Citizens and guests of Plovdiv can expect a true cultural boom in the Night of Museums and Galleries: over 120 events in more than 90 locations with the participation of over 500 art persons from Plovdiv, this country and abroad. The city, now selected to be a European Capital of Culture 2019 will celebrate the 10^th edition of the Night this year. On September 12 – 13 fans of art temptations can find a rich variety of exhibitions, concerts, theatre plays, performances… Traditional participants like the historical and ethnographic museums are presented today, as well as many galleries, says in an interview for RB Adriyana Mihailova, a PR manager of the marathon. Furthermore:

“I would accentuate on the first participation of the French Institute of Culture this year with an exhibition that will be presented at the City Gallery of Art. Contemporary French artists show there their interpretations of the work of Marcel Duchamp – and artist and theoretician of modern art. The event has been named a Box in a Suitcase. The History Museum is the next interesting participation, which will present for the first time four expositions, adapted for visually impaired people. The Ethnographic Museum on the other hand will get involved with a salon for retro hairdos, where any visitor can have one’s hair done. The Aviation Museum will have interesting air demonstrations, including a flight with a balloon.”

New art spaces are included this year as well – for instance galleries at the Kapana neighborhood, which appears to be the new art location in Plovdiv. The Culture and Club programme on Septemebr 13 will accentuate on performing arts. Plovdiv’s drama theatre will offer an audio visual show, screening on its façade what’s happening on the stage. Thus the street viewers will be able to see it.

“There will be lots of concerts in the Culture and Club program,” Adriana Mihailova goes on to say. “Radio Plovdiv is a very active participant in it. There will be a Jazz Radio Night, organized in front of the radio’s building. Furthermore: a concert of Theodosyi Spasov in the yard of the Drama Theatre. Many clubs and bars will offer their music program. Community centers will also join the show with their own performances. New cultural spaces will be unveiled within the Culture and Club initiative, dedicated to contemporary art…”

The third main program of the art marathon is named City and Public Spaces. It seizes both September 12^th and 13^th with lots of performances, exhibitions and various events within urban environment. The Art Affairs and Documents Foundation for instance offers a new look at six locations in the so-called alternative map of Plovdiv, with the support of Bulgarian and foreign art people. We are talking here mostly about objects from the past, like the vast tobacco warehouses or the Kosmos cinema, which turn into a stage for interesting art projects.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev