
(
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Precious).
,
. ,
-
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,
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Snoop Dogg
Malice N Wonderland,
.

Where are you from what magazine?

Mario Grigorov, the composer for the critically
acclaimed movie Precious, asked somewhat
warily when we met for an interview during
his visit to Bulgaria for the 2010 Sofia Film
Fest. Actually, he had to give more than ten
interviews that day (ours being one of the
last) and, as he explained during our talk, the
most frequent question he had been asked was,
Do you know Mariah Carey personally?
(Thanks to her role in Precious.) To our mutual
satisfaction, we were more interested in his
music than his sensational acquaintances. So in
a very Hollywood professional kind of way and
later, in a bit friendlier one, and in mixture of
rather archaic Bulgarian and current English,
Mario told us about three important encounters
that changed his life and about the power of
music to turn your outlook upside down. You
can hear his latest work in the short Snoop
Dogg movie Malice N Wonderland but first,
you may want to take a quick look here.

27

music, film

interview by Ivaylo Spasov translation by Ralitsa Karieva photography by Mihail Novakov

28

.
,
,
.
.
, , ,
12 .
.
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.
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:
Warner Bros
. .

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.
?

Warner Brothers. , - .
, 150
.

.
-,
,
.

, ,
,

-

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in Sofia but my family left Bulgaria
when I was five and half years old. My father
worked with some of the best orchestras all over
the world and we had to move often. First we
spent six years in Iran, then four in Germany,
two in Austria, and we ended up in Australia,
where I lived for 12 years. My father became a
professor at the conservatory there. Thats how I
met the famous film composer, Miles Goodman,
who, sadly, passed away not long ago. He
collaborated on many of Frank Ozs films. Miles
was the one who suggested I move to the US,
since there I would have more opportunities. I
followed his advice. The first thing I did, only a
week after arriving in Los Angeles, was to go into
possibly the largest piano store in town. While
I was warming up on one of the pianos there, a
man came up to me and said, Im responsible
for Warner Brother artists and would like to set
you up with a contract. His name was Bob
James. A few minutes later, the store manager
said, Listen, I want to give you a piano, you can
pay me whenever. Thats how I walked out of
the store with a concert contract and my own
piano. It was a life-changing encounter and Ive
had two more like it.
What happened after that?
I spent three years with the Warner Brothers
family. I was touring as a solo pianist with
some of the greatest musicians of the time. It
was quite exhausting; I had about 150 concerts
a year. Then I got married and there was no
way I could carry on as before. My wife, in the
meantime, was setting up fashion shows she
was working with the big fish, including Gucci,
John Galliano, and the late Alexander McQueen.
Once I accompanied her to Paris for a Galliano
show but I was denied entry into France, as I
had an Australian passport and, at the time,
France was conducting nuclear tests and was
in a conflict with Australia. I decided to go
to England instead and met a woman there, a
friend of some friends from way back. She was
working for some company that made music for
commercials. I played piano for her a bit and

. ,
,
.

.
.

. 99-

.
?

. ,
,
.
,

Shadowboxer.
:
. , ,
,
.



.
,

...
. - ,
, ,
. Precious
.
Precious?
. - ,
,
-, .

... .

?

not long after that she decided to open up an

office in New York. We began working together
and that was how I started making some serious
money. This was the second of that trio of
accidental encounters. It was 1999 and, thanks
to her, I met loads of new people and learned
how to do business.
What about the third encounter?
Well, the third was my meeting director Lee
Daniels. Michael Goodmans son called me one
day and said he knew this amazing director who
needed music for his movie. We met right at
his house, where Lee was organizing a screening
of his movie Shadowboxer. We chatted for a bit
and he said, Watch this movie and see what
music comes to mind. So the screening began
but there was not a single piece of music in it,
yet the movie was literally begging for some. The
truth is, I was a bit tipsy with all the euphoria
plus a couple glasses of wine, and during the
middle of the film, I sat down at the gorgeous
grand piano standing there and started playing
a romantic tune. At first, some of the guests
yelled at me to shut up, but then they left me
alone and I kept up the accompaniment until
the end of the movie... like in the olden days.
I dont even remember what exactly I played.
The most important thing is that Lee Daniels
fell in love with what I had come up with and
we started working together. Precious is my third
collaboration with him.
And what is your Precious story?
Its quite trivial, actually. Fortunately, we were
pressed for time thats when Im at my best
composing. I absolutely loved the movie and
the music for it just happened, like a blessing
effortlessly.
How do you go about making music for
movies?
I am open to anything, which to a certain extent
has led many to define my style as crossover.
I use sound design but being a musician, I
sometimes resist... Im conflicted about it.
What I do know, however, is that if I want to

29


. , , ...
.
, . ,
,
-.
,

.
, .

30

?

, .
, ,
Bronx Tale.
,
, , 1960 .
Precious ,

.
?
, Squarepusher . .
, ,


, , ,
.
: ?
,

-
. ,
.
.

improve, I need to get over this. Sound design is

so rich that silence only enhances the contrast.
Sometimes silence is more powerful than music
the difficulty with music is that replacing a single
note may render the overall feeling different, the
style, too. Cheerful music may suggest comedy
but it can also be kept serious. One must be very
careful.
Should the music in a movie reflect each
scene literally?
This is a crucial question. Sometimes music is
extremely literal, as is the case with Clockwork
Orange, for instance, where you can completely
expect to hear Brahms in some of the brutal
scenes. Another approach, the one I like more,
is that of Robert De Niros A Bronx Tale. At one
point, the Italians and the blacks are fighting,
while romantic music from the 1960s plays in
the background. My concept for the music in
Precious is in this line, although as a whole this
approach has not yet been widely exploited.

Do you like experimental musicians?

Yes, I love Squarepusher and the like. Heres a
story for you, though. When I started working
in advertising, I was pretty arrogant, because,
you see, I had great piano technique and could
play absolutely anything. I was at the office of
the company I was working for at the time and I
saw this guy with a laptop who I knew couldnt
play a single note on any instrument. How could
he possibly work with me? I thought. Less than
a year later, my view had completely changed,
because he was composing in a different way
and his ideas were far more important than, say,
my virtuoso technique. I watched him work and
realized that was an entirely different process. I
now have a lot of respect for that kind of music
making.

32

Charlotte
Cheetham

.
Manystuff
,
-
.

, ,
,
.
,

, .

,

.

, ,

.

Every morning I check manystuff this

slogan begins the blog Manystuff by Charlotte
Cheetham, author of one of the most interesting
forums for graphic design. Incidentally, her
approach to design is interdisciplinary, so she
frequently publishes material that overlaps into
other spheres such as architecture, illustration or
photography.
Art is in her blood which is no surprise,
coming from a family with artists, sculptors
and restorers going back generations. Charlotte
is an art historian by training and only got
into graphic design a few years ago when she
met her current boyfriend guess what he does?
It wasnt long before she ditched her job in
communications and dedicated herself fully
to the blog, which has gown and transformed
into much more a platform for distributing
and supporting contemporary trends in graphic
design.

33

design

interview by Boiana Gjaurova translation by Angela Rodel photography archive

Manystuff
,
.


.
,
,
, .
,
,
.
,


1651
.

34

?

.


o. ,

. ,
: ,
.
.
,
?

.
.


Manystuff , .

Manystuff.

?
Manystuff

Manystuff already has a few publications under

its belt and has organized exhibits and reported
on events from all around the world.
All this success has not gone to the authors
head, however despite online spaces many
advantages, she still sees its downsides as well.
The blogger is a modern gladiator, he can clash
with critics and insults without being able to
defend himself, she says. Perhaps the dangers
Charlotte has spotted in the digital jungle are
one of the reasons she pads her identity in a
healthy dose of anonymity. In response to our
request for a photo of her, she absolutely
conceptually, as she put it sent us SelfPortrait with Vanitas Symbols from 1651 by the
Dutch painter David Bailly.
What is your background? How did you end
up blogging?
It gradually became a passion over the course
of my internet research on design. Initially, I
sent emails to my boyfriend and some friends
to share interesting links. One day I started a
small blog with few links... and the visitors just
kept coming. Then my work got more serious,
more intense, and I started running side projects:
exhibitions, publications, and so on. Otherwise,
I just surf the internet all day and share what I
like and dont like on the blog.
So blogging has become your profession?
At the moment its my only occupation, here
in Paris where I live. I stopped all my other
projects in order to develop Manystuff activities
such as publications, exhibitions, projects, etc.
Im working on soon making a living from
Manystuff alone.
What is your idea of good graphic design?
Manystuff is a blog about contemporary graphic
design, which tries to mirror current practices in
design: the reflection of a landscape fractured
through the prism of my personal taste and daily
favorites. I have no particular preferences: what I
love is intelligent graphic design that illustrates
various thought processes, ideas, discourses and
experiments, and that also offers new readings,

,
,

.
,
, , ,
, - ,
. ,
, ,
.
?
RSS ,

. .

,

.
,
.
-,
?
,
Graphic
Manystuff,

.

, ,
.
?
?
, ,

. -
Manystuff


, .
, ,
,

originality, imagination... What I dont like is

design that depends only on images.
Where do you get your information for your
posts?
Since I dont use RSS technologies, every
morning I stroll from website to website. I love
rummaging through the web. I am a tenacious
portfolio- and events-hunter obsessed with
sticking to my leitmotiv every morning. No,
unfortunately, I cant personally attend every
event I post.
Whats the best thing that has happened to
you this year?
This year, I was very surprised when the Korean
magazine called Graphic asked me to do a
special issue about Manystuff in which they
printed all the blogs archives on paper. Although
readers were quite critical of it, I thought it was
quite interesting.
How does your blog fit into the world
of design publications as a whole? How
do blogs like yours change the flow of
information on design?
I think blogs are a tool that can be positive or
negative, depending on how you use them.For
example, one of the best ways to use Manystuff
besides as an information source is as an
opportunity to meet people from different
cultures, to exchange experience and collaborate.
A negative use of Manystuff would be seeing it
merely as a way to propagandize certain trends
or as a source of images to copy. Despite my
passion for online media, I think that print is
far more attractive than e-publications. I like the
permanence of a physical book.
How would you describe your writing style
on Manystuff?
I dont write, ever. I think that for the blog, the
best way to present something especially an
event that I cant attend is letting the authors/
actors of the project speak. Often graphic
designers/authors of project have far more
interesting things to say about it than bloggers or

35

 .
, -
.
.

Manystuff?
. -
,
,
.
,
, -
,
.

36

, ?
Manystuff
,
.
-
,
,
.

, Manystuff .
2008 , .

.

,

. 55 ,

,
.
Nuits
Sonores, Manystuff
. ,
.

Sofia Design week.

journalists or theorists.....
Some parting words about Manystuff events?
Manystuff is expanding its activities to include
exhibits and publications that popularize new
developments in graphic design. I want to
give a more sensory idea of the experiments
currently going on within graphic design and
my computer screen just isnt sufficient for that.
Every year Manystuff curates an exhibit with
the aim of presenting quality graphic design.
We kicked off in 2008 in Toulouse, France.
For the first time we had the opportunity to
work with young designers and to show their
work. Another one of our initiatives was a
series of exhibits called Time Capsule, which we
organized jointly with a gallery in Berlin. We
invited 55 designers whose work could speak
to our time as well as to future generations and
to living creatures from other planets. Another
interesting project weve participated in was the
electronic music festival Nuits Sonores in Lyon,
where Manystuff had its own space for exhibits
and presentations. There are interesting events
planned for this year as well. Were working on a
project that will introduce emerging names in the
sphere of French graphic design.
Charlotte Cheetham will be a lecturer at the
Sofia Design Week forum.

38

. . .

Bruce LaBruce

,
.
, 46- , ,
.
.
,
.
(
)
.
, ,
, .
80-

J.D.s,

.
Homocore
Queercore,
.

Combining independent cinema and gay porn

is just one of the things Bruce Labruce is famous
for. Besides being a successful, provocative
director, the 46-year-old Canadian is a
photographer, journalist and theatre director
based in Toronto. He is also a diva you can
literally hear his eyes roll.
Before becoming an underground gay icon, he
had a shockingly pastoral childhood: Justin
Stewart grew up in a small family farm
together with his four siblings in Ontario,
Canada. He approached cinema very
systematically, pursuing film studies in Toronto
and film theory at New York University.
In the 1980s, Justin became Bruce LaBruce
and launched the independent queer punk
zine J.D.s, giving the finger simultaneously
to the punk and the mainstream gay scenes
at the time. He practically gave birth to the
so-called Homocore or Queercore movement,
which corrupted a whole new generation of
homosexuals.

film. art. media.

interview and photography by Christo Mitov translation by Boris Deliradev

39

40

.
Super 8 1/2 ,

.
Hustler White (1996),
.
,

, ,
.
.
Otto Or Up With Dead People 2008
- . LA
Zombie
(
),
, , .
, : ,
1998 ,
,
Dutch, BUTT, Index Magazine, Dazed and
Confused Vice. ,
2010 LA Zombie.

Peres Projects,
.

Otto LA Zombie?
Otto - .
,

. LA Zombie
.
,
-
.

Bruces career as a director started with a

series of short, low-budget movies. He gained
international acclaim with Super 8 1/2, a bio-pic
about his rise to cult stardom that became a
favorite in high-profile festivals like Sundance
and Berlinale. In 1996 he directed Hustler White
which combined porn industry aesthetics
with classical cinema techniques. With it,
Bruce LaBruce officially became a movie-genre
supercollider, mashing up revolutionaries,
skinheads, deaf gay hairdressers and terrorists in
detailed, close-up sex scenes.
Bruces latest passion is the zombie-horror genre.
The melancholic gay zombie picture Otto
Or Up With Dead People premiered at Berlinale
in 2008 and became his most commercially
successful project to date. It was followed by LA
Zombie, the story of an alien zombie dressed as
a bum (and played by porn star Francois Sagat)
who wanders around LAs ghettos, fucking dead
people back to life.
Oh, and by the way: every year Bruce LaBruce
stages a play in Berlin. Since 1998 he has
contributed as a journalist/editor/photographer
to diverse magazines like Dutch, BUTT, Index
Magazine, Dazed and Confused and Vice. He
wrote two books and in February 2010 also
debuted as a visual artist with an exhibition of
silk screens from LA Zombie. This happened
simultaneously with the films premiere at the
Peres Projects Berlin gallery, where we met Bruce
to talk about arts and porn.

Is there a difference between your previous

zombie film Otto and this one?
With Otto, I was after a wider audience. It had a
few hardcore scenes but it was still shown at the
Berlinale and Sundance last year. LA Zombie is
in a different category altogether. I had promised
myself to make a gay hardcore zombie film, but
in the process it turned into an independent, art
house production. Many of the sex scenes did
not make it into the final cut, which changed
the focus of the film completely. Tonight I


.
LA Zombie,
.
,
LA Zombie Hardcore.
2001
, torture porn.
?
LA Zombie -
torture porn ,
. torture porn ,

.
, , - .
, .

.
.
,
.
?
, 18,
.

,
- , . torture porn ,
, .
,
.
,
.
,
. ,

,
.
.

am presenting the art version, which is called

LA Zombie and will be shown at independent
film festivals and other art events. We are also
releasing a hardcore porn version, which will be
called LA Zombie Hardcore.
Since 2001 theres been a new movie genre,
torture porn. Are your films part of this
trend?
LA Zombie is more of a commentary and
critique on the torture porn genre than an
example of it. I hate torture porn because the
message is usually so flat. The victims are
always women, who are tortured, disfigured and
murdered in the most brutal way. Such films
were underground, C-list films in the past. Only
a niche audience would seek them out and watch
them. Now, however, the genre is family fun.
Violence is accepted as entertainment, while sex
is still taboo.
Are you a vegetarian?
Not now, but I went vegetarian for a good three
years when I was 18. I grew up on a farm. We
produced our own meat, but we treated the
animals much more humanely than todays
meat industry treats them. You are right to
make the link between torture porn and meat
production violence sells just as well as meat.
People consume it without thinking whats
behind the industry. But dont get me wrong, I
am not an activist. My husband constantly tells
me Im a poser, that my ideas are not sufficiently
radical and left-wing. Hes from Cuba, he grew
up with the Revolution and he doesnt miss a
chance to accuse me of being a bourgeois who
only pretends to be a radical rebel. Despite that, I
do pay attention to social issues in my films.
What will be the future of the gay porn
industry when the financial crisis is over?
The industry is in a serious stage of transition
and if its to survive, new business models
are needed to ensure its profits from on-line
distribution. The sad thing for me as a director
is that script and plot in the porn industry are
basically dead. Before, porn always told stories,

41

42

?


,
.
, , ,
. ,
.

,
. -
,
. ,
,
, , , 50
.
, ,
.

.

2012?
. 2028.

?

. .
.
.
,
.

Pierrot Lunaire
,

2011.

but now they only make individual sex scenes

and sells them on-line. The hetero porn industry,
on the other hand, is focusing on sumptuous,
large-scale productions which are cover versions
of various blockbusters. They just released a
porn version of Pirates of the Caribbean, with a
million dollar budget. Extreme sports are another
trend in both gay and hetero porn for example,
a scene in which 50 men come in the mouth of
a single man or woman. But again, the focus is
shifting away from the artistic side of the genre.
I have no intention of giving up on the art
tradition in porn.
Do you think the world will end in 2012?
No. Itll be 2028.
What art projects do you want to complete
before then?
At the moment I am working with some
Canadian producers who are trying to raise
funds for a script I wrote last year. The title is
Gerontophilia Im sure you can guess what its
about. Two years ago I started directing theater
shows in Berlin. My fourth show will open in
2010. Theater gives me a lot more freedom and
an intimate connection with the audience, which
I cant have in film. Some friends of mine are
trying to help me find funds for the production
of Arnold Schoenbergs avant-guard opera Pierrot
Lunaire, which Ive adapted and want to direct
in 2011.

K-3

CAMPER Store - Serdika Center Sofia, . 48

FAN POINT Stores - : . 44; Mall of Sofia , . . 101; The Mall, . 115
- . 39; Mall Varna, . . 186; : Grand Mall Varna, . .
- Mall Plovdiv, . 8
- Burgas Plaza Mall, . 5

44

Mihail
Bilalov

. 18 .
,
.
-
,

.


( )


.

Albees play is the winner of Tony and Drama

Desk awards. It is not recommended for
underage audiences. This is how Edward
Albees The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia is
introduced on the website of Sofias National
Theater. An intelligent, funny and provocative
meditation on normality and the limits of
tolerance, it is one of the must-see performances
in Bulgarian theater this season. The play,
which portrays a successful American architects
unusual love for a goat and the resulting crisis
in his family, caused a scandal eight years ago
when in it first opened on Broadway.

45

theater.

interview by Martin Ruzhdashki translation by Boris Deliradev photography by Mihail Novakov

46

,
,
,
, , ,


.

,
,
. ,
2010 -
.

,
, .
- ,
.
,

. ,
,
1994 .
.
16
, ,

.

,

.
,
, ,

... . , , ,

,
. -

In Bulgaria, The Goat can be seen on the small

stage of the Ivan Vazov National Theater and
is the work of a star-studded team of thespians:
Edward Albee himself, who was present
throughout rehearsals; award-winning theater and
film director Javor Gardev; set designer Nikola
Toromanov; composer Kalin Nikolov; actress
Boyka Velkova in the leading female role; and
Mihail Bilalov as Martin the architect who
finds himself in the eye of this tragicomedic
storm. Bilalov, who is the only unknown name
on the bill, plays his character with infinite
insight and intelligence; recognition seems
to have come to him naturally. In March he
received the Icarus award for best actor of the
2009/10 season. The questions have followed
just as naturally: Who is he? Why hasnt anyone
heard of him? What does he do? He has created
a bit of a stir in the small world of Bulgarian
theater in which everyone knows everyone else.
The truth is that Mr. Bilalov is not really a new
name in Bulgarian theater and the Icarus is not
his first award. He grew up in a family of actors
and graduated from the National Secondary
School for Ancient Languages and Cultures and
later from the National Academy of Theater and
Film in Sofia. He acted on Sofia stages for four
years and won an Askeer rising star award. Then
he suddenly bowed out and left for Paris where
he has been living there for 16 years. Bilalov
has changed professions several times, started a
family, completed another degree and founded
a business which has little if anything to do
with theater. He is now a landscape architect
who designs outdoor spaces. He also tutors
young actors preparing for entrance exams at
the Conservatoire dArt Dramatique in Paris, his
only current role in the world of French theater.
He might never have returned to his former
profession, had Javor Gardev not sought him
out and invited him to join the cast of The Goat.
Mr. Bilalov accepted. When I read the projects
outline, I realized there was simply no excuse
for declining. Id be an idiot, a dead man or an
astronaut orbiting the earth, if I did this is
what he told the media shortly before opening

 ,
.
.

night. He remains based in Paris and flies to

Bulgaria for each performance. We met with him
in Sofia on one such day.

?
,
,
,
,

.

()
.
.

Why did you accept the role of Martin in

Javor Gardevs staging of The Goat?
There were a number of reasons the
professional challenge of playing Martin; the
prospect of working with Javor Gardev; the
presence of Edward Albee during rehearsals; the
stage of the National Theater and the highly
professional team who worked on the play they
were all part of my decision to return to acting.
Martins character is an incredible opportunity
for an actor to experience the pleasure of playing
a simple, realistic role nested within the absurd,
extraordinary circumstances of Albees play. I
had never worked this way before and I decided
to take the risk.

.
?

,
, .
,
, .

.

Edward Albee was in Sofia for the premiere

of his play, The Goat. In what way was
meeting him important for you?
Albee, like a precise surgeon, stitches his works
together with great simplicity and merciless
irony. He wrenches you out of the tight embrace
of kitsch, which can be painful but life-saving.
He is a master who teaches by caning us with
the truth. I see him as one of the last surviving
islands of truth in an ocean of universal kitsch.
So meeting him was definitely worth it.

,
?
. ,
, ,
.
.
.

Do you think The Goat is a play about a

pathological condition?
No. The zoophilic element is simply a unique
plot idea, a masterly trick that creates the space
in which the tragedy unfolds. But it is not the
subject of the tragedy. The play is about the
breakdown of a family.

?

.

.

What can you tell us about your work on

Martins character?
Javor [Gardev]s understanding of the characters
was excellent, and he didnt leave me any room
to go astray. An actor is a bit like an interior
designer who dreams of being given the freedom
to work inside an exceptional building. Thats

47

48

exactly what Javor did for us.

21
?
,
.

, . ,
, e .

What is your idea of theater fitting to the

21st century?
Theater has the capacity to move us because it
tackles human problems. So whether its fitting
or not depends on whether its truthful or not,
contemporary or not. That which is eternally
valid about good theater is its contemporary
vibration it shouldnt be concerned with
trends.

15 ,

, . ,
?
, ,
.
,
. ,
.
.
,

19 .

Youve lived in Paris for more than 15 years,

you have your own architectural studio and
you teach acting. How do you feel about
living in Paris? What do you think of the
city?
I had no other choice when I left. I was a
Francophone; France chose me. I later met
my wife and started my own business. I feel
at home in Paris; I dont have an immigrants
inferiority complex. France is very much a
monarchy disguised as a republic. Democracy is
simply a politically correct faade masking the
megalomania of the French. Today they are very
bitter about not being as grand and important as
they were in the 19th century.

?
, ,
-
. , 12 15

. ,
-,
.

What is your methodology as an acting

instructor?
Stanislavski, of course. Although actors
themselves dont normally come to an
understanding of what he is about until later
in their careers. I have an assistant; my classes
have between 12 and 15 students, and each of
them works on a personal project, depending on
whether their interest is in film or theater. What I
try to do is identify the means of expression that
comes to them most naturally and then help
them develop that further.

?
. ,
,
, .
,
.

What are your plans for the future?

I am a man of the present. What matters to
me is to wake up tomorrow and to live without
reasons for regret. And to do my professional
work well. I dont make plans; I think thats
absurd.

50

. . .

Ghostdog

Svetozar
Georgiev
Ghostdog

, ,



Ghostdog. ,
,
.
,
-

.
,
.
( )
,
, -, ,
.
.

Frankly, for the first time Im regretting that

the magazine is now bilingual otherwise I
definitely wouldve already printed some of
the short, ultra-powerful poems from Svetozar
Ghostdog Georgievs blog. But he wont allow
us to translate them, unless we line up Valery
Petrov for the job. In any case, they are just
one reason for this interview. The other is the
fact that Svetlyo has written two of the most
interesting theatrical productions in recent
years: Butterflies Are Actually Warplanes and
Dead Dagmar or the Little Match Girl. And
he mustve penned them on some rainy evening
in his neighborhood of Knyazhevo or during
his spare time, since by day Svetlyo works as
an IT tech for Bulgaria Air. Most of his fellow
physics majors became systems adminstrators
because theres no cash [in physics], so as not to
be the only sucker left behind I got into IT, too.
It isnt that complicated.

theater. poetry. internet.

interview by Bistra Andreeva translation by Angela Rodel photography by Mihail Novakov

51

 ,
.

,

() . ,

,
.
, .
?
.

52

. ?
.
, , , .
, ,
, , ?
. 98-99,
, . .
,
. ,
,
. .
2005.

, .
. .
.
?
. .

,
,
.
. , ,
,
- .
, . -
, ,
.
, , ,

Svetlyo is one of those people a friend of ours

called a boutique character. I find him sipping
beer and reading Max Weber in the middle of
a sweaty, packed and rowdy Irish bar during
what (apparently) must be an important football
match. We go to chat by the fountains in front
of the National Theater, where at one point
our discussion is interrupted by Kalashnikov
Svetlyos buddy who likes to blow shit up in
the yard of his villa. They make plans to meet
up later at some place that serves salad in plastic
dishes. So, were we talking about something
cultural? Svetlyo asks, snapping back to our
conversation.
Yes. How and why did you start writing
poetry?
Because its short. Some big things are tasty, say,
cake, for example. But there are little things that
are really tasty you know those little Belgian
candies? What more can I say I started in
98-99, with short things, just for me. Once I
read them over Id erase them immediately. I
even wrote a script that would be activated on
a certain date and erase a given folder on my
computer. But I didnt do it quite right so if
on that date my computer wasnt turned on,
Id have to erase it by hand. In 2005 I stopped
erasing things. Lots of people think hey,
that poetry stuff is all oh my heart, oh my
soul. Like stuff out of nursery rhymes in four
couplets. But it isnt quite like that. Theres some
heavy shit out there.
What kind of poetry do you like?
Vaptsarov. Smirnenski. I remember reading a
poem of his as a kid so theyre shooting some
French dude, all kinds of stuff like that, but
the rhythm of it was amazing. Vaptsarovs got
a gansta thing going on. Trouble with the cops
non-stop. By the way, back before writing got
started people would tell each other stories and
now hip-hops going back to that. Its a kind
of return to words in a way that makes you
remember them. Like when you really listen to
hip-hop ok, theres some ultra-lame stuff, but
theres some really good stuff, too. I really like


, .
! , . !
. .
- .
?
.
.

, . .
. , ,
. .
,
. - .
, .

, ,
.

, .
,
.
.
.

?

.

- .
,
.
2006, .
( )

(). ,
:
,
?
. .
, ,

.
- .

Ezra Pound. I know it sounds kinda lame, but

Shakespeares got some killer sonnets, he mustve
been a trip. Howd he come up with that? Ive
tried reading them in English, but Valery Petrov
is something else. Tsvetaeva! Lots of her. Shes
got way amazing stuff. In general I think women
do better with this kind of thing.
What else do you read?
Anything. I buy things or download them from
the internet. I was really into Iris Murdoch for a
while my favorite was The Sea, The Sea. Cause
its long and boring. But only on first glance.
Once you read it you see how things move. She
was nuts. And that dude who wrote The Remains
of the Day. The book is way more pleasant than
the film more gentle. I also love reading some
super brutal shit you can only find on the
internet. For example, some Russian guy writes
fantasy, but he totally sucks, its like Karateka for
Atari, an 8-bit game. I read a lot of Ayn Rand
and really liked it it shows what different ways
of thinking people not from here have. Shes a
total rationalist, whereas were all romantics
and thats precisely the problem. You cant make
romantics work. Cause its not romantic.
How did you start writing for theater?
A friend of mine saw my stuff and wanted to
do a play The Taxis, based on Jarmuschs film
Night on Earth. Shed picked out four scenes
and we had to adapt the dialogue so itd fit
more to Bulgarian reality. So I kept rewriting and
rewriting and eventually I got so fed up that I
wrote a new ending. They play was put on a few
times at the Youth Theater in 2006 to mixed
reviews. Ogi [Ognyan Golev] played Benignis
role, and through him I met Irina [Docheva] and
when we finished with that she said: So what
are you up to now? Why dont we write a play
about breaking up, but not from some downer
viewpoint. I happened to have some stuff that
fit so I started sending it to her. And things fit
together. She started rehearsals, choreography,
practice sessions with a trapeze and thats how
Butterflies Are Actually Warplanes came about.
And then Maria Minkova made the coolest

53

54

, .
?
.
a.
,
. ? ,
? ,
. ,
!
, . .
, .
. , 18
, 15 ... .
,
.
, .
, . .
, .
.
. .
.
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.
. ,
.
, , , , .
.
. . ,
.

posters in theater history.

The most recent theatrical piece based on
your writing is Dead Dagmar or the Little
Match Girl, directed by Ida Daniel. How did
that come about?
Ida breathed life into her. Although she is dead.
Actually, when I was little I really liked The Little
Match Girl up to the part where she freezes
to death. I kept asking: why? How could they
just leave her to die like that? Theres something
funny about the whole business. Somethings
up, it cant be so cut-and-dried. Its some kinda
BS they shoved off on us as kids... Everybody
knows and remembers that she died in a bad
way! Who could be behind it? Turns out its
a conspiracy, there must be some heavy duty
agents involved. That was my starting point. I
wrote a version and explained it to Ida: hey, why
dont you put on this play? And she was into it. I
gave her tons of versions, like 18 or 15 But the
final one was her fault. Ida said theres no money
for one of the actors figure out how to axe his
role. So I said fine, itll work with zombies. Im
a big fan of zombie films. They are so ridiculous
that theyre simply great. But we still needed a
person. So I figured theyd use someone as a
medium to talk to the witness. Ida liked it and
got down to work.
Are you working on any new projects at the
moment?
A thing called Nocturno From Dust to Radiance.
Im not sure why these titles always end up so
long. Itll be about two people beyond love,
after theyve decided to live together. Cause love
shmove, but come on pick your clothes up off
the sidewalk. Itll be a nocturne like the musical
work in three parts.

56

. . .

Andrew
Losowsky

, .

,

. ,
,
Stranded.

-
, .
,
, .

When life gives you a volcano, make a

magazine out of it. Thats how the Englishman
Andrew Losowsky, who is currently living and
working in the United States, interpreted the
famous phrase about lemons and lemonade
while he was stuck in Dublin because of the ash
cloud above Europe. The magazine that sprang
up spontaneously during his compulsory stay is
called Stranded. Designers and journalists were
invited in his blog to write for the magazine
under the condition that they were also stuck
somewhere.This bright idea only begins to
illustrates Andrews endless love for magazines,
especially if they are high quality, progressive
and independent.

magazines.media.design.

interview by Bistra Andreeva translation by Boris Deliradev photography archive

57

58

We Love MagazinesWe Make Magazines.
Stack ,

. ,
Colophon
.

Monocle,The Economist,New
York Times.
, The
Guardian,The Wall Street Journal Wired.

, , ,
, . ,
, , .
,
Sofia Design Week
-.

He devoted one blog and two marvelous books

to them We Love Magazines and We Make
Magazines. He also runs the Stack service, which
is a subscription to a different independent
magazine each month. Moreover, he is one
of the curators of the Colophon Biennale, the
worlds largest forum for independent magazines
held in Luxembourg.Magazines such as
Monocle, The Economist, and the New York
Times have written articles about Andrews works
and projects. As an award-winning journalist,
he writes for The Guardian, The Wall Street
Journal and Wired. Besides articles he writes
short stories, plays, online projects, tourist guides
and creative explorations of cities. Losowsky
has lived in London, Barcelona, Madrid, Hong
Kong and Rhode Island. In June he is arriving in
Sofia for More or Less Sofia Design Week 2010
to deliver a lecture and present an intriguing
exhibition of object as magazines.

?
, ,

. , ,

. .
,
.
,
.
InDesign, Quark.
,
.

. 90-
-
. ,
.
he Face
. ,
.
Freestyle
. Spectacle

Tell us about something that you have

learned about magazines in the course of
your work with them.
One thing that surprised me a little bit was
how similar magazines around the world are.
A magazine from Columbia looks just like a
magazine from Sweden these days. I think there
are a couple of reasons for that one is the way
design tools are stuctured and that everybody
is using the same tools. When people had just
a pencil to illustrate there was more freedom
in terms of how you place things on the page.
But now everyone is using InDesign or Quark.
There is a natural structure. And also because of
the Internet as well and the influence of certain
magazines from the mid-90s onwards you find a
lot of people whose influences are the same no
matter where they are in the world. Which is a
bit of a shame, because what you get is a certain
ubiquity in style. People are trying to make the
same kind of thing you might see a version
of the Face in India. That said, a number of
publications are doing something which is really
completely different. Theres a German magazine
called Freestyle which is round and comes with
a frisbee. There is another UK magazine called

 ,
, .
,
.
-
-.
?
,
,
PDF .
,
,
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. Conde Nast
,
.
, ,

. -
- ,
,
,
. :
,
,
.

?
,
, ,


.
,

Spectacle which comes in a picture frame, so

you have to take it out of the frame to read it.
Or you can keep it there. With the rise of digital
magazines its a really exciting time to be making
physical objects.
So what is your definition of a magazine
nowadays?
It can be defined as everything or nothing. The
way I define it is something that is created and
closed at some point to go to press or to a
PDF or whatever. So each issue has a number
and date, while say a webpage can change
constantly. A magazine is a space for telling
stories. It is a lot like a museum in a way a
curated selection of something. Its not put
together by an algorhythm, its not a link you
can go to and then go check your mail it really
is an experience that has a beginning, a middle
and an end and it is curated.
What about independent magazines? What
does independent mean to you?
Thats a very good question. And a very hard
one. Conde Nast, for example, is an independent
publisher. The way we define it is a magazine
that would still be published even if it wasnt
making any money. Maybe there would be fewer
issues, or cheaper paper, or it would take more
time to make but the people who make it are
not doing it to make money they do it because
they are passionate about the thing. So not being
owned by a multinational is one thing and then
created because you want the magazine to exist.
What are major things you see happening to
magazines in general lately?
They are suffering along with all media because
many of the advertisers may not come back
when the economy recovers a lot of them
will be going online. So now magazines are
looking to expand and not just be a single
object or a single object with a site. Its about
being a brand that you can trust. You have
the magazine, but you also have a TV show,
or events or a subscribers club. Monocle, for
example, has opened small stores around the

59

 -
.
, .
, ,
.. Monocle

,
,
.


.
Ipad Iphone,
.
, ,
,

.

60

?
38000
. La Mas Bella, -
.
, Hear the World,
,
.
Eye. Fantastic Man. New
York Magazine, ,
.
.
Objects as
Magazines.

.
, ,
-
- ,
-, -
, -, -
..
:
.
.

world selling products exclusively made for them

that carry their logo and theyre making a lot
of money from that. Magazines are trying to
understand what their value is in peoples lives
and to expand it beyond the printed page. Other
magazines are getting on the Ipad or the Iphone
trying to make money that way, but its still very
unproven as a business model. I want to see
what happens but I dont think it will save the
magazine industry as a whole, and I dont think
every magazine must necessarily find a life form
there.
Some of your favorite magazines?
Thats like having to choose between my 38,000
children. As for current ones, I am really fond of
La Mas Bella, they create objects as a magazine
and make them really beautifully. There is a
really interesting magazine called Hear the World
which is about the culture of hearing a very
unusual niche that I never thought about. I like
Eye, the graphic design magazine. Fantastic Man,
I Love New York Magazine actually, they do
great journalism. I could keep going.
You are coming with the exhibition Objects
as Magazines tell us about that.
It was first displayed in Milan a couple of years
ago its a selection that really pushes the
boundaries of what a magazine can be in terms
of the physical object. A magazine thats actually
an apron, or a 10-ft poster pasted on the street in
Australia. It could be a magazine thats a wallet,
a record, a t-shirt, a postcard. And they are all
magazines they come out regularly, they have
established readership, etc. That makes you think
about what a magazine can be.

62

open source. . . . .

Evan Roth

32 bad ass
motherfucker ( ).
Google,
. 13 11

. ,

Bad Ass
Motherfucker, .
.
badass motherfucker
bad ass.


.

Evan Roth is 32 and a bad ass motherfucker.

At least thats what you have to type into
Google if you want to find out more about
his revolutionary art projects. In 13 days and
11 hours he made his name (and his site) the
top search result for that query. He figured this
legitimately entitled him to printing Bad Ass
Motherfucker on his business card instead of
his name. So he did. His future ambitions are
to win the gold medal for the searches baddass
motherfucker and just bad ass. His other
endeavors in life include filling the public
domain with free art and cutting-edge opensource software.

art. open source. technology. installation. social networks.

interview by Christo Mitov translation by Angela Rodel photography by One Magazine

63

64

,

Parsons School of Design .

.
Graffiti Research Lab ,

.
, .

:
-
. Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.)
Lab. ,
,
,

.
EyeWriter
,

( ) ,
.
,
Brit Insurance Design
2009 . ,
,
F.A.T.,


.

, Fuck Flickr,
Fuck Picasa Fuck Twitter. - fuck Fuck Google
Week,
Transmediale 2010
.
Google

After getting his B.A. in architecture from the

University of Maryland and his M.A. from
the Parsons School of Design in New York,
Evan hung around the US for a while before
deciding to seek creative exile in Europe. His
last enterprise in the States was establishing the
Graffiti Research Lab an art group dedicated to
outfitting graffiti artists and activists with opensource tools for urban communication. Evan is
currently based in Paris, getting inspired for new
art and tech endeavors.
His projects are a brilliant seamless synergy
between art and technology and they all have
two clear goals: to make our interaction with
gadgets more human and to have fun.
Roth is also one of the co-founders of the
Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.) Lab. This
international crew works on innovations
that might seem silly and useless at first, but
which may very well revolutionize the way
we interact with computers. The EyeWriter
project, for example, is a low-cost eye-tracking
apparatus and custom software that allows
graffiti artists paralyzed by ALS (Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis) to draw using only their eyes.
This is definitely an award-winning invention
and we were this close to announcing that
it had scooped up the 2009 Brit Insurance
Design Award. Only it turned out that the
announcement video posted on the F.A.T. Lab
site was just one of their ways of teaching us a
lesson about online source trustworthiness and
the art of media manipulation.
A quick look into Evans portfolio reveals other
provocative projects such as Fuck Flickr, Fuck
Picasa and Fuck Twitter. One larger initiative in
the fuck sequence is Fuck Google Week, which
took place during the Transmediale 2010 media
festival in Berlin. It included creating a fake
Google Car and instantly inspired us to stalk
Evan for an interview. So we did.
What is the F.A.T. about in a nutshell?
We want to use popular culture mechanisms as
a way to spread open-source ideas. The group
was based in New York, but slowly everybody
started to move all over the place. We started to

 .
.
F.A.T. Lab
(Free Art and Technology Lab)?

open-source . ,

, , ,
F.A.T. Lab
.
,
F.A.T. Lab?
,
,
,
F.A.T. IRC ,
. IRC ( ) Pirate
Bay .
Google
F.A.T.?
,

Google. , , -
Google,
.
Fuck Google
,
Google Street View ,
. ,
.


.
Google ,
. , ,
Google
.

, Google

meet more friends online and so now the group

is completely decentralized and focused entirely
on the web.
What does it take to become a member?
We dont have a clear guideline on how people
become members, but theres sort of this
unwritten rule that people become members
if theyve collaborated with members of the
group so when you start collaborating with
people in things outside the group they slowly
get integrated into the group. We also have an
IRC channel thats open, like a public chat that
anyone can join. James met Magnus Eriksson of
Pirate Bay on our chat channel and now hes an
anonymous member of the group.
Why is the Google Car here?
We spread the rumor that we bugged the Google
Car. But its easier to make the Google Car than
to bug the Google Car. That was our little
secret during the Fuck Google week in Berlin
we remade the car and drove around in it all
day. We pretended to be lost and asked people
for directions. At one point the driver pulled
over to drink whiskey and pee on a street light
in downtown Berlin. Its a bit of a de-branding
exercise. Which is really difficult, because people
apparently love Google, and wanted to wave for
the camera and be on it. We tried to physically
embody Google the way we see their practices
online.
Did you really have a camera up there or was
it just cardboard?
It was just cardboard. Too bad actually for the
people pulling down their pants in front of it.
The point was that the cam wasnt in the box, we
had a camera. It should be in the peoples hands,
not in Googles hands.
Is Google really not evil? (Their motto is
Dont Be Evil)
Well, they say they arent, but theyre a giant

65

.

?
, .
, .
, .
Google, .

66

Google
Dont Be Evil?
,
.
Web 2.0
, ,

.
- 100

,
.
Google,
?
! ( ).
Google.

Google,
,
. Google
,
.

,

. Google
.
, Fuck Google
Google . , ,
,

multinational corporation. Fuck Google Week

was about this Web 2.0 phenomena where
everyone, especially artists/media people, are
comfortable posting all their creative content on
servers that are owned by companies that put
advertisements on them and are making money.
Technology is getting easier and cheaper, to the
point where for a $100/year you can host all
your own content and you dont need to rely on
all of these companies to host your data for you.
Do you block Google for your website? Or
any search engines?
No, why would I [ha-ha]? All of us are in some
way using Google products. Some are very strict
about it, others are not. Were bad vegetarians
who eat chicken once in a while, you know. We
have to use these systems to get the message
through, so it gets tricky. Its kind of like Al
Gore hes a big environmental activist, but he
still flies in airplanes everywhere he goes. We
feel that way a little bit with Google. Were still
using these systems as a way to hopefully destroy
them. We actually heard that the manifesto we
wrote for the Transmediale catalogue, the project
description for the Fuck Google week, we
heard that the page made it in front of a board
meeting of Google Germany, so at least we know
the ideas were representing are being discussed
on their side.
What do you plan on fucking next?
Great question. Theres a lot of anti-Apple
sentiment in the group, so wed like to do a
de-branding of Apple. Even this interview, were
doing it on an iPhone, and I have an iPod too,
and I hate it. I mean, I love my iPod so much,
but at the same time I hate it. Its like Apple
all of a sudden is this brand that is being used
by all creative people, yet it is the most closed,
proprietary system in the history of computing.

Ill give you keywords and you tell

me what pops into your mind first.
Twitter? Its another one of these systems
where the content is hosted on Twitter

 .
?
! -Apple
,
Apple.
-.
,
, -
.
,
, .
Twitter?
, ,
Twitter. F.A.T. Twitter
, -
.
Twitter,
open-source StatusNet.
Facebook?
Fcebook. ,
,

. ,
.
Facebook
.
MySpace?
?
Youtube?
Vimeo.
Messaging client?
IRC, . !
Facebook!
The Piratebay
Piratebay
. , ,
. ,
.

servers which since April have officially

included advertising in the information
stream. We use Twitter like crazy in the
group, its a quick system for high-speed
communication and publication. Weve
installed Laconica too, which is an opensource alternative to Twitter
Facebook?
I dont use Facebook. I hate the idea that
theres a version of the internet where I cant
send links to people [unless Im a registered
user]. I hate it but Ive come around to the
idea of it. I get people who use it, but I opt
out of it. I wrestle with it every day.
MySpace?
People still use MySpace?
YouTube?
I actually use Vimeo.
Messaging client?
IRC, man. Its coming back, its the shit.
Its the new Facebook!
The Pirate Bay?
The Pirate Bay is like my favorite project of
all time. People keep saying that its dead
but I keep going and it keeps showing up
all the time, so yeah. But if it died, it would
show up somewhere else.

67

68

Its a long story

69

70

, , DVD/Bluray . ,
. web 2.0
, ,
.
- ,
.

. . .

Cinema
Reloaded

When we think technological innovation in the film industry such as

color keying, postproduction with armies of programmers and designers,
digital screening, Blue Ray, etc. we usually think commercial movies.
But the truth is that modern technology has been just as liberating for
independent film. The advent of web 2.0 has brought social networking
sites into our lives, and with them the feeling that everyones opinion and
participation matters to a products overall success. The second-generation
web environment has also bred more accessible user interfaces and
instruments that have opened the net to millions of new enthusiasts.

film. social networks. sustainability

text by Yoana Pavlova translation by Boris Deliradev illustration by One

71

72

,
.


,
.
, ,
, ,
,
, ,

.
-,

.

, word
of mouth ( )
-.
2009
-
,

.
,

, ,
.
,
:
,
. -

,

,

.
, ,
crowd funding,
.
14 2004

.

500 .

,
.
,


.
, .

450
.
.
15
2009 C,
,
.

62
.

For the time being, the internet is still

considered an alternative media as far
as film is concerned, but its advantages
are becoming more and more obvious.
Although for the most part the shooting
process is still carried out in the good old
analog world, the other stages research,
screenwriting, fundraising, recruitment,
location scouting, prep, postproduction,
marketing and distribution can be carried
out online. A few laptops are not just more
efficient, but they also significantly cut
the cost of the whole process and reduce
its carbon footprint to zero. The web also
offers a chance to make use of word-ofmouth marketing and to build your fan base
while you are still in production.
While in 2009 Avatar was the talk of
the town in Hollywood, in the world of
independent film The Age of Stupid was on
everybodys lips. Both can be described
as climate-conscious science fiction films;
however, what makes The Age of Stupid stand
out is the irrefutable evidence it provides
and its single star Pete Postlethwaite. Three
authors concocted this hybrid of sci-fi,
documentary and drama: script writer and
director Franny Armstrong, and producers
Lizzie Gillett and John Battsek. They
worked on The Age of Stupid for no less
than five years and in the end succeeded in
tearing the industrys rule book to shreds.
Their film is simply ground-breaking in
many respects.
For starters, they used a revolutionary
fundraising model something they call

crowd funding, meaning that the money

comes from the films future audience.
Their campaign started on 14 December
2004 with a fundraiser party at Franny
Armstrongs home. They made a persuasive
presentation on climate change and sold
the audience individual shares (worth 500
each) in the future film. Despite meager
expectations about the profitability of such
stock, they raised a substantial chunk of
cash that night. Lizzie remembers how
surprised they were that people were willing
to support a cause simply because they were
invited to an event where they could mingle
with artists. It soon became apparent that
many more people out there were willing
to support a project without expecting
significant control over its outcome.
This is how the team eventually hit their
preliminary target of 450,000. During the
next three years, fundraising continued while
the film was being shot, while the price of
shares rose.
The British premiere of The Age of Stupid was
on 15 March 2009 in Leicester Square in
London, in a temporary structure powered
entirely by solar energy. It was also beamed
via satellite to 62 cinemas in the U.K. The
green carpet for the world premiere was
rolled out on 21-22 September in New York
City. This time the film was broadcast live
in 500 movie theatres in the U.S. and 200
theatres in 40 countries around the world.
Another 30 counties showed the film at a
later date via the distribution scheme Indie
Screenings, which was developed especially
for The Age of Stupid. At this point, the

73

74

75

The CoProducers

76

/ The Director

77

thank you

 21-22 .
,
500 .

200 40 , 30
Indie Screenings,

.
, .
AgeOfStupid.net
884 .

78

,

, ,


Cinema Reloaded.

,

. 1972


.
,
2009

.
,
. ,
,

.

,
.
CinemaReloaded.com



.

5 .
,
.

,
.
30
2010 ,
65
-,
.

,
- ,

.

-,

,
- .
25
39-
,
Cinema Reloaded ,
-

producers job was done, but Franny did not

remove the donation counter from the films
website, ageofstupid.net. At the moment of
this writing, it has racked up 884,000.
Inspired by the success of The Age of Stupid,
the director of the Rotterdam film festival,
Rutger Wolfson, decided to experiment
with a new project of his own for on-line
co-production and distribution. He has
named it Cinema Reloaded. Most people
think of film festivals as places for endless
entertainment and partying, but Rotterdam
has a slightly different reputation. Since
1972 it has been known for its emphasis on
films from the developing world and its welldeveloped international network of fearless
independent film makers. Thus, it came as
no surprise in 2009 when Rutger Wolfson
invited three directors Argentinean
Alexis Dos Santos, Swiss Pipilotti Rist and
Malaysian Ho Yuhang to join him in a
novel kind of partnership. All three have
distinctive styles and regularly show at the
Rotterdam festival, but have relatively few
feature films and live in countries where
opportunities for subsidies are limited.
The principle behind CinemaReloaded.
com is simple. The three directors each
have a video and a description of a future
short film posted on the projects web page,
where users are invited to support the films
by buying virtual coins for five euro. After
users pay for the coins, they are then free
to distribute them as they wish and even to
donate them to other registered producers.
One purchased coin guarantees access to a
streaming video of the finished work, while
five coins will get your name on the list of

producers in the credits. The idea is for each

film to raise at least 30,000 euro by 1 July
2010, but if any one of them raises 65,000
euro before then, the films fundraising will
be discontinued. If no project reaches the
target of 30,000 euro, all the money will go
to the director who has earned the most and
the Rotterdam film festival will top up the
full budget.
I personally liked Ho Yuhangs project
the best. What appealed to me was his
laconic sense of humor however, I also
noticed that his cashbox was the emptiest.
So I invested a total of 25 euro and left
for the 39th Rotterdam Festival full of
expectations Cinema Reloaded had
promised that the five most generous
producers would be invited to a party
with the directors. I was two coins short of
making the guest list, but I did manage to
meet Ho Yuhang and ask him for his take
on the whole initiative. To my surprise, he
explained that from the beginning there
had been more questions than answers
with Cinema Reloaded, but that it was
precisely this uncertainty that had attracted
him to the project in the first place. In the
autumn of 2009, while he was considering
whether to accept the offer or not, he
came across a news story about a group of
drunken Indonesians who had stormed the
Indonesian/Malaysian border in an attempt
to avenge centuries of rocky relations
between their country and Malaysia. Ho
Yuhang was amused and decided he wanted
to meet these people and make a film about
them for Cinema Reloaded.
My own opinion is that Cinema Reloadeds

79

 . , 2
,
.
,
, Cinema
Reloaded , , .
2009, ,
,

.
, ,
,
,
Cinema Reloaded.
80

,

, .

, ,
, .
,
,
,
.

, , ,

,

- .
, Cinema Reloaded

,
,
. ,
(,
).

website puts too much emphasis on the

comparison between the three directors. I
couldnt help asking Ho Yuhang how it felt
to be part of such direct competition for
the sake of show with artists whose styles
are so different. I also wondered whether
as an independent filmmaker he might
be afraid of losing himself in the midst of
this money-raising game, even if the game
itself was an innovative scheme organized
by a non-commercial festival. With typical
Asian calm and a wide smile on his face, Ho
Yuhang told me that he didnt know what it
meant to lose yourself and that what matters
to him is to make sure he doesnt lose the
story. So at this stage its too early for such
definitions. Ho Yuhang also believes that
the people who like and support his idea
will have sufficient cultural background
to prevent them from harboring specific
expectations about his work, not least
because the amount invested is so small. He
is convinced that the producers recruited
through Cinema Reloaded are like-minded
people who would be willing to help with
ideas for the prep and logistics stages of
the shooting, as well as with the marketing
campaign once the film is released. And he
is right, as I seem to be doing just that.

81

82

,
.
,
.
-, . , ,
. - .

Gimme
That Toy,
Boy
83

Ive always wondered if the time will come when well stop distinguishing
between mens and womens jobs; when we wont care so much about the
gender of the people whose work attracts our attention or rather, when
we wont care if theyre women. Because when youre a man no one takes
special notice. For example, I have never heard anyone say Thats X one
of the most talented and intriguing men in forward-thinking electronic
music.

music

text and translation by Snezhana Bezus photography archive

84

.

,
.
, .
, -
,

. .

. ,
.

, ...
, ,
, -,
!

- , .
,
, ,
, ,
,
,
.

-. ,

,
-
,

-, -,
-, etc. .
.
,
, .
Ikonika
-,
Ikonika, ,

Hyperdub ( ,
-). Please 2008
, 6
Contact, Love, Want,
Have.
Ikonika , .

130-140
bpm.
.
, e
bleep, skwee, wonk, etc. ,
Ikonika , ,

.

blip-
.

It only happens when women are the

subject of conversation. This extra bit
of attention could potentially turn into
discrimination but it could also be
an advantage. And I dont mean the
advantage of having a pair of tits. With or
without them, women have become quite
brave in their conquest of so-called male
territories and when they are doing great,
this is easily noticed and there is nothing
wrong with that. The example above wasnt
random. Electronic music has never been
an extremely popular place for females. This
fact has a somewhat logical explanation.
In order to be an electronic sound-Jedi you
need more than just talent or imagination.
You need to be pretty handy with various
machines covered with knobs and buttons
and entangled in colorful cables or at least
with their software equivalents, which, in my
opinion, are not necessarily a better option,
because working with them is like entering
the Matrix! In this art, machines must
be your best friends natural extensions
of your hands, mind and heart. That is
why a woman who feels at home with all
the abovementioned cables, knobs and
programs and who is able to make the crowd
in the club scream with ecstasy from behind
the decks is naturally far more intriguing
than any of the regular electronic artists,
i.e. guys. Such ladies have become ever
easier to find these days, especially in those
trends that fall into the fuzzy yet pretentious
category future-thinking electronic music.
It includes all those ridiculous labels made
up of -step, -hop, dub- or other such affixes
plus a traditional electronic genre of your
choice. Women have given this music an
entirely new approach. They are bold and

talented, each with a unique, distinct sound.

Ikonika
London-based Sara Abdel-Hamid, a.k.a.
Ikonika, is the first woman to sign to the
legendary Hyperdub label (youll see who
the second one is if you keep reading). Her
2008 single Please has become a dubstep
anthem, and her critically acclaimed debut
album Contact, Love, Want, Have was
released in early April of this year.
Ikonikas peculiar sound is immediately
recognizable. On the one hand, its firmly
anchored within the well-known borders
of 130-140 bpm. On the other, however,
it runs deep into the sticky swamp of old
school electronic games squeaking synths.
Many other producers have been exploring
the same field, which has already been given
a few ingenious names: bleep, skwee, wonk,
etc. What sets Ikonika apart from them is
the unique architecture of her compositions,
in which the overall harmony is the multilayered result of combining several dissonant
melodies. This tricky formula works well
most of the time, the seemingly random
bleeping sounds are perfectly blended with
the rest of the tune. Sometimes, however,
the result is hard to swallow and feels
more like a vain attempt to bring together
virtually incompatible themes than a unified
composition.
The hit-or-miss success of Ikonikas recipe
actually makes her that much more
intriguing. In different interviews she
mentions using Fruity Loops 6 for her early
stuff and then switching to Logic. Indeed,
newer tracks like Fish and the Brown
Acids Bastard Kids remix reveal Ikonikas

85

Cooly G
86

Ikonika

87

Tokimonsta


,
.

Ikonika
.
,
Fruity Loops 6
Logic. ,
Fish
Bastard Kids The Brown Acid

, .
, Ikonika
a!

,
.
Toki Bedtime Lullabies - Foreign
Family Attention Deficit, - .
2010 ,
, Brainfeeder Ramp Recordings,
, Red Bull Music Academy ,



.
Cooly G

Tokimonsta
88

, -
Tokimonsta.
- , - ,
,
- Flying Lotus,


Brainfeeder.
Toki (
)
. ,

, -
future-old school -

Hyperdub
Cooly G.
-- .
,
,
.

,

, Cooly
.


. 17

.

increasing confidence in experimenting

with her production setup. I wouldnt be
surprised if her sound mutates significantly
in the future Ikonika has yet to show what
shes capable of!
Tokimonsta
Across the ocean, lurking in the shadows
of the LA underground is Jennifer Lee,
better known as Tokimonsta. Her lush
soundscapes synthetic yet organic
collages of dusty, broken hip-hop beats, live
instruments and exotic percussion grabbed
the attention of beat-making guru Flying
Lotus, who has taken her under his wing
and calls her the first lady of his flourishing
collective/label Brainfeeder.
Apart from being a talented musician, Toki
(rabbit in Korean) also boasts an attractive
appearance. Her Asian origins combined
with her obvious passion for fashion, art
and clever musical gear give her a unique,
future-old-school anime magic that makes
her a spectacular and beloved live performer.
Toki has two releases the limited edition
Bedtime Lullabies for the US/Japan clothing
label Foreign Family and the free Attention
Deficit, a compilation of remixes of hip-hop
classics. 2010 will be a major year for her,
first because of her upcoming releases for
Brainfeeder and Ramp Recordings, and
second, because of her participation in the
prestigious Red Bull Music Academy in
London, which has definitely strengthened
her position as a creme-de-la-creme
avant-garde electronic artist and officially
introduced her to the European scene.

Cooly G
Its time to introduce the second lady of
Hyperdub Cooly G, or Merissa Campbell.
She is also known as the chocolate diva
of the UK funky house/bass scene. Apart
from being a top DJ with a hefty schedule,
a producer and a singer, shes also a
semiprofessional football player and the
proud single mother of a boy. I dont know
how she manages to do so many different
things at the same time, but being busy
seems to work well for Cooly because shes
never been better.
Merissas musical journey began in her
childhood with DJ gigs at family gatherings.
At 17 she introduced herself to studio
equipment and managed to discover the
secrets of producing and sound engineering
on her own. Ten years later she is now
part of the Hyperdub family, yet she still
distributes the bulk of her productions
the old-fashioned way on CD. Her
anticipated official releases this year include
the collaboration project Cooly and the
Gang, which includes artists like Kode9
and Scratcha DVA, among others.
Cooly Gs sound is deep, progressive and
hypnotic, especially on tracks such as
Weekend Fly and Love Dub, where you
can enjoy her smooth vocals. She describes
her music as a mixture of house, techno,
tribal and dubstep an experimental field
where few other artists dare tread.
Emika
The most exciting rising star on todays
list is shrouded in darkness and mystery.

89

Hyperdub,


.
Cooly and the Gang EP,
Kode9,
Scratcha DVA . Cooly G
, , Love Dub Weekend
Fly,
. , ,
,
.
Emika

90

-
.
, .

- -
, -
.
Emika, ,
, ,
Ninja Tune,

Drop the Other, ,
, -
.
Drop the Other -
, , ,
. ,
, .

, -

, ,
, Emika ,
,
, , ...

Emika
.
Drop the Other

,
Skream
La Roux In for the Kill.
,


.

She was born in England but currently

lives in Berlin. She changed the concept
of experimental bass music with a single
song and her own hushed-up, sensuous, yet
vulnerable voice. I couldnt find out Emikas
real name, but what I know for sure is that
shes the latest signee to the mighty Ninja
Tune label, which put out her smashing
debut single Drop the Other followed by,
hopefully, a full-length album later this year.
Drop the Other deserves to be called
a song mainly because of its typical pop
structure verse, chorus, verse, chorus;
everything else about it is somewhat
disturbing. The classical piano melody in
the first few seconds is broken down by

a glitch, followed by syncopated rhythm

and a deep, resonating bass line, while the
words Emika whispers on top simmer with
conflicting, typically female emotions guilt
and lust, provocation and vulnerability, pain
and triumph. Moreover, the composition
is brilliantly executed Emika graduated
in music technology as the only girl in her
class.
Drop the Other is gaining huge popularity
and is about to become the sort of hit
that the Skream remix of La Rouxs In
for the Kill was last year. If this actually
happens, avant-garde electronic music and
mainstream sound will no longer be such
mutually exclusive terms.

91

Emika

92

, 1000%
, , ,
,
, ,
Circle.
, Compagnie 111
Pekarna, Circle
, .
, .
: , , ,
.

A Dance
Workshop
in Sofia
When someone like Aurlien Bory choreographer, dancer and 1000%
artist comes to town to conduct a workshop, the chance to cover it is a
journalists dream. Borys workshop was the first step of the EU-funded
Circle Project. Jointly organized by One Magazine, the French Compagnie
111 and the Slovenian cultural center Pekarna, this projects aim is the
creation of a dance production to be perfomed in Sofia with international
participation. For five days, @lma @lter, Sofia Universitys theater space,
was host to Aurlien Bory and a group of young dancers, as well as the
scene of lots of work and laughter. The workshop culminated in a public
presentation.

93

contemporary dance

text by Vera Gotseva translation by Boris Deliradev photography by Mihail Novakov

94

95

96

. ,
,
,
.

.

111

,
Sofia Dance Week
, ,
.


.
-
.
1
,
,
.
.
,
, , ,
,
,
-

-
- .

, ,

:
? ? -
, . ,

, ,
.

,
.
,
.
, ,
.
Space and Body,
, ,
, ..
,
, .
, 19- -
, ,
,
.
,
,
,

Aurlien Bory

The workshop

I could talk about Bory and his class for a

long time. A one-time student of physics
and architectural acoustics, he switched
to film directing and even studied circus
juggling but ended up working as a
choreographer. His diverse experience has
given him a unique understanding of the
performing arts, which has been noted
by critics and audiences alike. Today he is
known as the creative director and driving
force behind Compagnie 111 one of the
leading European dance groups, whose More
or Less Infinity (part of a trilogy dedicated
to space) was the kick-off performance at
the first edition of Sofia Dance Week two
years ago. Bulgarian audiences had another
chance to see a work by Bory last year, when
Erection, co-directed with Pierre Regal, was
shown at the festivals second edition. Both
were gripping performances, representing
contemporary dance at its very best.

A creative workshop is an opportunity to

find a new answer (or remember an old
one) to the question What is performing
art? While perhaps more interesting for
the participants than for the instructor,

I doubt that anyone sitting in the packed

Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture
two years ago imagined that Bory would be
conducting a workshop with young dancers
in Sofia anytime soon, but he surprised
us all. The participants came from diverse
backgrounds classical and modern ballet,
contemporary dance, acrobatics, break
dance but at the end of five days Aurlien
succeeded in convincing them that dance is
a universal art form in which the similarities
between one body and another are greater
than the differences between a ballet body
and an acrobatics body.

Aurlien nevertheless notes, even for me,

its always good to go back to the basics, to
the foundations of dance.
In such a workshop, participants work on a
short piece and, in a week of concentrated
effort, hope to perhaps achieve the
equivalent of a years work on their own.
They may be asked to work with a concrete
idea (which is taken for granted and cannot
be changed), or to improvise, where the
process and the element of surprise matter
most. Aurliens workshop in Sofia had a
fixed theme of Space and Body, while
participants were asked to work on dance
basics walking, running, lying, squatting,
etc. Some commented at the end that Bory
had clearly given careful thought to all the
chosen tasks. Bogdan Sarachev, a 19-yearold hip-hop dancer, said that he was aware
of the underlying structure throughout.
I really like his style of instruction, he
shared, adding that he would never forget
the assignment in which everyone had
to cross the space in a straight line to the
accompaniment of a riveting, sad melody.
Everyone was so concentrated and despite
the slow tempo, the energy was incredible. It
was an amazing experience!

97

98

99



.
,
,
. !
.

100

,
.
.
.
.


,
-.

? , ,
, .

,
. ,
, ,
,
. ,
- ,

, . ,
.
, .

,
,
,
. , .
,
,
,
, ,
. ,
, .

,
-.
.
,
,
, , , ,
. ,
, ,
,

.
.
.

.

.
,
.

Dance is about relationships

This was Aurliens recurrent theme for
the five days. And not just relationships
between people, but also between dancer
and object, body and thing, music
and performer, space and performer. Bory
tried to demonstrate what the stage allows
a performer to do and what it doesnt by
talking about the active/passive relationship.
Can an inanimate object be active? Yes, of
course. Activity is defined as that which
causes action, while passivity follows from
it. Aurlien gave an example of a door that
asks you to come through it, instead
of going through the walls. If you come
through the door, you are being passive,
because you are doing what the door is
asking of you. Its a very good illustration
of the idea that a stage constantly demands
something from the performer by its very
set-up. If there is a chair on it, you are being
asked to sit. A performer always needs to
be attentive to what the space demands.
Limitations as the foundation
of stage action

What happens on stage is not real life,

Aurlien kept repeating. He strongly believes
that art shouldnt imitate life. Striving to
copy reality can lead to catastrophic results,
he says. If there are chairs and a table on
stage and the assignment is Party, the
outcome will be disastrous if the dancers try
to literally drink, laugh, have fun, etc. Its all
bound to look like a bad imitation.
Throughout the workshop, Bory asked the

participants to work with different isolated

actions, so that they could study them
closely. One day it was just walking. At first,
that sounds repetitive and boring, but there
are dozens of ways to walk slowly, quickly,
calmly, nervously, with long strides, while
squatting, etc. The danger lies in staying
with movements that are comfortable and
familiar. Thus, Aurlien kept talking about
taking more risk, about leaving your safety
zone and seeking new perspectives. Dont
allow your movements to become too
mechanical. Have fun with the space. Take
everything you know and give it a [new]
meaning. This leads us to another principle
of the performing arts improvisation.
Limitation and improvisation are the two
legs of a good dancer, Bory told me in an
interview for 1.
Music as an equal partner
As the workshop progressed, Aurlien
gradually introduced music into the
exercises. And yet he says music shouldnt
be an obligatory element in dance. On
the contrary. When he starts working on a
piece he always thinks in silence. I dont
necessarily like music, because it sets the
audience in a mood. Sometimes this
is good, but a good dancer relies on the
viewers eyes, not their ears. Music has such
a strong impact on the audience that action
alone cannot change the mood. So Bory
believes that a performance should always
start silently. The action should work on its
own and should be the single driving force

101

102

103

104

.
,
, .
.
,
. ,
,
,
.
,

.
,

. ,

. ,
.

. .
, ,
. ,
,

, . ,
. ,
, .
.
,
. ,
,
.

,
,
.


. ,
,

, ,
.

.

of the performance. Music should not be

used as decoration, Bory continues. It
should be a partner, an equal partner in a
stage dialogue.
The audience as partner and limitation
One of the pillars of stage action and a
source of limitation, too is the audience,
particularly the eyes of the audience. In a
sense, if there is no audience, there is no
performing art. We have the dancers on
one side of the stage, and the viewers on
the other. This constitutes a relationship as
well as a limitation. What happens between
these two sides is what gives meaning to
art. And the meaning doesnt have to be the
same to each side hence Borys insistence
on not having a message in his shows: If
something is worthwhile for me, it might
be worthwhile for someone else, but the
meaning is always different.

The outcome
After days of experimentation, the workshop
culminated in a public presentation at the
@lma @lter theater space. It was a pleasure
to observe how in a matter of days this
group of strong individuals with diverse
dance backgrounds had turned into a
smoothly running troupe. Despite the
workshops focus on a few very basic
movements, the presentation was proof that
there is a whole new generation of talented
young people in Bulgaria who dream of
being able to work on their art in their
country. And their week spent with Aurlien
Bory took them one step closer to that
dream.

105

106

,
, , ,

1989
- .
, ,
-
, -
.

. . .

Vlaikova
Cinema

107

The old cinema sign hanging in front of the building, the bell for calling
the cashier, the battered seats in the auditorium, the heavy, tobacco-colored
plush curtains and the anachronistic projection equipment and silver
screen Vlaikova Cinema has not been renovated since 1989 and for
some, this is exactly what it has going for it. Its authentic socialist-era looks
and the fact that it has nothing in common with trendy cinemas make it
one of Sofias best-loved places at least in the hearts of young, forwardthinking people who have started using it more and more often for their
own cultural happenings.

film. music. art.

text by Yovo Panchev and Iva Galabova translation Bogdan Rusev photography by Mihail Novakov

108

109


,
, .

II ,
.

1926
, ,


.

110

,
(

). 1910.
,
.
. 1925
.
II.

,
. 1926
,
-
. ,
, ,
.

,
,
, - ,

.

.


.

,
.
,
.


,


. ,

. ,
II.
30000 ,

.
,
- ,
-

Vlaikova is one of the few cinemas in

Bulgaria that has survived both the crises
of the last century and the multiplex
invasion of recent years. It is situated on the
beautiful old Sofia street Ivan Asen II, in the
neighborhood some call Little Paris. The
reason it is still standing today is thanks to
Maria Vlaikova the woman who came up
with the idea for it, built it and donated it
to Sofia upon her death in 1926 on the one
condition that the building always be used
as a cinema and cultural center.
The history of Vlaikova Cinema goes
back exactly one century, when Maria, a
schoolteacher from Macedonia, decided to
settle in Sofia after a stay in France, where
cinema was quickly gaining popularity.
The year was 1910. Maria met the writer,
public figure and philanthropist Todor
G. Vlaikov and soon became his wife. In
1925 she decided to build a movie theater
on Ivan Asen II Street. Marias wish was
that the auditorium would be used both
for film screenings and for various useful
and pleasant events and occasions for the
new capitals rapidly growing population. In
1926 the building was completed and the
cinema was opened to the public, but only
a few months later, Maria Vlaikova died.
In her will, she donated the movie theater
to the public as a cinema for educating
the people. As she put it: The building
shall be a convenient auditorium designed
to serve the public with cinematic works
and also to be used for culture, literary
and musical occasions and various talks
and lectures in short, it shall be a hotbed

of education and culture. The Vlaikov

familys altruistic project soon faced a
serious threat, however: unpaid debts to the
construction company. The state stepped in,
with the Ministry of Education picking up
the tab. The theater began to be used as a
cinema for schoolchildren completely in
line with Maria Vlaikovas will. Thanks to
her foresight, the cinema is still used for its
original function a precedent that should
be a general principle.
After the war, the theater was still used for
film showings, as a part of the cinefication
of the country, while the neighborhoods
Anton Strashimirov Community Center
also settled in the building. The building
was damaged by bombings and needed
renovations, which were paid for with a
bank loan covered by the people who lived
in the neighborhood. The community
centers library became a landmark on
Ivan Asen II Street. It still functions today
as home to over 30,000 tomes, updated
annually with new books and periodicals.
The center also hosts the traditional
educational clubs that most Bulgarians
participate in as children: foreign languages,
ballet, literature. Vlaikova stands out by
offering Bulgarias only school for rock
musicians, which was founded in socialist
times and still functions today, complete
with a rehearsal space and stage.
The cinema/community center is the
oldest movie theater in Sofia and one of the
few existing outside the multiplex circuit.
Public funding covers only day-to-day

111

112

/ Venera Ivanova and Doli Petkova

/ Ilko Dugmedhziev

113

/ Uncle Mitko

 ,
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,
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.

114

-

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,
.
70-, ,

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. 2000 2002

,
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,
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, : ,
, -, Headstall,
, Damage, ,
, Kindergarten, Analgin
. ,
,
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:

expenses, while all income from ticket sales

is reinvested in repairs and equipment. Films
are shown on Czech-made projectors from
the 1970s with no surround sound, but
with plenty of attitude and what the cinema
calls the individual approach which
means that if theres only three people in
the audience, the screening isnt a flop;
on the contrary, that makes it all the more
special. Ilko Dugmedzhiev, the cinema
director, is the informal leader of Vlaikovas
longtime employees, who include the
cultural activities manager Dolly Petrova
(who is also in charge of finances), and the
projectionists, Uncle Mitko (Mitko Mitev)
and Venera Ivanova. They are also both
cashiers and ushers. I love telling passersby
the story of Maria Vlaikova and this
cinema, which is still a cinema, Ilko says.
His own lifestory has been closely tied to
the cinema since he was a child. He grew up
on the same street and attended showings
and kids parties in the auditorium, but
never imagined that one day he would
work there. In 1999 the former chemist and
restoration specialist was elected director
of the community center. He has tried to
honor the will of Maria Vlaikova ever since.
During the 1990s, a whole generation
of rock musicians connected to the band
Voden Duh (Water Spirit) started using
Vlaikova for concerts, Ilko recalls, adding
that in his opinion this is an ideal example
of the buildings original purpose. In the
second paragraph of Maria Vlaikovas will,
it says literary and musical occasions,
the director points out. This spontaneous
expression of urban culture eventually
morphed into traditional rock and blues
nights at Vlaikova. The scene grew, thanks

to the efforts of hundreds of fans and the

rock radio station Tangra which, sadly, is
now defunct. Friday nights between 2000
and 2002 were booked months in advance
bands lined up to jam on the Vlaikova
stage. During these hesher-heavy years,
between 300 and 350 rock shows took place
there. Counting the last decade, the range of
cultural events held at Vlaikova is probably
comparable to that of the National Palace of
Culture. Just some of the more memorable
bands who have played Vlaikova are: Water
Spirit, Sulphur Girl, KPD-O, Headstall,
Dead Poets, Damage, Bash Rock Band,
Barabi Blues Band, Kindergarten, Analgin
and many more. All these concerts are
documented in files containing hand-made
posters, kept with great care and catalogued
according to years and months.
In recent years, Vlaikova has hosted more
new school events: modern dance and
theater, arthouse cinema, art shows and all
kinds of vocal, instrumental and audiovisual experiments. The spaces literary
tradition has also been rekindled: literati
of all stripes have started regular readings
of their latest works or literary classics.
These events, playfully called Reading
Jams, have introduced a popular new
format: live reading of literary texts plus
video, cinema and experimental music. The
events organized by Dauhaus Studio also
deserve special notice. They have graced the
Vlaikova stage with names like SONDA,
Luca Massolin, Molly Nilsson, Homofaber,
Ambient Anarchist, mytrip, Sposob, The
Piponesand many others.
Until recently, only the small bar in
the cinemas foyer clashed with the

115

116

, , , / Ivo, Vasilena, Todor, Ivan and Ivan

, , , / Todor, Ivan, Ivo, Ivan and Vasilena

117

 ,
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,
, .
,
. SONDA,
Luca Massolin, Molly Nilsson, Homofaber,
Ambient Anarchist mytrip, Sposob, The
Pipones .
118

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. MIR Help me Jones,
88 (
Mellow Festival
. 146).

.
!

places atmosphere. Frequented by the

neighborhood drunks, the dive was a sort
of alcohol-fuelled pit stop between the
streets traditional meeting-place, Tsarevets,
and Public School No. 12. But a small
revolution is imminent there as well, since
the place has been taken over by a group
of young enthusiasts. Ivan Marinov,
Todor Makashelov, Ivan Paskalev, Vasilena
Georgieva, Ivo Tsachev and Milen Manev
have decided to preserve the unspoiled
comforts of the socialist-era interior: the
pink-gray-and-white mosaic flooring, the
obligatory heavy panel-work and abundant
stucco ornaments. The foyer overlooking
the street will be used both as a bar and an
exposition space housing carefully selected
shows. The five young people describe

themselves as supporters of unpretentious,

unaffected, unperfect, unprofessional
un-art. We look forward to seeing what
un-art means when Club Vlaikova opens
in May. Whats more, the new club will host
a concert by the Swiss band MIR, as well as
the debut live show of the band Help Me
Jones (featured in Issue 88 of One Magazine;
you can also catch them at the upcoming
Mellow Festival). Last but not least, film
screenings in the authentic socialist-era
atmosphere are not to be missed. Vlaikova is
a place to watch.

119

Uncle Mitko


goEast , ,
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120

goEast

You most likely have no idea that the Central and Eastern European Film
Festival goEast in Wiesbaden exists, but the festival knows a lot about you.
Last year Bulgarian entries such as Zift by Javor Gardev, The World Is
Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner by Stefan Komandarev and
The Mediator by Dragomir Sholev scooped up awards. The fact that every
spring for the past decade a small town in southeastern Germany has been
turning its attention to countries beyond the erstwhile Iron Curtain seems
a bit strange at first glance. Stranger still, another Eastern European film
festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year in Cottbus a city in
the former German Democratic Republic. However, there is a reasonable
explanation for the Wiesbaden affair.

121

film.

text by Yoana Pavlova translation by Biliana Deskova photography archive

122

1999
.
2000
Media Plus,

.

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In 1999 the euro became the single

European currency. In the year 2000,
the Media Plus program was launched to
support international film co-productions
in Europe. By that time, Germany was
already crowded with students and guest
workers from the former socialist countries.
Yet despite the physical destruction of the
Berlin Wall, the space beyond its invisible
border was still terra incognita to the average
burgher. The German Film Institute in
Frankfurt decided there should be at least
one more festival like Cottbus, which should
not only promote film productions from
Central and Eastern Europe, but should also
focus on various student programs and host
theoretical film symposia for specialists.
Wiesbaden beat out Frankfurt for the honor
of hosting, and the first festival was held
there in 2001 with the Russian film director
Kira Muratova as a special guest.
Although a small town, Wiesbaden is quite
wealthy, with a go-getter city government.
The local baths and casinos have been
attracting visitors from all over Europe
for the last couple centuries. Dostoyevsky
spent a fortune there while writing his
novel The Gambler. There are more beauty
salons per capita than you can imagine
as well as good-looking couples in their
mid-sixties driving luxury Mercedes and
Audis. Wiesbaden is home to immigrants
from all over the world, with particularly
influential Russian and Polish lobbies.
American military bases are located nearby,
so everyone speaks fluent English, while
people play Texas hold em all night in
the local sports bars. The citys most
famous attraction is a stout duck which

waddles around the central square and

which everyone wants to snap a picture of
(the local authorities will probably hide it
somewhere before the next festival if Mission
London finds its way to German cinemas).
Although the goEast festival is organized in
western Germany, the atmosphere is purely
eastern that is, friendly and somewhat
scatterbrained. The films are shown in
several movie theaters, the largest being the
Caligari FilmBhne. This hall impressed
me not only with its gilded ceiling, which
reminded me of Gustav Klimt, but also
with the discrete bars in front of each row
of seats, so viewers can enjoy a beer or
coffee with their film. The beginning of
each showing is announced by a longhaired, middle-aged German who strikes a
small gong with a most serious, Teutonic
expression. The festival headquarters is
located nearby in Villa Clementine, which
was built at the end of the nineteenth
century and which was proclaimed a
cultural heritage site by UNESCO. Recently
the building was renovated for 2.9 million
euro, so the crazy late-night parties that were
once part of the festival are no longer held
there. Instead, three directors (one from
the documentary category and two from
the feature film category) whose films were
shown at Caligari during the day introduce
themselves to the public there at 10 oclock
each evening.
Apart from journalists and film
professionals, there are plenty of hoi polloi
at such meetings. Half of them are middleaged people dressed up for a classical music
concert and holding a glass of champagne
or a piece of cake. The other half are young

123

124

How I ended this summer

125

Days of desire

126

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people who are not embarrassed to raise

their hands and ask the film directors
questions like: I think your film was
very nice, but I didnt quite understand
the scene when... On the final evening,
Nikolay Khomeriki, the director of Tale
in the Darkness, injected a healthy dose of
constructive chaos when he announced
that there was nothing more boring than
discussing the making of a film and that he
had become a director because he was still
searching for his purpose in life, ultimately
excusing himself with the fact that he was
slightly tipsy.
Every year the goEast festival program
includes six documentary and ten feature
films selected from among the latest hits at
the film festivals in Karlovy Vary, Sarajevo
and Warsaw.
The most prestigious award for feature
films, which comes with a prize of 10,000
euro, is called the Golden Lily and is given
by Skoda. The festival in Wiesbaden also
shells out 7,500 euro for best director.
Documentary films compete for another
10,000 euro prize called Memories and
Future. Just to compare, the total value of
the awards given out by the Sofia Film Fest
(not counting the Jameson award) is below
10,000 euro. Furthermore, as part of the
festival, the Robert Bosch Foundation also
offers an opportunity for co-production
to a script in development. This year the
symposium section included a panorama
of comedy films released before and after
1989, with the topic of the discussion being:
Liberating Laughter Humor in Socialist
Cinema. The parallel programs are various
enough to satisfy even the snobbiest taste.
For me, it was an amazing experience to

watch Otar Iosselianis films, which had

once been banned, being presented by the
director himself. Another highlight included
Polands ten best animated films from the
past 50 years. Among the special features
marking the festivals tenth anniversary was
the Russian omnibus film Short Circuit,
directed by some of Wiesbadens longtime
darlings, as well as a special interview with
former festival winners who discussed the
development of their careers after their
participation in the goEast festival.
Cinema from Central and Eastern Europe
has never been easy to watch, especially
during the last 20 years. This year the
program featured Georgian drug addicts,
Croatian nationalists, Russian policemen,
Romanian war veterans and Polish children
who voluntarily became prostitutes at
the Polish-German border. When I met
the festival art director, Svetlana Sikora,
I asked her how they select films for the
festival whether they cater to local taste
or try to please the cinema critics. She
said that while they consider the artistic
qualities of a project first, they cant afford
to make the program too experimental.
Their rule-of-thumb is to select original films
with distinctive messages, keeping the truly
avant-garde for the parallel sections. At the
same time, she is convinced that the goEast
festival is at the root of Eastern European
cinemas recent success at film festivals in
Berlin, Cannes and Venice. Other festivals
such as those in Mannheim and Munich
have also been attracting ever more directors
from the former socialist countries.
Nadia Rademacher, the director of the

127

128

Street days

129

Tale in the dark

130

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,
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,

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1989
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goEast festival, joked that they had managed

to teach their visitors from Wiesbaden,
Frankfurt and Mainz to take a few days off
to watch the screenings. She also described
how her affection for Eastern European
culture was sparked by a life-changing solo
trip to Prague when she was only 18 years
old. I, in turn, confided how impressed I
was by the non-conventional reception of
Eastern European films at the Wiesbaden
festival compared to that of other Eastern
European film festivals. She agreed, recalling
how in Kluj the audience was roaring with
laughter during Police, Adjective by Corneliu
Porumboiu, while she was trying to get her
head around the directors philosophical
message.
Nevertheless, Nadia admitted that she was
very pleased that Eastern European films
had finally made it to the Oscar shortlist
for best foreign film, which until now had

been reserved for productions from France,

Italy and Spain. This means that the goEast
festival has to work even harder to keep up
with growing expectations all the more
reason for festival organizers to be proud
and happy.
The Wiesbaden festival is perhaps the most
positive film forum I have ever been to
the visitors from Western Europe leave the
cinema hall with a sense of relief that their
everyday life is far more convenient and
organized than what theyve just witnessed
onscreen, while we return to the east and
the dramatic disorder that makes our lives
anything but dull!

131

132

:
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, .
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, . O .
.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Deal Or
No Deal
Lavandula Street in Sofia is home to the Gypsy flea market: a miniature
world deviously snaking along a quarter-mile. Gypsies squat on the
ground, hawking their wares on old newspapers and dirty bed sheets.
Old cars are parked along the street, their open trunks bursting with
ancient stuff. Gypsy music is everywhere, pouring out of old cassette-players
and gramophones. Your first impulse is to plug your nose.
This is another universe, cheap and gaudy. You are out of your element.
An alien.

shoppiing. music. film. design. media. party. automobiles. art. food. antiques. gadgets. cosmetics. fashion. photography.

text by Raiko Baichev translation by Bogdan Rusev photography by Mihail Novakov

133

134

135

136

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Unless you have a guide, like I do. His name

is Simo. Simo has a flourishing sex-shop
business, but he often comes here, too.
He buys old stuff and sells it on internet
auctions, at a mark-up of around 1500%.
He is very good. He talks level with the
Gypsies, as if he grew up in a ghetto and
spent his life riding a horse-cart. Except that
he has two university degrees economics
and business administration and, as far as I
can tell, lots of money. Everything I learn, I
learn following him like a shadow. I listen as
he talks to the Gypsies, browsing the goods,
spewing jokes, blending in perfectly thanks
to a horrid Big Brother baseball cap, faded
jeans and t-shirt and that rapid, down-tobusiness tone that Gypsies use to talk trade.
His story will run parallel to mine, so that
you get two different pictures: that of the
tradesman and that of the random passerby.
Simo: You have to go early on Saturday.
Shaving and cologne are a no-no, as well as
jewelry. You need to dress in old clothes and look
dirty. Carry small bills in your pocket nobody
there has change for a five, and if you whip out
a ten youll look suspicious.
Going up Lavandula St., up this Oriental
hill reeking of unwashed skin, garbage and
sweat, I experience sensory shock. The flea
market is inhabited by the worlds misery
a majestic, self-assured misery that you have
to see to believe, used as you are to your
cushy life, padded by modernity. There
is no new merchandise at the Gypsy flea
market all you can buy here are things.
Things found in garbage bins, stolen from
handbags and pockets, burgled from attics
and basements, from country houses and

junkyards.
One merchant, for example, is selling
toys, alarm clocks, cables, a grill, hotel-size
shampoo samples, a computer mouse, a
book and a pair of wellingtons. Another
offers a coffee pot, a Bulgarian folk
instrument with missing strings, a pocket
game console, one roller skate, computer
wires, moisturizer and some cameras.
There are even toilet seats on sale two
of them. The only thing all these things
have in common is the fact that they have
a history they were somebodys things.
Someone used them, broke them and threw
them away. At first, the misery is shocking
but then, if you have one sentimental string
left in your body, it starts quivering and
reminding you: damn, this Tetris game is
just like the one that I wanted in 92 the
one I cried so much for. And look at that
porn magazine from 98, damn thats
when puberty struck.
Apart from the barrage of memories, the
flea market has something else to offer:
sometimes really precious things are lurking
in the garbage, things with collectors value.
Gypsy sellers often frankly admit that they
have no idea what they are peddling. If you
have the right nose, you can buy something
for pennies and sell it for a hundred times
more on the internet or in some more
civilized place.
Simo: Specialize in a few categories otherwise
youll get lost in this ocean of stuff. You could
look for socialist paraphernalia, celebrity
memorabilia, ethnic goodies. For every piece of
junk on the internet, there is a small Chinese

137

138

139

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person with sweating palms who needs just this

one thing to complete his collection. The most
important thing is to know what you have and
how to describe it properly. If you dont know
what youre selling, you dont stand a chance.
Simos best internet sales so far include a
set of old diplomatic car plates ($280), a
Bulgarian magazine with Isabelle Adjani on
the cover ($60), and a retro-style shaving kit
with a new set of blades ($150). At the flea
market, his total investment for these three
items was 10 leva. Plus change.
Simo has a solid tactic. Since the musical
background at the flea market is always the
same the latest song by the gender-bending
pop-diva Azis, early 20th century folk
music or a classic by socialist-era singer Lili
Ivanova he approaches the goods dancing,
snapping his fingers and nonchalantly
squatting down next to the items on sale,
groping them on their old newspaper. His
favorite term of address is kako or older
sister. He asks lots questions, gathering
intelligence both on the items themselves
and the people selling them, gauging their
knowledge of their wares. He is so good that
he must have been a Gypsy in another life:
Youre so pretty, kako, how much for this?
Aint got no money, kako, aint got no cash,
is this your dog? If you give me both Ill
pay you half price (!). I cant give you more,
kako, I wont have any money left for the
bus ride home! Ill be late and the wife will
smack me!
The Gypsy salespeople are a good match for
him. You see things bordering on genius. I
notice an old socialist-era bicycle pimped
out with a wire shopping basket, the kind by

the cash register in the local supermarket.

The more I walk through the flea market,
the more I see that you can come here for
entertainment. I find things Ive seen only
in theaters, movies, museums. I fall in love
with a Soviet military overcoat a heavy,
gray, mighty piece of clothing with a darkred, five-pointed star on one sleeve and a
hammer and sickle on the other. It costs
eight leva.
At the same time, there are things that make
your hair stand on end. I look at an old
newspaper and, amidst all the trash, car
batteries, cards, vinyl records, from that
whole dirty heap, a packaged chicken leg
looks shyly back at me. The plastic on top
is bloated, the chicken leg is turning yellow
and bleeding in a couple of places its
obviously long gone. Is there any hope for
this chicken leg? I wonder. Nobody is that
hungry. I try to engage the Gypsy selling
it in conversation, but it doesnt go well.
I hope he isnt just crazy although that
chicken says a lot about ones worldview.
Meanwhile, Simo has a number of
purchases tucked under his arm. I wont tell
you what they are you can buy them on
the internet. The flea market starts packing
up: people come here as early as 6 a.m. and
by 2 p.m. the things start going back into
the sacks and car trunks. I am talking to a
beautiful and cruel Gypsy man. Hes been
drinking, his attitude oscillates between
hostile and friendly, his face changes so
quickly that it looks like he keeps swapping
two masks, one evil, one happy. At one
point he starts to insult me with such

141

142

143

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conviction that it almost makes me feel

good. On discovering that Im a journalist
(not easy to hide, what with my blackrimmed spectacles and all), he makes an
angry gesture. So youre a journalist. Well
fuck you for being a journalist. Youll write
anything for a couple of leva, you fuck.
I hate fucking journalists. And dont take
my picture. Ill fuck you up if you take my
picture. At least hes not faking it.
Thirty minutes later we are back in
downtown Sofia, armed with two
conclusions one Simos, one my own.
Lets finish this story the way we started it:
through the eyes of a tradesman and the
eyes of a random passerby.
Simo: That is the real market. There you are a
true salesman and a true customer. There are no
commercials, no 50% off, everything is trade in
its purest form. The people there have skills and
they can sense if you think youre superior; and
if they sense that, you wont get anything for
a good price. This place recharges my batteries
for my real business after all, the flea market

is not my only trade. Deals are made quickly,

prices are low, anything good is gone in seconds.
May the best man win.
The author: The win is the pure, unadulterated
pleasure of browsing through things you have
long forgotten. The flea market squirts a little
oil in the rusty gears in your head that stopped
turning after childhood. It completely repulses
you so that you dont forget the value of the
normal world you will return to. It is like a
bungee jump over a huge garbage bin, full of
valuable stuff. Jump off, reach out and you will
find.

145

146

.
Mellow Music Festival
,
.

Mellow
Music
Festival
147

Behind all the highbrow talk about such an event, there is always a rather
prosaic backstory. In this case, the Mellow Music Festival took shape after
an amazing evening in Bucharest, two days on the beach by Shablenska
Tuzla Lake and a drunken bet in a smoky bar.

music.

text by Ivaylo Spasov translation by Angela Rodel photography archive

148

,

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Moritz Von Oswald,
Stefan Goldmann, Jahcoozi, Robot Koch

These three events occurred last July

around an excellently organized event in
the Romanian capital with great sound
and a fucking cool atmosphere. There, we
got euphoric to the Romanian TRG, the
Berlin-based Moderatand, and Belgiums
Aeroplane. And once again we smacked
ourselves on the forehead, aghast at the
almost total lack of such events in Bulgaria.
For the nth time we hashed over the scene
at home, mulling its potential and underappreciation. While sitting on the porch of
magical bungalows listening to music, we
practically thought up the festival. Except
that between the thinking up and the final
Lets do it! there are almost always sober
arguments, which almost always win out
after several strong drinks and a crazy bet
in our case a naked sprint from the Apteka
to St. Nedlya Church at the time of day
or night of your choosing. The author will
report on the outcome of this bet shortly,
as everything was carefully documented on
a napkin. The important thing, however,
is that both parties to the bet come out
winners.
The idea
Why bother thinking it over too much,
when things have long since been thought
up? A festival is good when its well
organized, easy to reach, surprising and
enriching. What the Mellow Music Festival
is not is an event that underestimates the
audience, pollutes the environment and
quietly seeks consolation in local pseudostandards.
In short, heres how Mellow will look: three

days, two stages, 23 bands and DJs, more

than 30 hours of good, contemporary
music. Our idea is to bring together the
chemistry of spring and thirsty, curious
people in a single place. In any case, Sofia
kids prefer the parks to bars in late May,
when the city is more alive and beautiful
than ever. This is precisely what inspired
the free Mellow OPEN stage near the Lily
Pond in Borisov Garden. On the afternoons
of May 26, 27 and 28, it will be the perfect
embodiment of the festival idea a laid-back
atmosphere with easy access to the actual
music. The night stage will stockpile more
firepower in terms of names and decibels, as
most of the festivals leading artists will play
there at the Inter Expo Center between 11
p.m. and 4 a.m.
The program
149

How to come up with the program for a

festival like this is indeed a good question
it all comes down to taste and priorities.
Weve made no attempt to hide our affinity
for the Berlin scene as a huge source of
inspiration and a jumping-off point for the
festivals musical direction. In our opinion,
thats where the music industry, which has
hit rock bottom, just might find salvation
thanks to names like Moritz von Oswald,
Stefan Goldmann, Jahcoozi, Robot Koch
and so on. Overall, Mellows selection of
artists tries to illustrate some unwritten
musical rules from recent years strict genre
definitions died out some time in the 90s,
while the words musician, producer and
artist have fused together in the working
styles of performers on the Mellow Music

150

Moritz von Oswald Trio

151

Gonzales

152

..
Mellow
90-,
,

Mellow
Music Festival! ,
KiNK, 1000names, Auditory Ossicles. The
Bulgarian Help Me Jones
,
,
(,
).
, Mellow
, ,
,
.
, -: Mellow
- !

:
Moritz von Oswald Trio
Moritz von
Oswald (Basic Channel), Max Loderbauer
(Sun Electric, NSI) Vladislav Delay
(aka Luomo, Uusitalo).

90-
.
,

.

,
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Gonzales

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,

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Hyperdub (
Spaceape, King Midas Sound, Burial .).
,
/sonic

Festival roster. The festivals Bulgarian vein is

particularly important and absolutely in line
with our concept, including artists such as
KiNK, 1000names and Auditory Ossicles.
The Bulgarian project Help Me Jones show
the right attitude towards their own music
and have gotten the fitting props (alas,
primarily outside Bulgaria for now).
In other words, Mellows selection comes
from the contemporary scene and aims to
provoke, refresh and enrich everyone who
declines to stuff cotton balls in their ears.
As one of the participants in the abovementioned bet would say: Mellow will
finally put Sofia on the European musical
map! Heres a few words about the festival
headliners:

have no idea to hey, wasnt there that

weird rapper on the Berlin underground?
or a melancholy, virtuoso pianist who
is more a showman than musician but
who recently also won a Guinness World
Record (for the longest solo concert: 27
hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds). Actually,
the answer is quite simple. Gonzales is a
total genius whose musical wanderings
simultaneously confuse and exalt most
listeners to the extreme. He left his native
Canada in 1998 after an unsuccessful
run-in with a major label, which showed
him the dark side of the then-still-extant
music industry. His albums Gonzales Uber
Alles (2000), Solo Piano (2004) and Soft
Power (2008) definitively demonstrate that
this artist knows no bounds. At least not
musically.

Moritz von Oswald Trio

Kode 9
They are the legendary electronic musicians
Moritz von Oswald (Basic Channel),
Max Loderbauer (Sun Electric, NSI) and
Vladislav Delay (a.k.a. Luomo, Uusitalo).
All three were pioneers on the 1990s Berlin
scene and the culprits behind the discovery
of dub electronica. They now explore the
boundless opportunities of live performance
and improvisation. Von Oswald plays on
electric-acoustic equipment, Loderbauer on
analog synthesizers, while Vladislav Delay
has gone back to his drums. The result is a
truly rich palette of electronic beauty, which
words cannot describe.
Gonzales
If you ask Who is Gonzales?, be ready
to hear lots of different answers from I

Steve Goodman, better known as Kode9,

is one of those musicians who lend the
necessary meaning and quality to socalled dubstep. Besides being a producer,
Kode9 is the founder and owner of the
Hyperdub label (which has put out artists
like Spaceape, King Midas Sound, Burial
and others). Whens he plain old Steve
Goodman, he lectures on new media and
sound/sonic culture at the University of
East London.
WhoMadeWho
This is without a doubt one of the most
intriguing bands to crop up in recent
years. WhoMadeWho is made up of three
Danes Tomas Hoefding (bass/vocals),

153

154

Kode 9

155

WhoMadeWho

culture University of East London.

WhoMadeWho
- ,
. WhoMadeWho
Tomas
Hoefding (/), Jeppe Kjellberg (/) Tomas Barfod (),
,
.


,

.
Stefan Goldmann
156

Macro

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The Transitory State,
Le Sacre Du Printemps
Havent I Seen You Before,
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Jeppe Kjellberg (guitar/vocals) and Tomas

Barfod (drums). Their sound is inspired by
70s disco, 60s garage rock and 90s chaos.
And if the music from their three albums
and the accompanying video could be called
scandalous, when it comes to their live
performance, words are simply meaningless.
Stefan Goldmann
A Berlin-based producer and owner of
the label Macro, Stefan Goldmann keeps
showing us how to stand out in an era when
music suffers from a lack of originality.
Examples of this are the double album The
Transitory State, his unexpected variation
on Stravinskys Le Sacre du Printemps or his
latest work Havent I Seen You Before, which
came out on audio cassette. Macro has
likewise become a platform for musical
innovation, for example, releasing the
legendary album Catholic by Patrick Cowley
and Jorge Socarras, which had been lost for
almost 30 years. We feel obligated to warn
you that Mr. Goldmanns sets are always a
surprise, as ecstatic club-goers around the
world can attest to.
KiNK
Strahil KiNK Velchev is surely one of
the hottest new names in contemporary
electronic dance music due to his style,
on the one hand, which mixes old-school
techno and acid-house sound with a
tasteful, masterfully injected dose of
futurism, and on the other hand thanks
to his songs, remixes and collaborations
that have won the admiration of folks like
Laurent Garnier, Josh Wink, Steve Bug, Ken

Ishii, Terrence Dixon, Richie Haughton and

many others. Strahil already has a release
on Josh Winks label, Ovum, which surely
wont be a one-off. KiNK is one of the new
darlings of Europes favorite club Berlins
PanoramaBar, where hell record his second
performance in May 2010. Actually, KiNKs
live performances are quite rare, a fact that
turns his sets into a happening.
Details
The free Mellow OPEN stage will be next to
the Lily Pond in Borisov Garden. Mellow
NIGHT will be at the Inter Expo Center.
Advance sale tickets cost 40 leva for three
days or 20 leva for one day, and 50 and
25 leva at the door. Tickets are available
through the Eventim network. Transport
will be arranged between the free and night
stages; more information will be available on
the ground and at mellowfestival.com.

157

158

Stefan Goldmann

159

KiNK

160

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More or Less
Sofia
Design
Week
161

More or less? That is the question this year.

The more it goes, the more it goes, Winnie the Pooh would answer,
thinking of honey. On the other hand, when it comes to socializing,
here is the bears opinion: It is more fun to talk with someone who doesnt
use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like What about
lunch?
But what is the answer if we ask that question in terms of design?

design.

text by Bistra Andreeva translation by Yoana Stancheva photography archive


, Sofia
Design Week
, :
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162

Sofia Design Week

4 11 2010,


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Under the inevitable influence of long,

difficult words such as financial crisis
and global changes, in the second edition
of Sofia Design Week we will ponder
the following short, but not exactly easy
questions:
More or less?Low-cost or longlasting?Practical or beautiful?Simple or
elaborate?Less or more?Of course, the more
we argue, the less likely we are to find a real
answer.
But still, what about getting together?
The second edition of Sofia Design Week
will take place from June 4 to June 11, 2010.
The main headquarters will once again
be situated in the lovely front yard of the
National Academy of Fine Arts. Lectures,
discussions, screenings, workshops and
parties will happen there daily. The More or
Less Sofia Design Week program includes
forums in the traditional sense, as well as
workshops and exhibitions.
The key exposition this year is called the
More or Less Exhibition. It gathers in a
convenient and sustainable manner the
works of six authors in one place, who more
or less, directly or indirectly, are connected
with design. They include people in
advertising, art, design and even a journalist.
The common theme is their sense of humor
and penchant for not taking themselves
too seriously. All of them approach design
in a comprehensible manner and are fully
invested in figuring out how much it costs,
literally and metaphorically.
More or Less Exhibition is a group
presentation organized by Vassil Iliev one
of the main curators of Sofia Design Week.

It will take place at the Sofia Art Gallery

from May 27 to June 20. Participants
include the KesselsKramer advertising
agency, journalist Andrew Losowsky, artists
and designers Thomas Mailaender, Daniel
Eatock, Francois Nouguies, and Helmut
Smits.
KesselsKramer
advertising agency,The Netherlands
They will make a so-called active exhibition:
during the forum on June 6, Erik Kessels
will present Jennifer Skupins concept Do
Plastic Bag, a subtle act of protest against
the use of non-degradable plastic bags by
not trashing some of them and transforming
them into something worth keeping with the
help of imaginative design. This will be the
purpose of the KesselsKramer workshop on
June 7 at the Sofia Art Gallery. The results of
the workshop will be directly transfered to
the exhibition hall.
Daniel Eatock
designer and artist, U.K.
Daniel Eatock lives between London, Sao
Paulo and Venice. He is mostly a graphic
designer, but a much of his work counts as
art (like his series of car alarm dance videos).
He takes photographs of coincidental
moments when the idea and the humor
matter more than glitzy aesthetics. Daniel
will participate in the exhibition with a
collection of alternative renditions of the
classic No Smoking sign. All signs can be
downloaded from his website and used free
of charge. His collection remains open to

163

164

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additions.
Helmut Smits
multidisciplinary visual artist, the Netherlands
He works in the field of product design,
as well as with sculptures and installations.
His registered trademark is his unique sense
of humor, which is apparent in each of his
creations. Among the examples (which can
be seen at the exhibition) are an artificial
flower that acts like a real one and sheds
its leaves, a shirt whose stripes are perfectly
drawn with a ballpoint pen, and a great
video in which Helmut starts a fire only
with objects found in IKEA.

Francois Nouguies
artist, France
Francois is a classic example of a
multidisciplinary artist. He teaches film and
video classes in France and spends a large
chunk of his time in Bulgaria, too. In the
More or Less Exhibition Francois participates
withMirror, Mirror on the Lap a series
of portable ceramic computers with mirror
screens.
More or Less Exhibition is at the Sofia City
Gallery of Fine Arts from
May 27 to June 20.

Thomas Mailaender
artist, France
First, Thomas makes terribly funny things.
Second, he is a French multimedia artist
who is very much into sculptures and
installations these days. His favorite thing
is to document humanitys grotesque
moments, which also contain something
grandiose. One of his works for the
exhibition consists of staging every possible
tourist pose in front of an erupting volcano.
Another work unfolds his vision for
financial welfare.

165

166

KesselsKramer
Do a Plastic Bag
by Jennifer Skupin

167

Daniel Eatock
One Trestle Table

168

Daniel Eatock
Display Book Shelf

169

Daniel Eatock
Fall and Rise

170

Helmut Smits
Tree in Front of Billboard

171

Helmut Smits
Slavelamp

172

Thomas Mailaender
Wall Butt

173

Thomas Mailaender
Sad Stone

174

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. . . . ,

From
Vitoshka to
Vitosha in
Ten Minutes
For many years NDK was to Sofia what Olympia Hall is to Paris. As
the nerve center of socialist culture, it hosted party congresses and plenums,
folklore showcases, monumental sots-pop concerts, the Melody of the Year
competition and the Banner of Peace Childrens Ensemble.
Then socialism ended and the marble foyer of the architectural mastodon
was taken over by trade fairs for construction materials, leather jackets,
PVC window casings, garden gnomes... and by Veselin Marinov, the
Bulgarian equivalent of Barry Manilow.
The debate about whether to privatize the National Palace of Culture has
been going on for 20 years. We have a suggestion.
Sofia might not have a river, but it has a mountain. And weve still got a
chance to host the Winter Olympics at some point...

175

construction. design. architecture. art. tourism.

a project of One Magazine

176

...

177

... with the gondola

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

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Life
at the Top

185

Imagine the first thing you see out the window when you wake up in the
morning being snow-capped mountain peaks. You want to wash your face
and brush your teeth but the tap water is frozen. You work at home, but
to get home you climb up 1,500 m without a lift. There are frequent power
cuts and for days on end your only company is the wind. Except that to
you it is not simply the wind, but also moderate, northwesterly, gusty or
turbulent. And you have to wake up every three hours to measure its speed
and direction.

tourism. meteorology.

text by Vessela Yagodova translation by Boris Deliradev photography by Vessela Yagodova and archive

186

Rila Mountain

187

Stara Planina Mountain

188

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This is a story about the people who live

at the top, quite literally. The people who
are 2,000 m above sea level not as hikers or
skiers, but as weather observers. So what is
life on a mountain top like?
In Bulgaria there are four meteorological
observatories. Three of them are on three of
Bulgarias highest peaks: Mussala in Rila,
Botev in the Balkan Range and Cherni
Vruh in Vitosha. The fourth crowns
Murgash Peak in the Western Balkan
Range. Each observatory is equipped with
an anemometer, rain gauge, solarimeter,
and barometer, as well as other gadgets to
collect data for weather forecasts the same
weather forecasts you check before going
snowboarding or to the beach. And, of
course, you need someone to take those
measurements.
Until the 1930s, the highest mountain
peaks in Bulgaria were pristine: they
were heaps of rock or patches of barren
land whose only visitors were the wind
and clouds until the day physicist and
meteorologist Kiro Kirov realized the need
for high-altitude climate observations. At the
time, nothing in Bulgaria happened without
the blessing of His Majesty the King, so
engineer Kirov recruited Boris III to his
cause by pointing out its importance for the
Bulgarian population. Keeping abreast of
European scientific trends mattered at the
time, you see. All the more so in the case of
meteorology, since the highest peak in the
Balkans (Mussala) was in Bulgaria.
On 2 October 1932, an exceptionally

bright and sunny day, the Mussala

Meteorological Observatory was unveiled
and consecrated by three Orthodox priests
in the presence of many tourists and friends
and senior representatives of His Majesty
the King, and with the participation of
the Samokov choir. So wrote Dr. Petyo
Simeonov from the National Institute
of Meteorology and Hydrology at the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in a report
for the observatorys 70th anniversary. It was
quite an event. Three years later a similar
observatory was built on Cherni Vruh,
and in 1942 a third one went up on Botev,
bringing the peaks to life they now had
inhabitants.
It wasnt an easy life. The trip to work for
Bulgarias meteorological pioneers was full of
danger and difficulty: you could get lost or
frostbitten, or die in an avalanche. There was
no electricity on the peaks until the 1950s,
which meant that there were no lights to
guide climbers. Provisions were carried on
mules and sledges or quite often on your
back. Just to give you an idea from personal
experience: today hiking to Botev from
Panitsite and Paradzhika (above Kalofer)
during the winter can take up to nine hours,
while the journey without a lift to Mussala
(through Borovets) is seven hours.
Today weather observers work on strictly
regulated shifts. They get to the top and
come back to town on a schedule. For most
of the trip they can rely on some kind of
transport: on Botev they use a ratrak in the
winter and a jeep in the summer, and on
Mussala, the Yastrabets lift works year-

189

190

191

Rila Mountain

192

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round. If somebody wants to hike all the

way up for the sake of fitness, hes more
than welcome to. You can also fly like
Mitaka, who gets back home by hangglider. Also known as Dimitar Ralev, he is
a national champion in target landing who
trained on Murgash, has spent some time
on Mussala and now works on Botev (for
the last 14 years). Now 46, he uses every free
minute to fly on his red-and-white snow
kite, having fun with the wind currents.
Flying and meteorology have something
in common. Every pilot has to know some
meteorology because safe flying means you
have to know the weather well. Mitaka is
a goldmine on the nuts and bolts of this
unusual profession. Another is 71-year-old
Vladislav Yordanov, a veteran observer, who
was head of the Mussala Observatory for
many years. At the Institute (the National
Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology)
everyone knows him and calls him by first
name. He is now retired but on the day
we met he had been called back to replace
someone in the observatory on Botev.
Although it is now 2010, life on a mountain
peak is far from carefree. Until the 80s,
all the facilities on Mussala (the weather
observatory, astronomical observatory and
military base) were powered by a 3-km oil
cable connecting the peak with the Beli
Iskur River Valley. At some point the cable
aged beyond repair and became unusable.
Then the space observatory caught fire and
burned down. A little later the military
closed the base and took away the powerful
20-V generators and we were left to our
own devices. They would bring us wood
and other provisions by helicopter, Vlado

recalls. The cable and the astronomical

observatory were restored years later.
Fresh water is also a problem, despite
efforts made in the past. The only fresh
water supply on Mussala is Ice Lake 300
m below. Water from there is pumped up
to the peak through a system of pipes and
valves and is stored in cans. Throughout
most of the year, however, the lake is frozen
(whence the name), which is why during
the colder months the valve that lets the
water up the system has to be operated
manually. That means a walk down to the
lake and back to the peak at -20C, with
the winds sometimes blowing at 150 km/h,
not the most pleasant of experiences. So
the unwritten law is that water is used very
sparingly observers sometimes even refuse
to fill bottles for hikers who reach the peak.
193

Despite all these difficulties, the freedom and

space of life at the peaks is unparalleled it
irresistibly lures observers. They generally
refrain from complaining about the
conditions, or the pathetic pay, which
is slightly above the minimum wage. By
comparison, in the 1970s they earned two
and a half times the minimum wage and
Vlado had to wait seven years before he was
sent to Mussala. Are you sure? they asked
before he was assigned. What about your
family? But Vlado was resolute.
Today the applicants for this unconventional
position are not as numerous and
motivated, and there is a lot of turnover.
Which is bad, because some of the people
are not qualified enough. Clouds are the
most difficult to observe. Its one thing

194

195

Stara Planina Mountain

196

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to observe them from here, and quite

another to observe them from Mussala
or Botev. Each peak is different, Vlado
explains. All the measurements in the
high-altitude observatories (as well as in all
other meteorological stations) are made in
compliance with the recommendations of
the World Meteorological Organization
which means eight times a day, using
Greenwich Mean Time. The idea is for the
measurements to be comparable across
the world. The data is coded and sent via
telegraph to the telecommunications center
at the National Institute for Meteorology
and Hydrology, which distributes it to all
the countries in the region (Bulgaria is a
regional center for Southeast Europe). In
short, the observer has to wake up every
three hours.
People in the city think were nuts,
Mitaka Ralev adds. But he cannot imagine
abandoning the freedom, silence and
beauty of the mountain for life in the city.

After all, the first thing he sees through his

window when he wakes up is not streets,
cars, parking lots and people, but an endless,
fixed and eternal sea of peaks. The world
is at his feet. The only thing he absolutely
has to do when he wakes up is take the
measurements. And fly. Literally and
metaphorically.

197

198

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19 .

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Directors
Cut

199

Ida Daniel is a poet, philologist and advertising copywriter, but here she
is above all a theater director and co-founder of the Association of Free
Theatre. Being an artist is in her genes her grandfather was the respected
theater director Leon Daniel, her father is the famous painter Andrei
Daniel and the man next to her is Todor Stoianov of experimental electroacoustic band Ambient Anarchist. She first became a press favorite at the
age of 19, when she published her first collection of poems.

theater. art. cultural policies.

text by Bistra Andreeva translation by Bogdan Rusev photography by Mihail Novakov

200

201

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Now Ida is 33 and is still dream material for

culture columns young, active, talented,
different, with a new and successful play on
stage. She has a powerful and inexplicably
magical vibe about her. And she uses the
phrase practicing theatre as if this is an
inviolable constitutional right. Something
is happening now, she says of Bulgarian
directors and actors who want to make free
theater. Ida is one of them.
My first meeting with her is right before
the start of Dead Dagmar or the Little
Match Girl a fresh, clever play based on a
story by the psycho Zen samurai Svetozar
Ghostdog Georgiev. The play is set on the
night-shift in Purgatory, where an angel and
a demon squabble over how to divvy up the
dead souls after a large fire in Copenhagen.
Andersen must be spinning in his grave
his little match girl turns out to be more
than meets the eye.
This is Idas first independent project in
three years. She had to apply for funding
twice. The second time she needed a letter
from a theater confirming its agreement
to host the play. She approached the
experimental theater Sfumato: I was so
nervous I almost died. I was sure they
would reject me after all, Im not their
student and theyve never seen anything Ive
directed. But they gave me the letter even
though nobody knew how it would turn
out.
Two hours before curtain, the five young
men in the cast are chattering, warming
up, bursting into song, cracking jokes
and Ida is obviously on edge. She calls an
improvised cast meeting: Dont forget to
fill out your paperwork for the Association

for Free Theater! Mitko is confused: Me,

too? Im not a free actor. You are if youre
acting in a free project, Ida retorts. He
seems impressed: Wow, so Im already
partially free.
The final rehearsal begins. Ida is suddenly
all business the classic stern theater
director. Just before the start, my access
to the dressing room is tactfully cut off.
The theater fills up all sixty seats are sold
out and additional chairs are packed in.
Im thinking: lets hope this doesnt turn
out to be another Butterflies Are Actually
Warplanes Irina Dochevas play which
won the prestigious Icarus theatre award
and then fell off the grid, as nobody could
watch it anywhere. Dagmar has a contract
for ten nights what happens after that is
anybodys guess. Meanwhile, Ida nervously
clutches her phone and wonders what to
do about everyone calling her to get them
in gratis: Theyre on their own. This show
has to pay for itself. She disappears into the
dressing room.
Seconds later, I hear five male voices
chanting in unison:
One for all
And all for one!
And if they dont like us
They can go screw themselves!
a night in the national palace of culture

The next time we meet, the setting is quite

different the premiere of the second
edition of A Journey in Theater, written by
Idas grandfather, the director Leon Daniel,
who passed two years ago.
In Hall 7 at the National Palace of Culture,
actor/professor/ex-Culture Minister Stefan

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Danailov holds the floor, standing in front

of a mural of Bulgarias historical types and
archetypes. Bulgarian National Television
is busy filming wide shots, close-ups and
interviews out in the foyer. The spirit of the
socialist era is alive and kicking.
Ida sneaks in thirty minutes late her son
Roi had a fever, plus she had to pop by the
advertising agency Noble Graphics, where
she works half-days. She sits next to her
father. Both are visibly moved when classic
Bulgarian actors Itzhak Fintzi, Meglena
Karalambova and Georgietta Chakarova
sing famous songs from Leon Daniels plays
with obvious gusto, accompanied by piano.
Long after the show is over, people come up
to them to share congratulations, hugs or
reminiscences.
I cant help but ask: How do you feel being
caught between the older generation and
your own progressive interests? What do
these people think of your work?
Lets be clear on this these are very
modern people, my grandfather, Itzhak
Fintzi, Meglena, Kiril Donchev. Even if
they dont like the form, theyre always able
to understand the content. The questions I
ask can be shared between any two human
beings. Plus, Ive always gotten so much
energy and meaning from these people
generational differences dont matter in
this kind of contact. He said: Im your
grandfather and I cant understand the
music you like or why youre dressed that
way, but I like you and youre an interesting
person to talk to. My father sometimes
argues with me, but he is also sincerely
interested in my work which is something
otherwise lacking. We dont have critics who
are genuinely interested and not ashamed to

show it.
an association meeting

The Association of Free Theater (ACT),

which she co-founded, is one of Idas main
projects. ACTs mission is to bring together
theater groups and individuals who make
free/independent theater i.e., theater that is
more exploratory than commercial. Ida and
company believe that a good independent
scene guarantees a good state-funded one.
On 29 April 2009, they sent posters to all
Bulgarian theaters with the slogan: April
29 a day for solidarity between different
generations in theater. This was their
first statement as the ACT and it said:
Peace! We want to be here, too! ACT
artists do not share artistic or aesthetic
criteria. Instead, their goal is establish the
principle of free grouping in theater, which
includes: stages for everyone (as in France),
a percentage of the state budget for theater
(as in Hungary) and tax breaks (as in
Germany). They have done their homework.
The meeting I attend is ultra-quick and
constructive people split into separate
working teams dealing with media, theaters,
the Ministry of Culture, etc. They hope that
in ten years time their work will be done
and theyll go their separate ways.
a night for free theatre

The only theater that regularly hosts projects

created outside state and regional theaters
is Sofias Youth Theater. Free theater nights
are held there every week. I go to a night
dedicated to the playwright Daniil Kharms,
arriving in the middle of a radio-play. The

207

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210

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little Actors Club has a stage at one end

and a bar at the other. Its completely dark
inside, the only light seeps in through the
windows from the street lamps outside. It
is quiet, everyone is sitting and listening,
smoking or drinking beer. My eyes adjust
and I see a lot of young people, but not
only. Many of them are theater types, but
I even see one or two suits. Of course, we
find the usual ACT suspects the hardcoreindependent actors Ognian Golev and Irina
Docheva; Gergana Dimitrova, the main
monkey from the arts organization 36
Monkeys; and Veselin Dimov, director of
the multimedia performance Momo, among
others. Ida shows up a bit late, looking
mentally stuck at the office.
The evening continues with documentary
cinema, then the band Ambient Anarchist
takes the stage. Between songs people come
up and read excerpts from Daniil Kharms.
Ida reads, too. It feels cozy, like a big house
party. Nice scene, I venture. Very, Ida
says with conviction. Kudos to Veselin,
he came up with the idea for tonight.
She believes that the Youth Theater format
makes it clear that whats onstage has not
been created by the theater itself. Everyone
knows its a guest night and how it was
done which is a huge achievement.
a night at her place

Our conversation continues one evening

at Ida and her husband Todors colorful
apartment. We discuss the clich that if
youre not a part of an official theater
troupe, youre not considered a true
professional. We also discuss the painful
lack of cultural managers to write and

implement projects. And the weird, unequal

relationship between independent projects
and the state-funded stages that host them.
And the disdain of theater management,
which often results in box-office sabotage,
as independent projects are not properly
advertised. And the fact that despite all the
effort, time and desire, an independent show
is played once, twice or three times and then
disappears, even if it is a hit.
Does the problem lie within the system
or the older generation in the institutions?
Both, she replies confidently. One
couldnt exist without the other. I dont
have a problem with age, but with lack of
motivation. And the worst part is that right
now nobody knows what will happen to
state-funded theaters or what our theater
system is going to be at all.
If it were up to you, what would the ideal
system look like? I count on my fingers:
one, there should be programs to apply
for financing; two, you should be able to
choose any actor; three, the audience should
have some minimum aesthetic education.
Ida nods. Thats not asking too much, I say.
No, its not, she replies.

211

212

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Sannah Kvist
The young Swede claims to be a typical 80s child: a superficial shopaholic.
Not surprisingly, these character traits come across in her photographic
project All I Own, which stars Sannah, her friends and all their worldly
belongings. On her website, the photographer introduces herself like this:
Me: freelance photographer, based in Gothenburg and Stockholm, but I
do own a passport. Im available for assignments of various kinds, e.g. I
can pet your dog or photograph the next cover of your fancy magazine.
Despite the fact that Sannah has already been working professionally
as a photographer for three years, she has only recently started studying
photography with the aim of fleshing out her practical knowledge with
theory. She got into photography completely accidentally after receiving
her first digital camera for Christmas. Since then she has been constantly
documenting her everyday life on her photoblog and working for
magazines such as Acne, Pig Mag and Neon Magazine. Over time, her
photos have developed a stronger personal trademark, which can be clearly
seen in her first independent project All I wn, which drew our attention
to the 24-year-old Sannah on flickr.

213

art. photography.

text by Boiana Gyaurova translation by Angela Rodel photography by Sannah Kvist

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How did you come up with the idea for a

project like All I Own?
I had just started getting rid of a lot of
what I owned because I felt ashamed at
having collected so much junk.I also
had a long history of moving around to
differentapartmentsin Stockholm and it
was really hard work transporting all my shit
around town.I wanted to keep only what
I thought was most important: my bed,
computer, cameras and clothes. My room
was really Spartan...I was bored one night at
home, so I thought I could make a nice pile
of what was left. When I started building the
pile it got a lot bigger than I had expected.
What made you decide to photograph
your friends? What are their stories?
Im very interested in the way people
consume to show their real selves. They
build their personality around the stuff
they buy. So I started investigating how my
friends and friend of friends would build
their own piles, what they would want to
represent them in the photograph.
What was the most interesting
experience during shooting?
Some of the participants were more extreme
in their preparations for the portrait, they
worked on the pile for hours. Obviously
they were really nervous about what viewers
would think of them. They moved small
things around and were never satisfied with
the result. I didnt want tointerferewith
thebuilding, I wanted them to make the pile
all by themselves. I think they imagined the
photo like some kind of personal ad.

Why are these pictures a good

representation of your generations way
of life?
This is me. I know I have this problem with
buying stuff non-stop. This project is a
good start, at least Ive recognized it. I sell
my stuff and end up buying new shit. Its a
vicious circle. I still havent found a way to
break out.
What is your favorite possession? What
is the one thing you cant live without?
Im looking around my room now, but
I dont know. I notice I have a lot of
decorative items, things without a real
purpose. Which is really funny, because I
have always looked down on stuff like that
and said I would never buy such stupid
crap. My computer is the one thing I cant
live without, even though it makes me
depressed...

215

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Sannah Kvist

217

Niki

218

Benjamin

219

Calle

220

Andrea

221

Eva

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Varna
Summer

223

This year, Varna Summer, Bulgarias largest international theater

festival, will take place for the 18th time between 31 May and 11 June.
Traditionally, its primary goal is to gather together and showcase the
best and most original productions in contemporary Bulgarian theater.
However, the most interesting part (and not only for diehard theater-goers)
is what the international program has to offer.

theater. dance. music. performing arts.

text by Asen Terziev translation by Ralitsa Karieva photography archive

224

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The Varna Summer Festival is,

unfortunately, one of the very few
opportunities to watch quality European
and international theater in Bulgaria.
Because theater is a living art involving
movement of people rather than
products, each stage production, even of
the smallest-scale performance, requires
complex and expensive logistics. Naturally,
this results in plays usually remaining
where they are originally produced. Yet
without the stimulus that interaction with
diverse audiences and cultures provides,
a production may remain static and
understandable solely within its local
context. This is also the reason why theater
constantly runs the risk of being outof-touch with contemporary life, where
cultural differences are often more a matter
of mindset than geography. Imagine a
music or movie lover who only had access
to Bulgarian music or movies. Dire straits,
indeed! Well, this is the fate of most theater
lovers in Bulgaria all year round unless, of
course, they can afford frequent travel and
expensive theater tickets abroad.
Fortunately, the Varna Summer Festivals
growing popularity over the years has
allowed it to import theater events of an
ever-increasing quality. This year, for the first
time, as many as four performances will be
given not only in Varna but in Sofia, too,
thanks to the City of Sofias support. These
shows will not simply be random entries
from a list of world-renowned playwrights,
but will be very different from the theater
one would normally see on domestic stages.
The focus is on alternative modern theater
productions, which tend to provoke and
inspire and to offer completely new

experiences.

Romeo Castelluccis visual theater: Hey,

Girl!
Often called Europes Robert Lepage and
dubbed by Variety as the most daring and
ingenious image creator in contemporary
theater, Italian-born Romeo Castellucci
has been one of the most influential figures
on the global stage since the 1990s. He is
definitely this years Big Name on the Varna
festival program.
Castellucci was awarded the Europe Theater
Prize New Theatrical Realities, as well as
the title Chevalier dans lordre des Arts et
des Lettres in France. Before committing
himself solely to theater, Castellucci was
an architect. The unique stage language
he creates is a spectacular hybrid between
theater, opera, music and visual effects made
possible by modern technology. Romeo
Castelluccis performances feel like dreams
full of imagery, charged with the energy of
body, matter, movement, flesh and sound.
Hey, Girl! is difficult to summarize. In
the words of its author, it is a study of
the female body and sensitivity; of the
metaphors they are pregnant with, such as
submission, violence, and slavery, which
women today still fall victim to The
central character is a girl who knows nothing
about herself. Rather, all she knows about
herself is that she can react to a random
call: Hey, girl! This anonymous girl is far
from being the icon of feminism; she is the
human race itself. She is just somebody
hidden deep in the archaeology of the
female shape.

225

226

227

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Hey, Girl! is showing on 1 June at the Varna

Dramatic Theater and on 4 June at Sofia
Theater

3 in 1 dance + theater + concert:

Grasping the Floor with the Back of My
Head by Mute Company and Black Peter
by Drift
In these two shows, contact with the
audience occurs somewhere outside
language. Communication takes place
musically through rhythm and vibration.
For this to work properly, one needs to tune
into the right frequency and become an
antenna. The kick is definitely worth it.
Grasping the Floor with the Back of My
Head was the opening performance at last
years showcase of Danish performing arts.
Described by its creators as something
between dance theater and a concert, this is
an elegant, comical, affecting and strongly
expressive commentary on the eternal topic:
Why has man, since the dawn of humanity,
acted in ways that always end up making
his life hell? The music, composed for the
production and performed live by Valravn,
combines the raw timbre of traditional
Scandinavian folk instruments with modern
electronic sounds.
The Swiss dance company Drift is making
its second visit to Varna and Sofia; however,
this years offering is entirely new. Black Peter
triggers fresh and funny associations with
the golden age of the early 20th century
avant-garde. In this concert-style theater,
music is performed by actors, computers,
strange machines and everyday objects that
seem to come alive.

Grasping the Floor with the Back of My

Head: 31 May, Sofia Theater; 2 June, Varna
Dramatic Theater
Black Peter: 2 & 3 June, The Red House; 6
June, Varna Dramatic Theater

Theater like cinema: Hotel Methuselah by

imitating the dog

As the Yorkshire Evening Post put it, Hotel

Methuselah by the innovative Leeds company
imitating the dog is unlike any other piece
of theater youre likely to have experienced
before. In the Old Testament, Methuselah
was the oldest man who ever lived. This
impressive theatrical combination of plot
a la David Lynch and vision a la Peter
Greenaway tells a modern ghost story that
explores our fears about mortality, sexuality
and the terrifying sense of responsibility
that comes with having children. The story
of the night porter Harry who is searching
to uncover the forgotten truth of his past
is, in fact, a tale of the destructive power of
love and the hell of personal disintegration.
This stylish performance uses cutting-edge
audio-visual technology fusing live action
and video projection to convey the emotion
and wit at its core.
Hotel Methuselah: 7 June, Varna Dramatic
Theater; 9 June, Sofia Theater

New theater: Looking for a Missing

Employee and Lucia Skates
These contemporary dramas will play only
in Varna.
Looking for a Missing Employee, also

229

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selected for the Avignon Festival and

Wienerfestwochen, is a well-known semidocumentary performance by the critically
acclaimed Lebanese actor Rabih Mroue.
The show re-enacts a real-life journalists
investigation into the dark intrigues
surrounding the disappearance of a tax
official in Lebanon.
Radu Afrim, one of the most popular and
talented young Romanian directors, brings
us Lucia Skates, an ingenuous interpretation
of a play by Laura Sintija Cerniauskaite,
who is in turn one of Lithuanias most

popular and talented authors. This is an

emotional, contemporary story about
maturing and discovering love.
Looking for a Missing Employee: 1 June, Varna
Puppet Theater
Lucia Skates: 5 June, Varna Dramatic Theater

233

234

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1929
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Water Tower
Art Fest

235

You may have heard of the Water Tower in Sofias Lozenets neighborhood,
especially in connection with various art events, including the Netherlands
product design exhibition that was part of last years Sofia Design Week.
During the past few years, this 1929 building of high architectural value
has emerged from oblivion, gradually becoming a much-sought-after art
space.

art. architecture. cultural policies.

text by Biliana Baleva translation by Ralitsa Karieva photography by Mihail Novakov

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The reason: Nia Pushkarova came back

from her visual art studies in the UK,
discovered the place and was shocked to
see this beautiful spot deserted and almost
in ruins. In some countries, she thought,
this would be considered an outrage. What
followed was a series of tortuous visits to
institutions, spiced up with fights against
bureaucracy and the administrations
infamous inertia. At last, triumph! With the
help of Lozenets mayor Proshko Proshkov,
the first independent visual arts festival took
place there in 2006 and brought the Tower
back to life.

debate/discussion will also be held during

the festival, involving local government
representatives, regular citizens, business
people and arts associations, who will
launch a dialogue about the management
and revival of closed and open city areas
through the arts. Similar practices of
civic participation and public-private
management of public buildings have
existed across Europe and the globe for a
long time. What more meaningful way to
utilize buildings thus deserted or designated
as monuments of culture and owned by
municipalities?

Already a tradition, this years Water Tower

Art Fest (organized by the IME association)
will take place for the fourth time between
25 and 30 June. The program features
two entirely new moments, one being the
participation of international artists who
have been invited to a residency of sorts.
The other is the fact that the festival will
take over and revive two more sites similar
to the Water Tower: the old bathhouse in
Bankias center and the crypt-like underbelly
of the Sofia Central Market Halls (Halite),
where part of the Sredets fortress wall
and its tower are still preserved. Although
their owners are known, both sites are not
functional and no clear plans exist for
their utilization. At the same time, they are
perfect for alternative exhibition/art spaces,
even in their current states.

As part of the discussions, Tere Bada

of Barcelona and Corina Bucea of Cluj,
Romania, have been invited to tell us
about two such European art centers.
They will be presenting their institutions
organization and operation models. Tere is
the technical director of Hangar, a center
for art production and research, set up in
Barcelona by the Association of Visual Arts
of Catalonia in 1997. The center provides
support for artists and designers and offers
services and facilities for various artistic
practices. It occupies refurbished industrial
premises with a total area of 1,800 sq.
m. and includes 15 individual studios, a
Medialab, two film sets, equipment rental
services, and technical and consultancy
services.

The festival organizers are interested in

the fates of such structures: Who looks
after them? Why like this? What can we
make of them? This is precisely why a

Corina will present Fabrica de Pensule

from Cluj an independent cultural center
and a collective space for production and
distribution of contemporary art. The
project was initiated by a group of artists,

237

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curators, cultural managers and producers

from Cluj, inspired by the idea that art can
greatly influence community development.
The center is located in a former paintbrush
factory, spread over an area of 2,000 sq.
m. and made up of 20 art spaces: artists
studios, galleries and offices for cultural
associations and organizations operating in
the fields of visual arts, contemporary dance
and theater.
Another guest at the discussion will be Pter
Inkei from the Hungary-based Regional
Observatory on Financing Culture in EastCentral Europe, which researches cultural
policies and financing. Professor Kenneth
Hay of the University of Leeds, UK, will
also speak for the academic community.
Culture critics/researchers Yuriy Valkovski
and Milena Deleva.

workshop for children on the theme

Water. In the dark space of the Towers
basement, curators Matt Hulse of the UK
and Marie Losier of France will be screening
shorts. These are but a few of the names
expected from Armenia, France, Sweden,
the UK, Croatia and Spain. Bulgarian video
artists have also been invited. The festival
will host an art market where artists will be
selling their own works jewelry, lamps,
accessories and more.
For those wishing to get to Bankia by bike,
a group ride will be organized on 26 June,
when music and performances will be going
on throughout the day. Other ways of
getting to Bankia include public transport
(bus No 42 from Obelya metro station),
a 20-minute train journey (from Central
Railway Station), minibus No 10, or by car.
239

Meanwhile, to make sure it is not just empty

theorizing, the festival will once again offer
proof of what kinds of things can happen at
Water-Tower-type sites through experimental
video installations, shorts screening, live
music performances and workshops. The
Nordic Kuten and Formverk (art zone) will
set up video installations. Austrian Klaus of
On the Road Productions is also coming
with his big bus mobile photo and video
lab. On site, he will be making a mural
and organizing an audio/video processing
workshop for professionals and anyone
interested. American Anika will present her
live circus performance, while Lindsay of
Product of Boy will lead a photography

240

Nia Pushkarova

241

SOLAR SUMMER
FESTIVAL 2010

SOLAR SUMMER FESTIVAL 2010

.

31-
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Richie Hawtin, Fatboy Slim, Sandy Rivera, Armin
Van Buuren, Mark Knight & Martijn Ten Velden
Victor Calderone.
Cacao Beach Bedroom Beach .

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London Dress
Code ,
Pam Hogg Tim Stones,
Beefeater. Pam Hogg
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Beefeater.
60, 70, 80, 90 .

243

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, , . - HTC Friend Stream


.



.

Replay

Converse

G-STAR

SALSA JEANS

- /
2010 Replay ,
, . ,
Replay
. .
Replay ,

. , .
,
.

Converse
All Star Slim.
, ,
.
Converse . Slim - All Star.
, ,
-
.
,
.
2010.

246

K - 2010 G-Star e
.
, , - Low-T
, .
-
G-Star .
RAW
Elegance.

/ 2010 Salsa Jeans

.
-
, .
, Salsa , 40-
.
.
, , .

MOROSO

Moroso: Bohemian, Fyord, Antibody,

Bloomy, Smock, Field Tropicalia
Patricia
Urqiola.

Alessi, B&B Italia, Boffi, Cappellini,
Cassina, Driade Floss.

Moroso. Moroso, Patricia Urqiola
,
- .
Sofia Design Week Expo

.
Ligne
Roset.
-
Ligne Roset Driade, ,
Philippe Starck, Fabio Novembre
Inga Sempe.

.
Sofia Design Week Expo

D&A Lab
D&A Lab . 2010
. D&A Labs
Designed by Artists
.
D&A Lab ,
, , .
,
- .
Sofia Design Week Expo

247

248

Volvo C30

. ,
Volvo C30 .
, .
( )
.
, , .
Oasis , ,
. Volvo , . Volvo C30 , . . e
- DRIVe 3,8 100 . -
. .
, , 100 % . ,
, .
, . - . , ?

249

250

251

252

253

254

Rouge Coco Chanel

, , , , , .
50 - , Chanel,
. , ,
? : .
. .
Rouge Coco , .
, -
. 20- , Chanel
, : , .

255

MAC
Cosmetics
: 1984
: ,
:

: , , ,
: , ,
: , , ,
, , , ,
: 200 ,
,
: , ,
.

: -
Make up Art Cosmetics (MAC)

256

Gucci by Gucci Sport pour Homme

: Gucci
: ,

: , ,
:
: , , ,

: , -
: ,
.
, ,

: LAbsolu Creme de Brillance

Lancome -

:

: Bronze Goddess Estee

Lauder
: ,
,

: Teint Idole Silky Mat Lancome

: ,
,
,

: Teint Radiance Yves Saint Laurent

: YSL
Ampli Light,

: Hypnose Precious Cells Lancome

: Lancome , ,
-

: Fleur de Frangipanier Givenchy ,

: 3 1
3 ,

257


: Hydramax + Active Nutrition Chanel
Precision

:
,
Chanel

: Aquasource Skin Perfection Biotherm

:
, Biotherm
5000

258

: Replenishing Body Cream Shiseido

: Shiseido

,

: Genific HD Lancome
-

: , , !

: Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector

Clinique ,

:

: Age Fitness Elastic Biotherm

+ -
:
, ,

: Genifique Repair sc* Lancome

,

: Lancome ,

,

: Re-Nutriv Sun Supreme SPF 30 for Face

Estee Lauder
:

259

: Sun Sport SPF 50 Extreme Conditions

anti-reflection cream Lancaster

: ,

UV

: Urban Environment UV Protection Cream

Plus SPF50 &Urban Environment UV Protection
Cream SPF30 Shiseido
: Shiseido
, -
UV ,


: Escale aux Marquises Dior
:
,
,

: Chance Eau Tendre Chanel

:
Chanel

260

: Amor Amor Delight Cacharel

: ,
.

: Eternity Summer CK
:

: DKNY Delicious Candy Apples

: DKNY,

: Hilfiger Woman Tommy Hilfiger

:

: John Galliano lEau de Toilette

: -

,

: Davidoff Cool Water Ice Fresh Limited

Edition 2010
:

( )

261

: Emporio Armani Diamonds Summer

:

: Armani Code Summer

:

: ck one summer
:

Somethin bout those little

pills

262

( Mc Queen, Miss Sixty),

( Replay, Camper)
( G-Star, Adiddas, Adiddas),
( Sisley, Benetton, G-Star)
( Max Mara, Benetton, Max Mara),
( Moschino, Camper)

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, , , ,

269

, , ,

270

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272

ur next issue is coming in September

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One Magazine Summer 2010



2010

  

edno.bg

2010
One Magazine Summer 2010