May 9 is the holiday of the Bulgarian mountain town of Apriltsi, which every year recalls the heroism of those who died in the April Uprising of 1876. The uprising ended unsuccessfully, but showed the world the will of Bulgarians in the then Ottoman Empire to fight for national independence. On this date re-enactments of battles usually take place. In 2014 the first edition of the Apriltsi Inspires Art Festival was held. Organizer is the municipality, together with the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of "Sts. Cyril and Methodius" in Veliko Tarnovo. The idea of the festival is that 3 different artists invite three of their collegues to present their work over a period of three days.

Associate professor Vladimir Avramov, founder of the festival, told us about some of the highlights of the second edition of the forum:

"Our goal is to continue what we started last year - creating art inspired by tradition, but with modern means of expression and contemporary style. We do not prepare anything in advance; everything must be done on the spot. Apriltsi is located in the Central Balkan - a very beautiful place, which has an effect on the artists’ imagination. Artists will be drawing the landscape. Two artists will be working on the theme of heroism. Milen Dzhanovski will create an art installation resembling Bulgarian bells. The work includes 5 huge bells and will be placed under the big stone bridge in the town. The clappers of the bells will be submerged in the river and the sounds will depend on the current. This is a type of syncretistic work and part of its attraction is placing it. Its author deals with mountaineering, so viewers will be surprised. We are also to cover a wall of a building with a 3-D vinyl collage that will create optical illusion. Our aim is to present high-quality art works during the short period of the forum.”

For the second time curator of sculptures is Professor Stefan Lyutakov, Head of the Sculpture Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Veliko Tarnovo University.

"Last year we created a very interesting sculpture,” he says. “It fits very well; the park of Apriltsi, visited by residents and tourists. Without specific training we created two large birds of metal waste materials and stone. People received them very well, despite the modern approach. This year we are also to focus on spontaneous art, drawing inspiration from the place and the materials provided by organisers. Two of my talented students take part in the festival. These are Sergei Peychinov and Nikolay Chemberski. Krasimir Metodiev will also take part in the festival. We will have the chance to share ideas and hear the opinions of visitors. For me it is important that students get acquainted with the environment where the sculpture will be placed. No matter how focused we are in our internal world, we must learn to communicate and help each other. This is what I try to teach my students.”

Head of the music projects is Todor Kotopanov. Together with pianist Magdalena Vasileva, the young bass will perform on May 8th. During the next day a concert of an ethno jazz formation including Stoyan Yankulov-Stundzhi (percussion) and Zhivko Vasilev trio will take place.

English: Alexander Markov