Open Arts Foundation

"Sariev Contemporary is a gallery just off Plovdiv’s main street, past the office of the Open Arts Foundation and the bohemian hangout, Artnewscafe. A 180-square-foot white box, it is easy to miss. But the gallery is the heartbeat of Plovdiv’s contemporary art scene, and over the last decade, its proprietors — Katrin Sarieva and her daughter, Vesselina, who also run the cafe and the foundation — have created an ecosystem that combines the arts, community organizing and historical preservation. More than one person I met credited them with bringing contemporary art to the fore, not just in Plovdiv, but in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe as a whole.
Vesselina has taken Bulgarian exhibitions to art shows all over the world, and works with young up-and-coming artists and big name collectors alike. The event the Sarievas are best known for, though, is Night/Plovdiv, held every September for the past 10 years, when the city’s galleries, museums, bars and historical sites stay open after hours and host events that span the artistic spectrum.
“Before we started the Night, the idea of culture here was very narrow,” Vesselina said. “You had high culture — the museums, the opera — and then everything else was ‘low culture.’ People thought galleries were just shops for art.”
…
Without the work of the Sarievas, it’s hard to say whether the conditions for a “capital of culture” would have been realized at all.” - Sebastian Modak, New York Times

Articles in English:

Roman Ruins? Sure, but Bulgaria’s Second City Offers So Much More - New York Times

Vienna looks East to find art - New York Times

viennacontemporary 2015 | Focus Bulgaria| Gaudenz B. Ruf

viennacontemporary 2015 | Focus Bulgaria | Vesselina Sarieva

viennacontemporary 2015 | Focus Bulgaria

Articles in Bulgarian:

Виж, харесай, помисли и продължи - EVA, 2021

Поглед към бъдещето на изукството с Веселина Сариева - Darik, 2021

"Форум колекционери" отбелязва своята 10-та годишнина - БНТ, "100% Будни", 2021

Веселина Сариева: Съвременното изкуство търси красотата, то не я променя - Impressio, 2021

Пандемията засили влиянието на аукционните къщи за сметка на галериите - Bloomberg TV, 2021