The Heart of the Chitalishte
13 July 2026, 7:00-9:00 PM
Nikolay Haytov - 1936 Cultural Centre
A few steps away from the busy Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard, next to the Billa supermarket and the Hotel Pliska bus stop, there is an oasis of inspiration and spirituality. This is the Nikolay Haytov – 1936 Cultural Centre.
The Heart of the Chitalishte focuses on the cultural centre as an organism — a living structure of interactions, a flow of bodies and energies, but also a space of care. Care encompasses all aspects of the cultural centre’s body: its material existence, emotional currents and communal interactions.
The documentary video and installation The Heart of the Chitalishte present the various elements of care within the Nikolay Haytov – 1936 Cultural Centre — from its physical maintenance to the presence and personal actions of those who work there and its visitors — revealing the mechanisms that enable it to function.
Elena Stoycheva is a visual artist and author of photographic projects and documentary films. She is the co-founder of the online platform Ruralheritage.bg, dedicated to documenting and preserving the architectural heritage of Bulgarian villages and the co-author of the audiovisual exhibition The Houses and the People. She participated in the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale with the film The School Is Not for Sale. Her interest in rural cultural heritage emerged through her involvement in the initiative Residence Baba. She studied in Berlin, worked in Vienna and returned to Bulgaria in 2020.
Maria Getova is a cultural researcher and poet. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts and Contemporary Times (20th–21st century). Her poetry has been published in various print and online outlets and has been translated into English, Spanish and Romanian. She participated in the previous edition of the Nine Elephants Festival in 2025 as part of the project Urban Storytelling School. She is currently part of the National Chitalishte Foundation, where her work focuses on cultural policy and research, with a strong interest in community building.
With financial support from the National Culture Fund and Sofia Municipality – Summer Programme.
Links
Presentation of an audio guide that can be listened to individually or in a group during a walk through the city