For the fourteenth consecutive year Sofia Paper Art fest will present the best of the paper art world. The motto of this edition is reflected through the exhibitions, artists, locations and partners, thanks to which the audience can enjoy creativity from around the world. The festival is an emblematic event of Sofia’s cultural calendar and for the third time in a row it is a well-deserved winner of the European Innovation Label from the European Commission.

Between March 25 and November 10, 21 exhibitions will present the following sections: Paper Art Biennial; Amateras Annual Exhibition/Competition for Paper Art; Art Book; Art in Urban Environment; Paper Art Academy; Solo Exhibitions; Exchange, Traveling and Virtual Projects.

The program begins with an opening panel including an exhibition with side events by Ukrainian artist Daria Alyoshkina, who represented Ukraine at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The theme of cultural politics in troubled times is part of the project, focusing on the existing emotional boundaries in European society today created by war and their reconciliation through art. The project is in partnership with EUNIC Cluster Bulgaria and the Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria.

The sixth edition of the most prestigious section of the Sofia Paper Art Fest – Paper Art Biennial, will be held in the exhibition spaces of: the National Palace of Culture, Gallery Finesse, Triangular Tower of Serdica (RHM – Sofia), RCCA Toplocentrala, Gallery Mazda, Gallery Sredets, Gallery Serdica, and Art Gallery – Stara Zagora. The selected artists are presented in individual expositions in accordance with the form and subject of their artworks.

As a part of the Biennial is also the Art Book section. This is its fourth edition as the boutique format is displayed in the Serdica Gallery. It is a rare type of paper art associated with collector’s editions, which often transcend the idea of a book and enter the territory of objects with elements of pages, presence of typography, calligraphy, unusual bookbinding techniques or the use of parts of old books.

The program of SPAF 2024 is divided into two main panels – spring-summer and autumn. The edition features three competitions: the traditional annual Amateras competition; the Might II competition; and the Outdoors competition. Selected participants are chosen by an international jury.

In 2024 Sofia Paper Art Fest focuses on the traveling format “Bulgaria. Innovations and Traditions”. After a successful presentation in Brussels and Luxembourg, it has visited The Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Berlin in autumn. Its mission is to present Bulgaria’s cultural heritage abroad through contemporary art.

The autumn panel includes 5 exhibitions with an accompanying programme at the 35th Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria. They are dedicated to three important anniversaries in the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Japan – 115 years since the first official contacts, 85 years since the establishment and 65 years since the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

For the fifteenth year, the "Amateras Annual Paper Art Exhibition/Competition" was held - an exposition named after the foundation and giving rise to the idea of a festival. The event was held at the National Palace of Culture, Semi-based Marble, between May 31 and June 11.

50 authors from 17 countries were selected in the competition.

Jury:
Todor Todorov, Bulgaria
Božidar Plažinić, Serbia
Lyuben Genov, Bulgaria

Awards:
Amateras Grand Prix: Jukhee Kwon;
Award for Bulgarian Author: Petar Lazarov;
Certificate for Art on Paper: Peter Boyadjieff;
Certificate for 3 works: Maria Matyia-Rozpara;
Certificates for Honorable mention: Eliana Anghinah, Ko Somi, Veska Abad, Martina Karaivanova, Metka Pepelnak.

The selected names in the competition for 2024 are:
Argentina: Leticia Burgos;
Austria: Elmar Peintner;
Belgium: Jeannine De Raeymaecker;
Brazil: Eliana Anghinah;
Bulgaria: Adelina Rakovska, Ana Pireva, Anelia Nikolova, Antoniya Avramova, Elena Belova, Ekaterina Hristova, Hristina Decheva, Krasimira Drenska, Martina Karaivanova, Nia Decheva, Petar Lazarov, Stela Modeva, Silvana Ilieva, Sonya Ruskov, Siyana Struncheva, Tina Zlatina, Tzveta Petrova, Veska Abad,Veselka Nikolova;
Bulgaria/Canada: Daniela Zekina, Peter Boyadjieff;
Finland: Minna Marina Tammi;
France: Bruno David;
Germany: Ursula von Kirchbach, Beate Laurien-Zupnickl, Traudel Stahl, Josephine Tabbert;
Greece: Stella Kyriakou;
Japan: Atsumi Murata, Haruko Maetani, Kaori Arai, Mana Yamashita, Mayuko Kume,
Noriko Amano, Sara Yagi;
North Macedonia: Kristina Zimbakova;
Poland: Aleksandra Pietrzak-Pieczyńska, Agnieszka Chrzanowska-Małys, Maria Matyja-Rozpara;
South Korea: Jukhee Kwon, Somi Ko, Woo Book Lee;
Slovenia: Metka Pepelnak;
UK: Jane Walker;
USA: Beanie Kaman, Nicholette Kominos.

Exhibitions:
• Culture of Solidarity Project – EUNIC Fund for Ukraine and Embassy of Ukraine:
• "Lace of centuries", solo exhibition by Daria Alyoshkina, Ukraine, Paper Art Biennale 2024, Triangular Tower of Serdica, RHM – Sofia (March 25 – May 12);
• Paper Art Biennale 2024, two exhibitions, National Palace of Culture, Semi-based West, Sofia:
• "Might II" is, a competition for large-format sculptures by Bulgarian authors;
• "Without Borders I", a selection of foreign authors (May 31 – June 11);
• "Amateras – Annual Paper Art Competition/Exhibition 2024", National Palace of Culture,Semi-based  Marble, Sofia (May 31 – June 11);
• "Art Book", international selection, collector's section, part of the Biennale of Paper Art 2024, Serdika Gallery, Women's Market, Sofia (June 4 – 27);
• "Without Borders II", foreign paper art, part of the Paper Art Biennale 2024, Finesse Gallery, Sofia (June 6 – 25);
• "Pavlikeni and the World", exhibition and workshop, long-term residency project, Community Cultural Center "Bratstvo 1884", Pavlikeni (July 6 – August 6);
• "New Horizons", exhibition and workshop of artists from the Republic of Korea, long-term residency project, "Georgi Partsalev" Community Cultural Center, Levski (July 25 – August 25);
• "Digital – Amateras Collection", a digital exhibition presenting key authors from the collection (September 1 – November 30);
• "Caught in a Spiral", solo exhibition by Nobuko Ueda (Japan), part of the 35^th Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria, The Mission Gallery, Sofia (2 – 15 September);
• "Silent Dialogue", NEXUS Association, exhibition with workshops of Japanese contemporary art, part of the Paper Art Biennale 2024 and 35^th  Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria, Triangular Tower of Serdica, RHM – Sofia (September 4 – October 3);
• "Japanese Impressions", presentation of contemporary Japanese art, 35^th Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria, Mazda Gallery, Sofia (6 – 28 September);
• "Outdoors", exhibition of open-air sculptures, RCCA Toplocentrala, Sofia (September 25 – October 30);
• "Japanese impressions. Amateras Collection, Japanese contemporary art from the Amateras Collection, 35^th Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria, Art Gallery – Stara Zagora (October 10 – November 10);
• "Space of Monochromes", solo exhibition by Kenji Sato (Japan), part of the 35^th Days of Japanese Culture in Bulgaria, Sredets Gallery of the Ministry of Culture, Sofia (15 – 25 October).
• "Bulgaria. Innovations and Traditions", Elena Karamihaylova Art Gallery in Shumen (November 12 – December 10).

Events and exchanges that took place outside Bulgaria:
• Exchange – Jubilee exhibition 100 years since the birth of Janina Monkutė – Marx, Regional Museum "Janina Monkutė – Marx", Kėdaine, Lithuania (January – March);
• Exchange – International Biennial of Miniatures, Cultural Center "Mija Aleksić", Gornji Milanovač, Serbia (April – June);
• Exchange – International Biennial of Textiles and Paper Art "Scythia", Ukraine (4 – 18 June);
• International Exchange Exhibition "The Power of Empathy", Busan, Republic of Korea (July 29 – August 4);
• Exchange – "Art and Paper", International Exhibition of the Association „Circle“, Cultural Center, Čačak, Serbia (July);
• "Bulgaria. Innovations and Traditions", Bulgarian Cultural Institute - Berlin, Germany (September 13 – October 4).

Accompanying events (discussions, lectures, screenings, online presentations and workshops):
• "Vitinanka", workshop and presentation of the traditional Ukrainian technique on cut paper by Daria Alyoshkina (March 26);
• "Cultural Policies in Troubled Times", EUNIC Cluster Bulgaria – Embassy of Ukraine, State Cultural Institute, Cultural Institutes of Hungary, Poland, Italy and Portugal (5 April);
• "What does a person think about", presentation of the book of the same name by the Ukrainian writer Vasyl Gabor, ed. Ergo, 2023, Triangular Tower of Sofia, RHM – Sofia (April 17);
• Japan Bowl VI, a competition for juniors in Japanese language and culture (May 18);
• Presentations and interviews with the authors from the exhibition "Might II" (May – June);
• Workshop for children and adolescents "Paper Masks", Neamera Theater and Italian Cultural Institute and Instituto Cervantes, 122 Nikolay Liliev Primary School, Lozenets District, Sofia (11 – 12 June);
• "Without Borders", workshop, Sofia. Pavlikeni (July 6);
• "Hanji Paper and Korean Fans", workshop, Levski (July 29);
• "Digital", presentation of the projects from the competition for RCCA Toplocentrala (July – November); • "Digital", online presentation of the Amateras collection (October – November);
• "Philosophy and Calligraphy", demonstration at Mazda Gallery (September 5);
• "The Art of Mizuhiki", workshop on Japanese traditional technique, Mazda Gallery (September 6);
• "The Sumi-E Technique and the Japanese Fan", workshop, Sredets Gallery of the Ministry of Culture (16 October);
• "Dynamics in the Visual Arts", book presentation (November-December);
• "The Angel", four workshops, Elena Karamihaylova Art Gallery, (11–12 November).

Austria: Elmar Paintner, Wilhelm Schramm;
Argentina: Eva Toker, Leticia Burgos, Floki Gauvry;
Brazil: Angela Barbour, Eliana Anghinah;
Belgium: Jeannine De Raeymaecker;
Bulgaria: Adelina Rakovska, Ana Pireva, Anelia Nikolova, Antonia Avramova, Daniela Todorova, Ekaterina Hristova, Emil Deyanov, Elena Belova, Hristina Decheva, Krasimira Drenska, Kristina Yakimova, Laura Dimitrova, Margarita Dopcheva, Mila Stoeva, Martina Karaivanova, Nia Decheva, Petar Lazarov, Ralitsa Mircheva, Silvana Ilieva, Siyana Struncheva, Siyana Damyanova, Sonya Ruskov, Stela Modeva, Tina Zlatina, Teodor Lulchev, Tzveta Petrova, Veselka Nikolova, Veska Abad, Zdravka Kostadinova;
Bulgaria/Canada: Peter Boyadjieff, Daniela Zekina;
Chile: Marcela Krause;
Costa Rica: Silvia Pisa-Tendlich;
Cyprus: İsmet Tartar, Inci Kansu, Eser Keçeçi, Kemal Kaymaz;
Czech Republic/Bulgaria: Viola Borkova;
France: Bruno David;
Finland: Mina Marina Tami;
Great Britain: Jane Walker;
Germany: Beate Lorin-Zupnickl, Josephine Tabert, Renate Schweitzer, Sabine Tornau, Sophia Nordmann, Traudel Stahl, Ursula von Kirchbach;
Greece: Stella Kyriakou;
Iceland: Mireja Samper;
Italy: Alberto Farraro;
Japan: NEXUS – Kakuko Ishii, Ichiro Matsuo, Toru Kurita, Mitsuru Kuroki;
Atsumi Murata, Azusa Takaso, Eiko Nagamine, Haruko Maetani, Kaori Arai, Kenji Sato, Masaaki Tate, Mayumi Tsukuda, Mayuko Kume, Mana Yamashita, Mitsue Ito, Nobuko Ueda, Namuo Masuda, Noriko Amano, Ruri Kobayashi, Sara Yagi, , Shinichi Ishihara, Tamaki Sato,Yoshio Ikezaki, Yuki Tsuboyama, Yasuko Iyanaga.
Mexico: Marie Sol Payro;
Netherlands: Aliza Thomas;
North Macedonia: Kristina Zimbakova;
Norway: Eva Sjowall;
Poland: Aleksandra Pietrzak-Pieczyńska, Agnieszka Chrzanowska-Małys, Maria Matyja-Rozpara;
Portugal: António Canau;
Serbia/Bulgaria: Branko Nikolov; Serbia: Bozidar Plažinić;
Slovenia: Metka Pepelnak;
South Korea: Jukhee Kwon, Ko Somi, Woo Book Lee; Choi Imjung, Yoo Junghee;
South Korea: South Korea/Japan: Jiyoung Moon;
USA: Beanie Kaman, Michael Wood, Nicolette Cominos, Pat Hodson;
Ukraine: Andrew Schneider, Daria Alyoshkina, Maria Timenyk, Natalka Shymin, Khrystyna Duvirak.

Amateras Foundation is sincerely grateful to all institutions, sponsors, spaces and media partners who supported Sofia Paper Art Fest 2024!

Institutions:
Ministry of Culture, Bulgaria
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria
Ministry of Tourism
National Culture Fund, Bulgaria
Ministry of Tourism, Bulgaria
Embassy of Bulgaria in Germany
Embassy of Argentina in Bulgaria
Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria
Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria
EUNIC
European Cultural Foundation
State Cultural Institute
Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Berlin
Hungarian Cultural Institute - Liszt
Italian Cultural Institute
Instituto Cervantes
Polish Cultural Institute
Portuguese Cultural Institute
Sofia Municipality
Municipality of Levski
Municipality of Pavlikeni
Municipality of Stara Zagora
Municipality of Shumen
Čačak Municipality, Serbia

Museums and galleries:
National Palace of Culture (NDK)
Triangular Tower of Serdica, RHM – Sofia
RCCA Toplocentrala
Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Berlin
Center „Krug“ for Contemporary Art, Čačak, Serbia
The Mission Gallery
Mazda Gallery
Sredets Gallery
Serdika Gallery
Finesse Gallery
Art Gallery "Elena Karamihaylova"
Art Gallery - Stara Zagora
Community Cultural Center, "Bratstvo 1884", Pavlikeni
Community Cultural Center, "Georgi Partsalev", Sofia. Levski

Associations:
IAPMA, Germany
NEXUS, Japan
JSEEBA
JBBA
BFA
Nihon-Tomo no Kai
Neamera Theatre

Educational structures:
18th High School "William Gladstone", Sofia
138th SUZIE "Prof. Vasil Zlatarski", Sofia
122 "Nikolay Liliev" Primary School, Sofia
"Vasil Levski" Secondary School, Ruse
Kokoro,
Sofia Japanese-American Society

Companies:
Mazda
Number One
JTI
Takeda
Seiko

Media partners:
BTA – Bulgarian News Agency
BNT
BNR
TV1
JazzFM