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NINE ELEPHANT FORUM is a series of lectures, discussions and talks to inspire new ways of working in the city over the coming weeks.
In the summer of the past year, the Nine Elephants programme for art in the city appeared, within the framework of which numerous projects were carried out in the neighbourhoods of Sofia – exhibitions, performances, momentary interventions, documentary-visual studies, etc.
FORUM is a continuation of the summer programme, aiming to deepen the themes, build on partnerships and explore opportunities for better and meaningful interaction between different actors in the cultural sphere seeking to contribute to the development of the city’s potentials and urban communities through art.
During FORUM, the Swimming Pool will become a discursive space, and the installation in progress “To make people comfortable” by artist Slavena Petkova, which you will be able to see inside and outside the space, will be “fed” by the discussions in the space, and will be gradually added to in the coming weeks. You will also be able to see the films “The Red Book of Sofia” by Viktor Damov and “Beyond Slavic-Bulgarian History” by Martin Tomov and Maria Ilieva.
→ The events take place in the Swimming Pool, in Bulgarian, free entrance.
→ The exhibition in the Swimming Pool is available during the events and every Monday + Thursday from 4 to 7 pm. Entrance.
PROGRAM
NOVEMBER
28.11.2024, 18:00-21:00
Opening: if it can suit them
Installation by Slavena Petkova
The visual and conceptual context for the FORUM program will be provided by the installation of the artist Slavena Petkova, produced specifically for the Swimming Pool space, encompassing the interior and exterior spaces of the gallery.
Slavena Petkova’s artistic practice often finds its beginnings in conversations with people, communities or businesses, eventually revealing itself in site-specific installations reflecting both socio-cultural realities and shared spaces. The installation “If They Can Get Comfortable” contains colorful silhouettes of public art that has been violently destroyed or removed, as well as text fragments collected from Ivan Krastev’s news interview “In 50 Years We’ll Know What Happens Now” from 2023, combined with elements from First Love, Then Everything Else, a work by Slavena Petkova that begins her research process on current and pressing art issues in the city. For the artist, the plexiglass forms show the fragmented history not only of these monuments/sculptures/artworks, but also of the period they represent.
The installation will grow over time, feeding into upcoming FORUM lectures and discussions.
Slavena Petkova was born in Varna (1995), grew up in Athens, lived in Austria and the Netherlands, where she graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague in 2017. Her practice is multidisciplinary – including work with textiles, photography, text, archives and communities. The artistic idea is what determines her choice of medium. In most of her projects, she draws attention to everyday phenomena and actions that she connects to a broader political context.
28.11.2024, 18:00-21:00
Sofia's Red Book unveiled
Lecture by Viktor Damov
This summer, Victor Damov took part in Nine Elephants, presenting his documentary-visual research “The Red Book of Sofia” in the Svetofar bookstore, about seemingly inconspicuous spaces in the centre of Sofia, which, however, give space for informal communication and are vanishing points of social justice. In “Sofia’s Red Book – is unwrapped” Victor deepens the research by exploring the concept of “socio-urban value”. These are spaces that demonstrate patterns of economic accessibility, provide space for communities, allow open communication, encourage the mixing of different social strata or overcome prejudices. In this lecture we will find out more about their existence as hidden social infrastructure.
The lecture is published on the Journal of Social Vision (link).
Viktor Damov is a practicing architect and PhD student at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy.
28.11.2024, 18:00-21:00
The Anthropocene in Sofia: Beyond-Human Perspectives and Infrastructural Poetics
Lecture by Martin Tomov
The lecture presents the research process related to Maria Ilieva and Martin Tomov’s project “Beyond the Slavic-Bulgarian History”, unfolding and developing its theoretical foundations and shedding light on the techniques used in this audio-visual document. Martin will examine the foundations of the theories of the Anthropocene and ontological turn and shed light on the ways in which we might think these concepts in an urban setting.
The lecture is published on the Journal of Social Vision (link).
Martin Tomov is an anthropologist by education and by profession he is part of the Greenpeace Bulgaria team.
DECEMBER
05.12.2024, 18.30-20.30
SCHOOL FRESH - HOW DO WE SAVE IT?
Presentation of Elena Stoycheva’s new film and discussion
JANUARY
17.01.2025, 18:30-20:30
TO THE CINEMA, TO THE VILLAGE
A conversation about the upcoming first edition and a meeting with the film festival organizers
Our program continues in the new year 2025 with a meeting with the organizers of “At the cinema, in the village” – an annual festival happening in the smallest settlements in Bulgaria. Its aim is to build a network of villages with regular access to contemporary cinema, as well as to achieve independence in the screening process by training local coordinators (cinema wakers).
The organizers of the Cinema Awakener Foundation are actively looking for supporters! Opportunities to work together include leading discussions, creative workshops or courses in villages; establishing corporate partnerships for the festival; social media and outreach; assisting with inclusion of villages in future editions. Come along to a meeting at the Swimming Pool to take a closer look at the initiative and potential partnership opportunities.
FEBRUARY
03.02.2025, 18:30-20:30
The factory today: intersections between global industry and local context in Kuklen Industrial Park
Lecture by Ina Valkanova
We invite you to a lecture by Ina Valkanova (architect, researcher and urban planner, co-founder of Gradoscope) in which she will reveal more about her five-year research conducted in Kuklen Industrial Park (part of the Thrace Economic Zone), where global industrial processes are intertwined in the local context.
The study reveals the complex links between human activity, technological innovation and the natural environment, creating the conditions for rethinking the role of production practices in the local community. It shows how global industry interacts with the social and environmental aspects of the region, creating unexpected intersections between people, resources and technology.
Based on a thorough analysis, artistic interventions in the production spaces were also implemented. These interventions, developed in collaboration with designers, factory workers and local government representatives, offer new ways to enrich the production process and its relationship with the environment.
Here you can watch a partial video recording of the lecture.
About the NINE ELEPHANT FORUM
Initiator: Victoria Draganova
Team: Anna Ivanova, Ilina Peneva, Kristijana Burzinska
Visual identity: Crunchy Oyster
Organized by By Blue Cube Foundation in partnership with Swimming Pool and Journal of Social Vision.
With financial support National Culture Fund, Creation 2023 programme.