Pavlikeni and the World
A project aimed at international exchange and the establishment of a collection of contemporary art for the new gallery in Pavlikeni.
The idea to implement a project in Northern Bulgaria – and more specifically in Pavlikeni Municipality – was born of the development of the Foundation’s Finnish-Bulgarian Art Project. Leaving its usual environment in the capital, the decentralization of the cultural activity of Amateras Foundation provides new opportunities for exhibiting foreign contemporary art. Pavlikeni Municipality enthusiastically joined, for the project corresponded to their desire for a gallery of contemporary are where they could show temporary visiting exhibitions, as well as their own future collection of works. With time, the project became a permanent fixture in the cultural life of the city, while Pavlikeni Municipality also laid the foundations of a rich collection of works of exceptional quality by foreign and Bulgarian authors.
The curator’s concept is to invite a group of artists from a certain country every year so that they could show works created in their art environment, while their stay in Pavlikeni would be dedicated to cultural exchange via events, talks, workshops and inclusion in the city’s life. Thus, over the years locals have seen authors from Bulgaria, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Uruguay, France, Finland, Sweden, South Korea and Japan.
The future plans of the Foundation include presentations of Germany (2021), Japan (2022) and Argentina (2023).
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation of Argentina with the artists Leticia Burgos, Marina Ramazzi, Dino Andrada, Esteban Grimi, Cartobal Farmache, Rodrigo Barroso and Sergio Rosas is postponed for 2023.
Curator: Daniela Todorova
The curators for the individual countries are as follows:
Liisa Malkamo, Finland
Kakuko Ishii, Japan
Keiko Fukai, Japan
Bruno David and Branimira Branicheva, France
Sun Young Kim, South Korea
The Pavlikeni and the World project were held under the auspices of:
H.E. Takashi Koudzumi, Ambassador of Japan to Bulgaria
H.E. Masato Watanabe, Ambassador of Japan to Bulgaria
H.E. Tarja Laitiainen, Ambassador of Finland to Bulgaria
H.E. Harri Salmi, Ambassador of Finland to Bulgaria
H.E. Guro Katharina Helwig Vikør, Ambassador of Norway to Bulgaria
H.E. Ana Maria Sampaio Fernandes, Ambassador of Brazil to Bulgaria
H.E. Jin-Kyu Jeong, Ambassador of South Korea to Bulgaria
The events organized under the project were held on the territory of Pavlikeni Municipality:
• Exhibition “Pavlikeni and the World” that includes artists from Bulgaria, France, Germany and Slovakia. The artworks range from paper art, sculpture and photography to installation. An important focus is the sculpture for urban environment that will be permanently installed in the city. The exhibition is at Community Centre “Bratstvo – 1884” (July 21st – September 30th) with plein air (July 15th – September 21st).
* Due to the unforeseen circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the presentation of the Argentine artists Leticia Burgos, Marina Ramazzi, Dino Andrada, Esteban Grimi, Cartobal Farmache, Rodrigo Barroso and Sergio Rosas is postponed for 2023.
• Exhibition “Bulgaria – France” within the programme of “Pavlikeni and the World” with international artists, paper art, sculpture, photography and installations, workshop for children, plein air with workshop (October 4th – 11th), Main Hall of Pavlikeni Municipality (October 11th – 17th).
• Exhibition “Pavlikeni and the World” with international artists under the patronage of the Embassy of Brazil in Bulgaria, paper art, sculpture and installations, workshop for children, plein air (July 4th – 12th), Community Centre “Bratstvo – 1884” (July 12th – September 12th).
• Screening of the movie “Quixote in the Darkness” about Souza Dantas and guest exhibition from Brazil (July 12th).
• Workshop for children (July 9th).
• Exhibition “Bulgaria – Korea” under the patronage of the Embassy of Republic of Korea in Bulgaria (painting, graphic arts, sculpture and paper art), plein air with workshop (July 2nd – 8th), History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 8th – August 30th).
• Exhibition “Bulgaria – Japan” under the patronage of the Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria (painting, graphic arts, ceramics, sculpture, paper art and workshop), plein air with workshop (July 1st – 8th), History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 7th – September 6th).
• Exhibition “Bulgaria – Japan” under the patronage of the Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria (painting, graphic arts, ceramics, sculpture and paper art), plein air with workshop (July 1st – 7th), History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 6th – September 6th).
• Exhibition “Bulgaria – Finland” under the patronage of the Embassy of Finland in Bulgaria (painting, graphic arts, sculpture, paper art) and plein air with workshop (July 1st – 7th), History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 6th – August 6th).
• Exhibition “Pavlikeni and the World” including international artists, under the patronage of the Embassy of Norway in Bulgaria (painting, graphic arts, sculpture, paper art) and plein air with workshop (July 1st – 8th), History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 6th – August 15th).
• Plein air organized with the kind support of the Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria, History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 1st – 8th).
• Exhibition including four collections, History Museum, Pavlikeni (July 8th – August 8th): 1. “Contemporary Japanese Ceramics” collection, Keiko International; 2. Contemporary calligraphy and paper art, Bulgarian and Japanese artworks; 3. “Takeda” collection, donated to Bulgaria by Tsuneharu and Kimiko Takeda (former ambassador of Japan in Bulgaria and his wife), kindly provided by The National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia; 4. “Ukiyo-e” collection, kindly provided by The National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia.
• Exhibition and plein air “Bulgaria - Finland” under the patronage of the Embassy of Finland in Bulgaria, Community Centre “Bratstvo – 1884” (June 29th – July 5th)
• Exhibition for contemporary art, painting, graphic arts, sculpture and paper art, Pavlikeni Municipality (July 4th – August 5th).
Amateras Foundation expresses its gratitude to all participants in this project:
Brazil: Cristina Rodrigues;
Bulgaria: Todor Todorov, Daniela Todorova, Valentin Balev, Boryana Stefanova, Stefan Popov, Ivona Stoyanova, Milko Bozhkov, Vesko Nachev, Hristo Yonkov;
Germany: Verena Friedrich, Renate Schweizer, Irene Hoppenberger;
Denmark: Henriette Tougaard, Kate Skjerning;
Norway: Kirsti Grotmol, Elen Ringstad;
France: Bruno David, Marianne Colombani, Pascal Pistacio, Arnaud Fonquerne;
Finland: Liisa Malkamo, Laina Koskela, Elina Forsti, Jimmi Puuli, Meri Pauniaho, Leena Passi, Sakke Peltola, Laura Lehenkari, Tuomas Hallivuo, Vilija Lioranciene;
The Netherlands: Marian Smith, Siba Shabi;
Slovakia: Michaela Trijuliak, Miroslav Brosh;
South Korea: Ha Chul Kyung, Go Yun Sook, Kim Sun Young, Yeong Jae Yang, Jeong Gyu Seol, Kong Oh Hee, Yun Zo;
Japan: Kakuko Ishii, Ichiro Matsuo, Mitsuru Kuroki, Toru Kurita, Jiyoung Moon, Atsumi Murata, Noriko Amano, Kenji Sato, Mitsue Ito, Mayumi Tsukuda, Fukiko Nakabayashi, Sumie Matsuura, Kihachiro Nishiura, Kouzo Takeuchi, Shinya Tanoue, Akio Niisato, Kentaro Kawabata, Keiko Fukai, Taro Tabuchi, Machiko Hashimoto.
Amateras Foundation is extremely grateful to all institutions, structures and spaces that supported this project:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria;
Pavlikeni Municipality;
Embassy of Finland in Bulgaria;
Embassy of Norway in Bulgaria;
Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria;
Embassy of Brazil in Bulgaria;
Embassy of South Korea in Bulgaria;
Community Centre “Bratstvo – 1884”, Pavlikeni;
History Museum – Pavlikeni;
National Gallery, Sofia;
Nelimarkka Foundation, Alajarvi, Finland;
Nexus, Fukuoka, Japan;
Takeda Family, Tokyo, Japan;
Nishiura Style, Tokyo, Japan;
Keiko International, Tokyo, Japan;
Communication Sans Frontières, Sofia – Paris, France/Bulgaria;
Korea Art International Exchange Association, Seoul, South Korea.