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IMAGO Bulgaria
Art and Culture Today
IMAGO International Artist Residency
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Description
Located in “The Village of Peace”, Tsarimir, right next to the cultural capital of Europe for 2019 – the city of Plovdiv – IMAGO International Artist Residency is a liberating space for visual artists and creatives seeking simple and comfortable working environment for their projects development. It is also a source for artistic growth and inspiration, stemming from the unusual local culture, the inherent natural freedom of the place, the fascinating sights and experiences within the residency as well as the professional curatorial support offered by its founders.
The residency addresses artists predominantly in the field of the visual arts with a stress on contemporary art (painting, photography, light sculpture, installations, textile, video art, performance, contemporary dance). The residency is also the right place for creatives looking for solitude while doing their artistic research as well as for musicians, curators, film and new media enthusiasts and professionals.
Outcome
Exhibition
Studio Information
The bigger studio (40m2) is a renovated barn with two independent entrances. When required, it is separated in two by a fence and it becomes a shared studio for two artists. It is located in a nice oldschool backyard with a lot of free space and a big walnut tree in the middle. You can choose to work inside or outside of the studio or you can just do both. Perfect for painting, light sculpture, installations.
The second studio (20m2) is a renovated garage. Cosy low ceiling space with dim daily light in its inside and good light next to the big window. Suitable for small and middle scale installations, drawings, paitning, photography, literature, music. Its roof is easily reachable and one can adapt it as a higher view point open air studio.
Front yard and backyard: the front yard with a garden of grapes and flowers and the huge backyard covered with grass could be used by the artists according to their needs.
At the residency we provide you with diverse selection of working tools, musical instruments and leisure equipment which includes:
- Two sewing machines.
- Two guitars (electrical and acoustic), an amplifier, semi-professional synthesizer, tarambuka, harmonicas.
- Easels, different pliers, screw-drivers (including electrical), electrical saws, hammers, electrical sandpapers, drilling machines suitable for wood and metal, paint job tools.
Accommodation Information
The residency is spread around a total area of 2200m2 and it has two houses - next to each other, with separate entrances, separate kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms. The ground floor house is where the staff lives - the stairs level house is entirely for the artists. It consists of three separate bedrooms (around 15m2 each), a shared living room with basic kitchen and a bathroom with a laundry machine. Next to the stairs level house, looking at the frontyard, is the second studio while in the backyard there's the first studio. There are a total of 5 beds and we invite a maximum of three to four artists to live and work at the same time. The residency is suitable for artistic duos and groups. Good internet connection is available. 3 residents can be hosted at a time. Family members are allowed to come - they need to cover additional cost.
Technical Information
At the residency we provide you with diverse selection of working tools, musical instruments and leisure equipment which includes:
- Two sewing machines
- Two guitars (electrical and acoustic), an amplifier, semi-professional synthesizer, tarambuka, harmonicas
- Easels, different pliers, screw-drivers (including electrical), electrical saws, hammers, electrical sandpapers, drilling machines suitable for wood and metal, paint job tools
- Standard home printer
- Inflatable pool suitable for the hottest months (usually between June and the first half of September)
- Improvised outdoors fire place
- Vinyl record player
- Two bikes
Location
The residency is located in the village of Tsarimir, right next to Plovdiv - the second biggest city in the country which is Europe's cultural capital for 2019.
About the village of Tsarimir:
The name literally means "Where peace blossoms" and the funny part is that the street where the residency is located is called "Rebel's Street." It has a long tradition of silk bugs harvesting and that is why it is full of mulberry trees - their leaves are the only food for the silk bug.
In the past it was populated by close to 3000 people, today they are about 700. A typical example of plain village architecture with intense communistic history. Residents will find a lot of old objects, there's a regular village market, fishing spot, plenty of home grown eco food, there are also a few very well organized food shops and two small restaurants. In other words - the daily needs are covered easily. You can spend some of your time exploring the local life and since we know almost everybody, we'll introduce you to key customs, folklore and curious habits.
Due to the typical depopulation of such type of villages in the country which has been taking place in the last 20-30 years, Tsarimir is a place with quite a few abandoned buildings which are often used by our residents for artistic projects. The roads are bad and the first impression could be of a neglected place. Yet, behind this immediate surface, there are rich traditions, warm people with curious Balkan habits as well as plenty of hidden remains referring to the communistic past and the hopes for the future. The residency area is like a small island representing a perfect artistic environment which allows you to get inspired by the local life, yet to have really comfortable conditions to step out of this life and to focus on you project.
The residency is well known in the village, it is a crossing point of great interest and enthusiasm from the locals, that is why some of them have already participated in a few artistic projects.
About Plovdiv:
Plovdiv is the cultural capital of Europe for 2019. It is an amazing city uniting the old architecture from different epochs with the contemporary life style and aesthetics, artistic neighborhoods, galleries for modern and contemporary art, great places to relax and have fun in an urban environment. The organizers will share their advice with the residents. Plovdiv is the second largest city in country after the capital Sofia. It has been recognized as the oldest city in Europe as these lands have been inhabited since 6th millennium BC. That is why the city of the seven hills, representing various cultural layers in its archeological history. It is also well known for its peaceful life where Christians, Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Roma all live together in great understanding. The majority of the population is Christian as in whole Bulgaria.
