ON THE NEXT EDITION OF
WATER TOWER ART FEST
20 – 25 OF JUNE 2014
FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS IN SOFIA
UNDER THE THEME OF “TEMPORARY PROTECTED SPACES”
Photo by Galya Yotova – all rights reserved Water tower art fest® 2013 – old train station Kazichene
It is our pleasure to announce the spectacular program for the Water Tower Art Festival as an artist-run initiative this year, including the participation of the notorious Bill Viola, in full William Viola (born January 25, 1951, New York, New York, U.S.), an American video, digital, and sound artist. Viola was one of the pioneering figures of a generation of artists in the 1970′s who employed video art and sound technologies. Known for his room-sized environments (installations) that envelop viewers with sound and feature multiple screens of moving images, Viola created sublimely romantic imagery in the tradition of painting through radically new digital media.
The work “Visitation” from his 2008 Transfigurations series, by California-based video artist Bill Viola goes on display in our festival this year in one of our non-traditional venues – the underground ancient remains of Serdika.
The 12-minute video, which is shown vertically on a 65″ plasma screen with stereo sound, was created out of additional material from Viola’s 2007 Venice Biennale series Ocean without a Shore.
Look forward to more information on the artwork soon!
Our strong program, a hallmark of our 8-year-old festival, will be presented traditionally in our array of non-traditional venues. These unique locations include: an old foundry and hall in the industrial zone of Sofia, the garden of a disused water tower (for reasons beyond our control the tower itself is closed by authorities this year due to safety concerns), and many other venues for displaying contemporary art installations and housing performances and talks.
Water Tower Art Fest is artist-run initiative that started as a small-scale event and grew into the most popular Bulgarian showcase of national and international artists working across all disciplines in contemporary visual art. It gives artists and visitors the opportunity to share ideas and to change the socio-political situation through its socially engaged works created especially for its unique venues. It also strikes artists and visitors alike with the notion of overcoming the paradigm of our age, one dominated by economic structures prohibiting the inherent and divine right of existence itself.
“Temporary protected spaces” is our festival’s theme for the second year in a row. It is rooted in the idea of home – or rather the lack of it. The need to rest, recuperate, and communicate freely is the basis of this year’s theme. We will be communicating, while using several disused and abandoned structures in the city of Sofia.
You are welcome to enter and enjoy our Temporary Protected Spaces with faith in the future and a spirit of enthusiastic perseverance.
More information to follow shortly.
All rights reserved.
Water Tower Art Fest ®