Annual Report
Hello friends and partners of Open Arts Foundation,
With this email, we would like to wish you lots of health, happiness, and joy in 2024!
Traditionally, for years, we have been sending you our annual newsletter, which provides an overview of our activities during the past year.
We started the year with the news that our planned program for 2024 did not receive the expected funding and was hindered in its implementation. We had to let go of our team and close our office. Nevertheless, we are grateful because our team did not abandon us, and we had their full friendly and work-related support. We found new partners, and together with the longstanding philanthropic support of our board, we continued to move forward.
Thanks to this small but significant assistance, we continued to maintain our longstanding program, "Introduction to Contemporary Art," with projects such as www.openartfiles - a database for Bulgarian art and the monthly guide to exhibitions and events in the country, artnewscafe Bulletin.
Both projects enjoy serious interest in Bulgaria and abroad and are among the most important and accessible places to discover Bulgarian authors, galleries, curators, critics, trends, and materials. Support for the art scene has been our priority since our first activity in 2004, and it will remain our priority for 2024.
We are grateful for your support!
Let's have a peaceful and shared 2024.
Happy holidays and until we meet again!
The team of the Open Arts Foundation
Educational Program
In its four years of existence, Open Art Files has evolved into one of the most recognizable and utilized platforms for documenting and exploring contemporary Bulgarian art. In 2023, we continued to enhance the educational focus of the platform, enriching it with numerous new resources.
This year, "Open Art Files" joined forces with the monthly bulletin "artnewscafe bulletin," providing an even more comprehensive picture not only of the history of contemporary Bulgarian art but also of everything current happening on the local and international art scene.
Files, People and Spaces
We enriched the "Documents" section with even more articles, exhibition brochures, catalogs, video recordings, and other publicly accessible links and archives related to the history of Bulgarian art. This year, we added a lot of new information to the "People" and "Spaces" sections. In 2023, we published 7 individual author profiles, and 4 spaces found their place in our archives:
People: Ivan Mudov, Teodor Genov, Yovo Panchev, Rosie Eisor, Aksiniya Peycheva, Simeon Simeonov
Spaces: ICA - Sofia, Singer-Zahariev Foundation, TaM, ReBonkers
Publications
In the "Publications" section, you can find seven carefully selected editions by Bulgarian and foreign specialists offering a new perspective on the complex history of contemporary Bulgarian art.:
- Maja Fowkes, Reuben Fowkes, "Central and Eastern European Art Since 1950 (World of Art)," Thames&Hudson, 2020
- Ed. Maria Vasileva, "Art for Change 1985-2015," NAA, 2015
- Irina Genova, Angel Angelov, "Post Histories of Art," Sphragida Publishing, 2001
- Irina Genova, Angel Angelov, "Narrating the Image," Sphragida Publishing, 2003
- Boyan Manchev, "The End of Contemporary Art?" Meteor, 2023
- G. Lozanov, G. Gospodinov, "The Afternoon of an Ideology," The Other Eye, NAA, 2016
- Swimming Pool, "The Possible Institution," 2021
Видео Канал
The "Video Channel" section, a unique video archive of discussions and meetings with authors, curators, and collectors, has been expanded with a link to "Critics in Space," a platform by the "Art - Affairs and Documents" foundation for short films, showcasing how art engages with the audience in an environment different from the gallery.
Explore the "Video Channel" here.
artnewscafe bulletin
The beloved monthly artnewscafe bulletin has found its natural extension in the "This Month" section. It offers a bilingual selection of current exhibitions, meetings, workshops, open invitations, and more, both within and beyond the borders of the country. Artnewscafe bulletin continues to be distributed as a monthly newsletter, and you can subscribe here.
Explore "This Month" here
THANK YOU!
Our activities would not have been possible without our loyal friends and partners who have supported us since 2007. In 2023, we received partial funding from the Singer-Zahariev Foundation, connected to the activities of Open Art Files.
All activities were prepared with dedication and diligence by the Open Arts Foundation team. Thanks to everyone who was part of it in 2023: Gerry Minkova, Desislava Mileva, and Hristo Kaloyanov.
Wishing you a wonderful 2024!
Vesselina Sarieva and the Open Arts Foundation
The projects were realised with the partial financial support of the Singer-Zahariev Foundation.