Emprove Foundation invites residents of Varna and visitors to the sea capital from the 6th to the 16th of April 2023 to the cultural space ReBonkers, where the impactful exhibition with a cause ‘Awakening Between the Lines’ will be presented. The event will combine visual art with literary readings, a meeting with the inspiring #WomenSurvivors community and the exhibition team. The exhibition brings together in one cause 23 Bulgarian artists, united in the creative mission to unfold their visual reading of stories written by #WomenSurvivors. The exhibition is the culmination of a series of art events under the name ‘Awakening Between the Lines’ by the Emprove Foundation. The series began with a course in creative writing, followed by a literary reading to an audience, and culminated with an art exhibition to prove that art in any form is an unsurpassed therapeutic and socially engaging medium – both for its creators and its connoisseurs. The visit takes place with the support of the British Embassy in Bulgaria and with the honorary presence of Deputy Ambassador Lynne Charles. The coordinator is Olga Mineva, founder of Emprove Foundation. The exhibition will be available for 10 days on ‘Baruten Pogreb’ Str. in the new place for cultural meetings in Varna – ReBonkers. Not far from the Asparuh bridge, the 200 square meter space, most of which is underground, was built around 1850 near the former border wall of the city and was used as an ammunition depot during the Ottoman rule.
Who are the #WomenSurvivors and what are their micro stories?
This is the first Bulgarian community of its kind, created by women who have managed to free themselves from emotional or physical violence, for women who have embarked on the path towards change and a new life. At the end of last year, with the support of the British Embassy in Bulgaria, #WomenSurvivors took a professional creative writing course with British authors Dr. Will Buckingham and Dr. Hannah Stevens from Wind&Bones. This resulted in the creation of nearly 30 micro-stories in the flash fiction genre, with ‘Awakening’ as the main theme. Women had the opportunity not only to acquire a new skill, but also to honour their soul in writing in a delicate way.
The final stories were edited by writers Will Buckingham and Hannah Stevens in their English versions, and in Bulgarian by Nadezhda Radulova and Silvia Ivanova, finalised by Iva Koleva.
Who are the Bulgarian artists?
A number of popular illustrators, multidisciplinary artists and street artists took part in the ‘Awakening Between the Lines’ exhibition. They were given one or more stories, which each of them then turned into a painting based on the related story. In this way, the stories of #WomenSurvivors took on new life through yet another medium of creative expression. Like the women by whom the stories have been told, the styles and techniques of the artists listed are radically different, but this is what enriches the exhibition in an unprecedented way. United in the desire to give voice to the isue of physical and emotional violence, the Bulgarian artists whose paintings you can empathize with are:
- Adriana ‘Addminimal’ Gerasimova
- Alexandra Nikolova ‘Al Nik’
- Angela Pencheva
- Antonia Mechkueva
- Asya Koleva
- Borislava ‘BORISLAVAWILLMADEIT’ Karadzhova
- Vencislav Yosifov ‘Zhermain’
- Gergana Stancheva
- Deyana Stareva
- Diana Dimitrova
- Elena Panayotova
- Elina Buchukova
- Eslitsa Popova
- Kalina Mukhova
- Kaneva drop
- Kiril Zlatkov
- Lyudmil Iliev
- Milena Tsochkova
- Mila Tabakova
- Michaela Karadjova
- Nadezhda Ilieva
- Philip Tsarov ‘Trasher’
- Julian Tabakov
Through ‘Awakening Between the Lines’ you will be able to be inspired by impactful visual art, born of feminine power and transformed through the subjective view of the artist. At the event in Varna, we will also devote our attention to reading the stories that inspired the artists, as our narrators will be Kalina Zhecheva and the actor from the Varna Theater Nedyalko Stefanov. Guests will be able to share their thoughts and feelings against the background of yet another art form, as the evening will be complemented by live music.
Who are the Emprove Foundation?
Emprove’s mission is to raise awareness of the earliest signs of relationship violence, change public attitudes, and support women and girls who have experienced violence. The foundation’s activities include public campaigns for early prevention and awareness, free psychological and legal support for women survivors of violence, coaching, events, trainings, group therapy sessions, art initiatives, as well as building the already referred to community of #WomenSurvivors, which from provides support to other women on their way to change and a new life.
The initiative ‘Awakening between the lines’ is part of #ArtAwakening – an inspired series of art initiatives supported by the Emprove foundation which aims to impact those deep layers of consciousness which only art is able to.
The exhibition takes place with the support and partnership of the British Embassy in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Fund for Women, Sofia Municipality, Photosynthesis, Chitalishte Ivan Vazov – 2014, community partners: ReBonkers.
Link to the event itself on Facebook: LINK
For more information and contact: Olga Mineva, founder of the Emprove Foundation
e-mail: contact@olgamineva.com