Art Today Association
Contemporary Art Week
Thirtieth edition
04–25/09/2024

For a better world

Again in the Banya Starinna (The Ancient Bath). The project's traditional venue opens its doors especially for Contemporary Art Week to mark its thirtieth anniversary. The week is one of the most sustainable formats for contemporary art in the country, providing important support for the development of artists. For the first time, the contemporary art gallery - Cu29 - is included in the project.

The theme "For a Better World" mobilizes the transformative potential of contemporary art with visual and creative imagination. It presents a balanced and diverse selection of young and established authors from the international and local scene with works that touch on contemporary themes of global and local relevance: ecology, migration and diasporic cultures, war and political violence, neoliberalism, decolonization, race, religion and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, etc.

The exhibition shows contemporary art at a high artistic level. World-renowned names from the international scene are featured: Shirin Neshat, winner of the 1999 Venice Biennale Award and 2009 Venice Film Festival Silver Lion; Tanja Ostoich, renowned in the world history of feminist art and performance; Christian Nyampeta, featured in Documenta 15 and Manifesto 14, with the Future of Europe Art Prize 2019, founder of the African Video Art Platform and curator at e-flux. The artists ninavale (Nina Kovacheva and Valentin Stefanov), based in Paris and active on the international scene, winners of the UNESCO prize from the 2002 Cetinje Biennale, are invited; Albena Mihailova-Benji, a beloved Plovdiv artist who lives and works in Basel; Veselin Alexiev and Milena Kancheva with current topics on migration;

Dan Tenev, a bright figure in Bulgarian culture, recognizable for his whimsical, monumental interventions in the urban and natural environment. Also participating are artists from Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia.

The exhibition also emphasizes Plovdiv's participation. Among them are Velizar Dimchev with a brave and resourceful intervention in the Bath; Duvarcollective, a group of socially engaged artists in the city; Nadia Genova with an impressive presence in the space of the Bath; Asen Krastenov with photography, Sevdalina Kochevska, Osman Yuseinov and Ivan Ivanov with bold installations in favorite public places in the city (Kosmos cinema, Vodno iznogo and Bratska mogila), etc. Through their art, artists blur fixed boundaries and identities. By emphasizing the intersectional and trans-continental connections and themes that are present in our daily lives in countless ways, the exhibition realizes the city's cosmopolitan potential.

Days full of creativity and activity include a round table on "Art and Social Transformation" and spontaneous actions in an urban environment. The three-day program includes independently organized and produced projects: Sarieva Gallery with Kamen Stoyanov's exhibition "City of Shadows" and the "Art for a Green Future" project.

Curators: Zhivka Valyavicharska (USA/Bulgaria) and Emil Mirazchiev (Bulgaria)

Participants:

Adela Jusic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) / Bania Starinna

Albena Mihailova-Benji (Switzerland/Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Asen Krastenov (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Velizar Dimchev (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Veselin Alexiev and Milena Kancheva (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Dan Tenev (Bulgaria) / action, the stairs of Kamenitsa and neighborhoods

Duvarkolektiv (Hana Rose, Nikola Venkov, Yanka Simova) (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Emil Mirazchiev (Bulgaria) / Garrison oven / "Vegetarianska" street, Proslav district

Zhivka Valyavicharska (USA/Bulgaria) / "Vegetarianska" street, Proslav district

Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria) / Bratska Mogila

Itsko Maznev (1964–2016) (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Caitlin Manning (USA/Mexico) / Bania Starinna, Gallery Cu29

Christian Nyampetta (USA/ etc.) / Bania Starinna

Nadia Genova (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

ninavale (Nina Kovacheva and Valentin Stefanov (France/Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna

Tanja Ostoic (Germany/Serbia) / performance in front of the Kapana gallery / Bania Starinna

Tatiana Fyodorova-Lefter (Moldova) / Bania Starinna

Osman Yuseinov (Bulgaria) / in front of Tsar Simeon's Garden (Water Mirrors)

Sašo Stanoikovik (North Macedonia) / action in a public environment

Sevdalina Kochevska (Bulgaria) / in front of "Cosmos" cinema

Stanimir Panayotov (Bulgaria) / Bania Starinna (discussion)

Suzana Milevska (North Macedonia) / Bania Starinna (discussion)

Shirin Neshat (USA/Iran) / Bania Starinna

Yana Kostova and Dimitar Kostov (Bulgaria) / in front of the Bania Starinna

Program

September 3

17:00-19:00 h. Warm-up action by Dan Tenev, Kamenica stairs

8:30 p.m. Installation by Ivan Ivanov, Bratska Mogila (Art for a Green Future project)

21:30 Video mapping "Worlds" by Emil Mirazchiev, Garrison Oven (Art for a Green Future project)

September 4

6:00 p.m. Performance by Tanya Ostoich in front of City Art Gallery "Kapana", 29 "Raiko Daskalov" St.

7:30 p.m. Official opening, Bania Starinna

8:30 p.m. Gesture action by Yana Kostova, in front of the Bania Starinna

September 5

17:00-18:30 Round table and discussion on the topic "Art and social transformation" with Suzana Milevska, curator and art critic, and Stanimir Panayotov, philosopher and writer, Bania Starinna

6:30 p.m. Performance by Albena Mihailova-Benji, Bania Starinna

20:00 Caitlin Manning video exhibition opening, Gallery Cu29

September 6

18:00 Opening of solo exhibition "City of Shadows" by Kamen Stoyanov, Sarieva Gallery (organized and produced by the gallery)

Contemporary Art Week is a project of the Art Today Association, a member of the international network of German cultural societies abroad of the Goethe-Institut. It was realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Municipality of Plovdiv and the Goethe-Institut and is part of the cultural calendar of the Municipality of Plovdiv.