KAPANA, 10 "Hristo Dyukmedzhiev" str.

EDNO will present the first project of the Cultural Embassies in Kapana program, part of the Kapana – Creative District project and funded by Plovdiv Municipality 2019 Foundation. Belgian cartoonist Marc Sleen's exhibition “The Adventures of Nero and Co” will be opened by the Belgian Ambassador in Bulgaria, Mrs Anik Van Calster. 
The Adventures of Nero and Co is a humorous and optimistic series written for the wide audience. With much enthusiasm and vivid imagination, Marc Sleen tells the story of the adventures of a slightly nutty company whose main character is Nero. Unlike other Belgian comic characters such as Tintin and Lucky Luke, Nero is not a real “hero”. He is an ordinary man, who likes to idle away his time by reading the newspaper in his comfortable couch, eating French fries and drinking beer. His philosophy of life is “I wish I was a volcano. Then I could sit still and smoke and everybody would say: “Look, he's working again!”. However, due to the circumstances, Nero constantly finds himself unthinkable situations and adventure is always just around the corner. The exhibition shows not only Marc Sleen's fictional and linguistic talents but also his strong interest in nature, wildlife and safari, evidence for which is his work as administrator of WWF – Beglium.
Marc Sleen is one of the pioneers in Belgian comics that have played a major role in the development of comic art in Europe. His cartoons of over 200 The Adventures of Nero and Co comic books have earned him a place in Guinness World Book of Records.
“Cultural Embassies in Kapana” is a pilot project initiating for the first time the establisment of foreign cultural institutes in Plovdiv. EDNO foundation for culture and art gives up its gallery space for the period of three months (July, August, and November) to be the host to some cultural events organized by the embassies and institutes in the capital. The institutions that responded to the call are: The Embassy of Belgium with their exhibition of Belgian cartoonist Marc Sleen; the Polish Institute with an exhibition of drama posters and screenings of contemporary Polish plays and films; and the Czech Center with an exhibition of contemporary Czech design and, together with the cultural organization Pozor, will also offer a number of screening selections of the popular documentary festival Biting Docs. The project will present the audience with three new cultural highlights and provide new ways to establish a dialogue with these foreign countries. It also encourages the popularization of contemporary projects featured in their event calendars outside the capital and poses the question of the possibility to set up legations in Plovdiv's neighborhood as part of the idea to give Kapana – Creative District an international dimension.