A Time Capsule

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Assen Assenov is the managing director of ONE foundation which organises international festivals and other events for contemporary culture and arts.

Absorbed in the problems of corruption, poverty, judicial system, education and health care, we have been ignoring for 25 years the despairing chronic self-isolation of the country from global cultural processes. And if capsulation under Communism could have been justified with the general isolation of the country, the current isolation is a consequence of the value and popularity that the modern Bulgarian cultural product has at the world stage.

This condition is to a great extent explained by the lack of a national cultural strategy and the lack of reforms in the sector for a quarter of a century now.

I do realise how uncomfortable it is to admit what the current situation is, but this is the only chance to change it. I believe, however, that it is important for us to be honest with ourselves. If we live with the false idea about the value of the cultural product created in Bulgaria this will not have dramatic consequences for the rest of the world, but it will certainly isolate us even more from global cultural processes. Today the cultural product ‘made in BG’ is in a large part inconvertible and conserved in a home-made sauce. There are exceptions that inspire, of course, and because they have happened despite the general situation, could be without exaggeration defined as heroism.

It is very important to make a difference between the success of the tens of talented Bulgarian artists, who create art abroad or present their work abroad, and convertible cultural content created by a Bulgarian cultural organisation.

In order to do a reality check for our real place on the global cultural map today and for this not be a cause for annoyance and denial, we have to get to know the processes that take place in the region and in Europe and to create a strategy about where,  how and when we want to get there.

The current situation

The Bulgarian government maintains on artificial respiration the inherited from socialism too large for the size and capabilities of modern Bulgaria system of state and municipal cultural institutions. A large part of them could not explain the reason for their own existence, but despite this the system from which they are a part of continues to absorb the whole financial resource for culture.

And because the organisations are hundreds, money is only enough for covering the household expenses and salaries. Many of these institutions have not received funding for years, money which they would use to produce content and they have over time become sad decors – a metaphor for the cultural situation in our country today. Their structure of governing has not changed for decades – there is a lack of good cultural managers, there are no positions for specialists who could attract funding from the private sector, to apply for co-funding projects in foreign cultural organisations, there are no marketing departments to attract new audiences.

Being in this situation, Bulgaria has self-excluded itself from the European and world cultural exchange of modern cultural content in terms of export, and also the presentation of quality worldwide cultural content at home. If we exclude cinema, the participation of Bulgaria in international co-productions would be an extraordinary event.

Our country does not have a policy for presentation of modern cultural content from other countries – the Ministry of Culture supports 54 theatres, but none of them is specialised in presenting international content (in comparison – only in Ljubljana there are four such stages).

The poorest country in the EU is still sustaining this large, rotting and inadequate for the modern times system and this could not be explained by any Minister of Culture when asked to.

And while the whole national resource continues to be invested so that the system is kept ‘alive’, the independent cultural sector (in other words all who create a cultural product outside the system) has an especially hard time accessing public resources despite the fact that it is a driver for most of the positive processes in modern arts and culture in Bulgaria.

Here are a couple of shocking examples:

The most recognised Bulgarian name on the world stage for contemporary performing arts at the moment is Ivo Dimtchev – an independent artist with his own company, who has never received state or municipal funding in his own country. In comparison, however, the Vienna International Dance Festival has supported him for years and is proud with his work. During this time none of the 54 state theatres has not had even 10% of his success for the last five years. Only two Bulgarian plays after 1989 are shown in the programme of one of the most important festivals in the world – the one in Edinburgh – in 1994 ‘The Blind Ones’ of 199 Theatre and the play "Шинел" of the Credo Independent Theatre shown with great success for two consecutive years – 1996 and 1997.

There has not been a formal Bulgarian participation at the Edinburgh International Festival for 19 years now.

Nedko Solakov

The most recognised and internationally renowned Bulgarian artist in the world of contemporary art (apart from Kristo), who has exhibitions and has participated in the most renowned forums around the world and tens of museums for contemporary art display his work, he has never been supported with public funding. What is more, he funded on his own his biggest exhibition in Bulgaria, displayed in Sofia City Art Gallery. Have you heard of an exhibition of contemporary art, produced by the Association of Bulgarian artists or from a Bulgarian museum invited in a museum abroad? Everywhere in Europe independent artists, organisations and structures are supported financially by their countries, as they are flexible, communicative and easily establish international partnerships and productions, and along with this popularize their national culture.

At home, 2015 was a year of no funding for the independent scene for performing arts. The independent sector could hardly get access to European cultural funds, as most of them require a 50% co-funding. In other Member States this happens as an automatic support from the home country, but in Bulgaria there is a total lack of support.

The Ministry of Culture should not divide the organizations into state

Municipal and independent (ours and foreign) and the only thing that should be of interest to this ministry is the quality of the cultural product. After all, the resources for culture are not enough neither for the sustaining of the traditional system of cultural institutions, nor for the support and development of the independent sector.

In this situation, however, it would not be wise to increase the funding for culture, because this would not lead to a sustainable solution for the problems in the sector. Money in exchange of reforms – this is the only working formula from which Bulgarian culture could benefit. But reforms that are subject to a national strategy for development of the sector.

Where does the audience stand in all of this?

Where in this complicated system of relations between old and new, a lack of policies and backwardness is the public situated? It should be in the centre of the discussion about the cultural sector in Bulgaria as it is obvious for each external spectator that the public in Bulgaria has an extremely limited access to quality contemporary cultural content and could not make a comparison because of the lack of content on offer. This is also the main reason for applause after a mediocre performance at the National Theatre stage. How often do we all have access to international content in the area of contemporary theatre, opera, dance, circus, contemporary classical music, contemporary art and so on in our own country?

Unfortunately, the public is the one losing from this all and I do not believe that an actor from the Blagoevgrad Theatre who acts on stage twice a year but despite this gets his modest salary each month should have the last word about what kind of reform is necessary.

Reform in the cultural sector needs European expertise as much as the Bulgarian judiciary does. For far too many people the cultural sector has become a modest, but secure shelter and every attempt for the system to be changed is threatened by protests, petitions, and media attacks. This reform, however is inevitable if we want to get out of the time capsule. On the one side, there will always be fear from confronting the system, while on the other – the development of new audiences, the upbringing of our children and one of the keys to the answer why young people leave Bulgaria.

Do we have potential?

Every country that has a vision and motivation has potential for development. The first ballet competition in the world was founded in Bulgaria which is still recognizable on all continents despite the lack of appreciation for its value on part of the government – a fact that has taken most of its glory away in the last two centuries.

The potential of each country is directly related to the quality of education. This is why it is high time that we asked the question to what extent is the Bulgarian educational system competitive in the sphere of culture and arts. Do we have a quality teaching of cultural management and if not, isn’t it time to invest in it?

In 2019 we have the historical opportunity for a Bulgarian town to be a European capital of culture for the first time. This is a serious incentive to mobilize our resources, to make reforms in the sector and a strategy about where we want to get to.

European capital of culture is not a Plovdiv event, and is not a national event either. European capital of culture goes beyond European scale as it is an event that presents content and is a meeting point for actors/artists from almost all continents.

This is a historical opportunity for Bulgaria to emerge on the world cultural map and to start sustainable processes for cultural exchange with the rest of the world.

In order for all of this to happen bravery, capacity and the support of many people, who could contribute for this process are necessary – not only Plovdiv natives, and not only Bulgarians. Local chauvinism, restriction and the life in a capsule are absolutely counter-indicative. Question is could we overcome these?

By Assen Assenov

Illustration by Rebecca Osses

MOVE.BG