On Saturday, May 12, the Tsar Samuil Street downtown Sofia will be breathing in the beat of drums and will turn into a palette of images, moods and colors. For a day in the car-free area, art will engage into a casual dialogue with passers-by, speaking to them in the most versatile language.

For a second consecutive year, the Vapreki Foundation transforms one of the most artistic streets of Sofia into a space dedicated exclusively to art. This time events under the project“ Europe through the Eyes of Young Artists” project will be dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Prof. Dobri Paliev, the founder of Bulgarian percussion school.

“Last year the focus was placed on composer Dimitar Nenov, who lived near this street, but this year the focus is on percussion instruments,” Stefan Dzhambazov, head of the foundation says.“ We used the anniversary of Dobri Paliev, however, as a starting point, with the aim of bringing arts and achieving a spiritual community. This means this part of the street (between the streets of Denkoglu and Solunska), where several galleries, workshops, the home of opera legend Boris Hristov, and other art places are situated, becoming a spiritual space and people recognizing it as a kind of cultural center and not just as a street.”

Edmond Demirdjian and his drums

“Our gallery is open to young Bulgarian artists and will present designer Sofia Dyavolova, who graduated in Florence and has an experience working for Italian fashion brands,” gallerist Silvia Bezuhanova says. “In her conceptual designs, she treats fabrics with innovative techniques – she paints on them, adds glue, and she even puts them in transparent frames like paintings.”

Fine art, however, will not only be seen in galleries. Throughout the day students from the Sofia High School of Art will work on the theme of "Percussion Instruments" in the street, while in the early afternoon people will hear the sound of the most Bulgarian instrument.

“We open the events with ensemble ‘Tupan’ and a work by Stoyan Yankulov, written especially for the group,” says its head Maria Palieva. “Ten musicians of the music school will play a mix of pieces characterized by extreme radiance and energy. For me the drum is a symbol of the Bulgarian soul. The power of Bulgarians is visible in it and the emotion is very strong.”

Asen Avramov's acting students will join with a street performance.

Asen Avramov with his acting students

On the specially designed stage people will also see Palliev's Sparkles ensemble, Martin Tabakov, who will play instruments made with the methods of sculpture sculptural way, percussionist Branko Valchev, and the final will be for the drummer Alexander Daniel together with famous trumpeter Rosen Zahariev - Roko.

Marian Tabakov and Rosen Zahariev - Roko

English: Alexander Markov