Nia Pushkarova – Artist, Festival Organizer
Born 1970, 09.03 in Sofia, Bulgaria
1991-1995 BA Honors in Fine Arts, Reading University, UK
QUALIFICATIONS:
ICCM, Salzburg, Austria – art management diploma
Founder and Director of NGO IME since 2004
Member of the board of Directors of Bulgarian Festival Association
Since 2006 I have initiated a grass roots event around an abandoned water tower in Sofia. Gradually through the years and a lot of effort form coworkers and volunteers I managed to turn this event into an internationally recognized festival in Bulgaria with participation for 2011 more than 150 artists worldwide. The importance of making this festival is in synergy with the global cultural and environmental needs and our adequacy in Bulgaria. I have been initiating usage of abandoned and neglected buildings into their transformation into ecological and art centers promoting connection between industry and business, and art and artistic organizations, nurtured generations of young artists and advanced projects for the community and their integration with art as well as the overcoming the generational gap and promoting tolerance and understanding. I have studied in UK and graduated Fine art in 1995 when I consciously returned to Bulgaria to experience life and art at its full. By participating in collaboration projects and exchange of ideas I believe that art can overcome the stagnation of nowadays politics cultural and social life so have started to make art scene in Sofia Bulgaria on the basis of open source communication through Water tower art fest. By doing all this I believe we can help change the local mentality for the better via overcoming prejudices, bringing tolerance towards gender and other issues including social interaction through the arts.
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Polina Pankova – Coordinator
Born in 1988 in Vidin, Bulgaria.
Graduated from “Tsar Simeon Veliki” General High School, Vidin in 2007, trying to finish a bachelor’s degree in English Philology from the Sofia University.
I got involved with the Water Tower Art Fest in 2010 as a volunteer. In 2011 I was the volunteer coordinator and have been working and having fun with the festival team since.
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Neda Yonkova – Project Assistant
Graduated in cultural studies at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski.
Responsible for the overall strategic management and coordination of the festival. Assistance with contacting potential sponsors and partners, drafting and editing of needed documentation. Work closely with the members of the team, festival partners and volunteers.
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Denitsa Toneva – Designer
Born 1987 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Graduated from the Mathematical Gymnasium Plovdiv (2001–2006), she holds a BA degree from the Technical University of Sofia (2006–2010) in Design Engineering, and currently studying Product Design MA in TU Sofia. During these studies she have been working in graphic design field alternating between personal projects and orders. You can find her personal website here. She is part of the team since 2011, being responsible for the visual appearance of the festival.
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Georgi Kambourov – Technical Assistant
Born 1981. He has worked as a stagehand at National Theatre “Ivan Vazov” and “Global Films”, technical assistant at Centre for culture and debate “Red House – Andrey Nikolov”, light desk operator at Theatre 199 “Valentin Stoichev”, technical consultant and assistant at “Antistatic” festival for contemporary dance and performance.
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Radomir Dankov – Technical Manager
А full-licensed architect. Since 2009 is a freelancer and part of NAGLEDNA studio. Their works combine Graphic Design, Art Direction, Identity Design & Branding, Illustration, Advertising, Retail & Exhibition, Moving Image, Animation, Web Design, Video & Sound Editing. At present he is accomplishing a PhD thesis at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and attending a specialization at Ecole de Chailyot, Paris in the field of architectural restoration.
Last year at Water Tower Art Fest I entertained myself by helping the artists to realize their works in the best possible way. In 2013, beside using my skills with instruments, machines, electricity and architecture I hope to experiment some of my ideas.
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Radoslava Kuneva (Adi) – Personal Assistant
Born 1992 in Sofia, graduated from french high school “Alfons de Lamartin”. Currently studying cultural studies at the Sofia University.
My purpose in the organization is to help with all I can for the realization of the festival.
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Kalina Petkova – Assistant
Kalina is a cultural enthusiast with an interest and passion for social media. Kalina has a degree in Cultural Studies from Germany and one in Management in the Creative Economy ftrom the U.K. She enjoys connecting people and ideas and has worked for various organizations and NGO’s in Germany, Ecuador, the U.K. and her native Bulgaria. Kalina is keen about trying out new things and her most recent interest is in skateboarding and the culture related to it.
To me Water Tower Art Fest is a platform, a place to exchange ideas and to meet interesting people. My job at this year’s festival would be to make the stay of our foreign guests in Sofia, as enjoyable as possible.
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Marta Sabeva – Assistant designer
I am an architecture alumna of the U.A.S.E.G – Sofia, graduating at the dawn of the new millennium. I have worked in a number of leading (in terms of quality, not quantity) architectural practices. The economic downturn of the last couple of years has given me the time and opportunity to experiment with alternative venues for expression – such as festivals and other artistic activities. My latest labour of love is the Sofia Seen project and facebook page, aiming to encourage people to (re)embrace our beloved city of Sofia, and a number of workshops entitled “Painting the city with love”.
My first collaboration with the festival was in 2009, attempting to decode the essence of what the word “curator” stands for. Together with Mia Momchilova and some friends, we organized an ersatz-shopping-mall event, as part of the festival program. Two years later, in 2011, I was a part of the organizing team of Water Tower Festival.
I am constantly fascinated by all the talented artists that I come across, working on the festival, and determined to make Water Tower Festival as popular in Bulgaria, as it is around the world (a bizarre paradox, this)
email: info@watertowerartfest.com