April 2010
coming soon, in the fair month of may
The theme of the 2010 Goatmilk Festival in Bela Rechka, Bulgaria (21st -24th May) is “ I, THE STORYTELLER.”
How we tell stories today? What we narrate? Why we need to tell stories? Who do we remember and how do we recount the tale? The festival will look for the answers of these questions through the following main topics:
1. 1989 and the Northwest of Bulgaria through the personal story - 1989 – Mapping the Northwest project – lessons learnt - workshop, presentation, exhibition, discussion and talk with Mariana Assenova, Chris Baldwin, Mihail Gruev .
2. The stories of the monuments - Parallels and differences with Franco’s Spain - presentation, exhibition and discussion Mihail Gruev, Nikola Mihov , Ilko Assenov, Chris Baldwin .
3. The shy (оr shameful) story of Migration - Can we narrate the marginal - the Varshets case, a point of intersection with Cuba - film show, workshop, exhibition and discussion with Diana Ivanova, Stefan Komandarev, Babak Salari.
4. The secret tale of fairytales - Fairytales in six languages from Istanbul, Roma tales from the other side of the bridge in Varshets - workshop, installation and performance with Mariana Assenova, Chris Baldwin, Nilgun Oztunali, Greta Assenova .
5. Northern Tales - 2 villages, 200 goats, 80 inhabitants – the parallel story of Undredal (Norway) - presentation with Sophy Clemenz (Undredal-Bergen), Raycho Stanev, Diana Ivanova . Norwegian short documentray screening, Norwegian goat cheese degustation.
6. The songs of Bela Rechka - The singing society presents the forgotten songs in new arrangement (with grandma Todorka Milevka ) - workshop and a concert with Milena Karadjova, Neda Cvetkova and others.
7. The clothes as words - White shirts from Bela (White) Rechka – how one of the festival’s symbols was born - workshop and presentation – Galya Ivanova, aunt Deshka, aunt Nikolina .
8. How to make bread in podnica (old ceramic dish) and in embers - Svilen Klassanov and local women workshop .
9. The Kazan place – a never ending story - readings, music, drums, dance, bar and dinner - 24 hours free program with Raycho Stanev, Galya Ivanova, Nadia Alexandrova, Klassanov and friends of Bela Rechka.
More details at the Goatmilk website.
A contingent from Birmingham will be attending, and no doubt bringing back some of their own unique stories from the mountains. And Raycho Stanev will be bringing over an interactive installation to Brum (http://www.89.nagledna.net/) for June 9th – 21st (The Great Excursion) with Bulgarian food and Rakia on the launch night. A Critical debate is being held there on June 3rd at 6pm. Keep an eye on their web site for details www.edgearts.com or email them at info@edgearts
interchat report back
Our two year programme was celebrated at a two day event in Birmingham, UK, held at The Drum arts centre in Birmingham in partnership with Birmingham City Council Arts Team. On the first day, over 60 participants took the opportunity to hear about the programme of international residencies and exchanges, with examples of the work undertaken by Laundry artists with partners in Bulgaria, Poland and Crete, along with other examples from South Africa provided by Sandra Hall from Friction Arts. In the evening, three musicians from the Music of the Place programme gave a short concert with trumpet, contrabass, turntables, vocals and audio loops, demonstrating their eclectic approach to creating music.
On the second day, over 90 participants from a diverse ranges of groups gathered to hear presentations from Airan Berg (from the 2009 European Capital of Culture Linz, Austria) and Francois Matarosso, alongside case studies from the Artist in Residence scheme operating in the inner city locations of Nechells, Kingstanding, Kitts Green and Handsworth; the Arts Champions scheme with Birmingham Opera and Ikon Gallery; Sound it Out and Big Brum speaking about work with new communities, refugees and asylum seekers; Fierce Festival talking about use of social media; Women and Theatre and Dunia Tetu sharing experiences of their arts and health projects; and Sampad speaking about to develop international exchanges. In the evening participants were invited to attend the opening of the new exhibition ‘In Our Backyard’ at the Community Gallery at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Big thanks to the cooks at The Drum for providing great food, Carmen and Greg for technical support, Charles for the venue, Ginnie from the Arts Team and Sally Rew for event management. (And also thanks to Bob Griffiths, Head of Music at Norton Girls School for loan of the full size contrabass.)
Full event details can be downloaded here interchat-full-event-info, and here is a gallery of images from the event, and we’ll be posting by some video highlights captured by Geoff Broadway and Pamela Wells. (Click here to view them on Dialogues page).
Future networking…
Following the event, Michal Moniuszko, Marcin Lenarczyk and Kacper Sczroeder from the Music of the Place project at Borderland Foundation (along with Agata Sotomska from the Polish Film Institute) were invited for a special preview of the newly rebuilt MAC arts centre in Birmingham, due to open in May. (Thanks to Clayton Shaw from Sampad for the behind the scenes tour). They also visited The Public in West Bromwich and then spent an afternoon with Sound It Out, a community music organisation, sharing project processes. (Thanks to Tomar, Mira and Zirak.) And finally, a quick visit to The Edge in Digbeth.
