Fluca was created in 2016 after an idea of Vesselina Sarieva (Open Arts Foundation) and Thomas Stoelzl (Austrian Embassy). The architectural realisation was implemented by two teams – the Austrian tatort studio (Alexandra Berlinger, Wolfgang Fiel) and Atelie DUO, Plovdiv.
The first curator of the platform was Ursula Maria Probst, followed by Walter Seidl. In 2018 and 2019, Fluca’s artistic programme was managed by Boris Kostadinov.
Since 2016, Fluca has been one of the most innovative mobile artistic platforms in Bulgaria – presenting international contemporary art, music, performance, video, multimedia, cinema, literature, and design and architecture. As a mobile stage, Fluca has also traveled to various public spaces in Sofia. Fluca is known as a venue for artistic collaborations and performances by independent art groups, collectives, galleries, not-for-profit organizations, and project spaces from Bulgaria, Austria, the Balkans and Europe.
Curator of the 2020 season between May to October is Vesselina Sarieva (representing Sariev Gallery), who make Fluca a territory of contemporary art and culture by young artists.
Each month, the program presents a one major exhibition, specially curated for the Fluca stage. A music program, a series of small art events, performances and film screenings complement the artistic synthesis and micro climate.
An element that accompanies the stage of the shiny cargo pavilion are the iconic city furniture „Enzi“ from the famous museum quarter of Vienna (MuseumsQuartier). For its preliminary opening on June 21, the stage of Fluca – Austrian Cultural Pavilion presented a special visual project of the Plovdiv-based French artist Mitch Brezunek together with artists Martina Vacheva and Valko Chobanov. They turn urban furniture into an art installation, shaping the oasis of this microclimate. The project blurs the lines between illustration, street art and contemporary art to ask us „What are our plans for summer 2020?“. The event presents the independent radio of Plovdiv XRaydio on the occasion of its 9th birthday.
On June 29 with the official opening of Fluca – Austrian Cultural Pavilion starts with an exhibition of the Austrian artist Florian Lang who continues the utopian holiday topic. The exhibition is a continuation of the “Incubator” series of seemingly beautiful landscapes and lifestyle scenes, which explore the drive behind the illusions we all create among ourselves.
Following its opening, the exhibition will be on view until 31 July during the opening hours of Fluca: Tuesday through Saturday from 16:00 to 20:00.
In August, the Fluca stage presents Tatjana Danneberg in cooperation with LambdaLambdaLambda Gallery, Pristina. The young Austrian artist’s exhibition will invite the audience to take an active part, rather than just observe, and to lift the curtain between the imaginary world we live in and the reality that surrounds us.
The program in September continues with a large exhibition of young women authors from Plovdiv curated by Valko Chobanov in collaboration with Veselina Sarieva. The exhibition will present the authors Iva Vacheva, Krassimira Kirova, Marina Genova, Alexandra Laskova and Elena Savova with new works created on the occasion of the invitation. The exhibition will occupy the shiny space of Fluca, but will be deployed in other urban spaces.
The final project for the 2020 season in October is a solo exhibition by Austrian artist Gert Resinger.
Fluca – Austrian Cultural Pavilion is a long-term cultural project – an initiative of the Open Arts Foundation (Plovdiv), the Austrian Embassy in Sofia, supported by the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria, the Municipality of Plovdiv.
