Segments of an old outfall, an old chair, outdated film rolls, an outworn plastic letter ‘S’ from an old Sofia inscription and lots of other different stuff, lined up in an exhibition can be seen currently at the central lobby of the National Palace of Culture /NPC/. All these artifacts, configured in an untypical installation around the statue of sculptor Dimitar Baykov entitled Renaissance come to reveal the actions and funds invested till now in the Palace’s preparation for Bulgaria’s EU presidency in 2018. The whole thing has been carried out over the past couple of years as part of the NPC’s Change national campaign.

‘These are 19 different objects, aiming to show the transparency of the actions at money spending in the NPC. We see construction works’ scrap here which will be thrown away and it is connected to things which are to be changed in this building, such as electrical installations and chairs in both cinema halls – Krikor Azaryan and Lumier. Each object has a plate describing the exact allocation of a certain EU subsidy, used for the transformations,’ says artist and stage designer Denitsa Argiropolus who has executed the format together with young sculptor Georgi Georgiev-Jojo.

The official unveiling of the NPC was on 31 March 1981 and the place turned into the biggest congress center in South-East Europe. The NPC will be the major spot where events from the official program of the initial Bulgarian EU presidency will take place, the latter starting as of 1 January 2018 and lasting for 6 months. Director of the NPC Miroslav Borshosh says that the repair works have been ongoing for a year and half now and their concept is clear – the hosting of such a grand event means to be adequate in terms of both content and functionality. Mr. Borshosh outlined the three major spaces created over the past 2 years which will be key for the cultural program during the presidency:

‘Hall 2 is the first one, now named after one of the greatest Bulgarian stage directors Krikor Azaryan. It was abandoned despite its very interesting form and acoustics. At this very moment it is fully recovered with small finishing works ongoing and soon you will be able to see a true European hall. The DNA is the space that we found as an abandoned dance club from the mug years, the way we used to call them. Right now it is a space that has never existed before in Bulgaria – a place for modern dance and performance of young people who would not compromise with their art. Contemporary forms of art are something very accentuated on by the European culture over the past years. I won’t talk much on the Plume literary club, as it managed to earn its reputation of a quality literature spot quite rapidly and mostly of a home for those who love literature and who create literature. These three spaces are absolutely ready to accept a culture program which will be of huge significance, regarding the Bulgarian presidency.’

According to Miroslav Borshosh there are concerns at the EU high level, concerning Bulgaria’s presidency. ‘I don’t see the political class at this stage wanting to stand together and decide what kind of Bulgaria will be presented and in what kind of Europe. It is not only important to welcome 20,000 bureaucrats from Brussels, but we also have to broadcast a message, clearly visible to the political class,” Borshosh further said.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev