00:00-23:59 | 22 |
Artistic Walk: The story of Toplocentrala - How a dream came trueLocation: Start in front of Toplocentrala. You will need a smartphone, access to the internet and a pair of headphones. You can access the audio via the QR codes which can be found around the Toplocentrala building.
Location: Start in front of Toplocentrala. You will need a smartphone, access to the internet and a pair of headphones. You can access the audio via the QR codes which can be found around the Toplocentrala building.
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility This self-guided audio walk takes you around the Toplocentrala building and surrounding park, telling the story of how Toplocentrala came to be. Duration: 30 minutes Audio guides: Accessibility: You can take the walk at your own pace. See the Practical Information for details about accessibility at Toplocentrala. |
00:00-23:59 | 21 |
The Tower - Art installationLocation: Park alley, next to Toplocentrala
Location: Park alley, next to Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Duration: The installation is accessible at any time. Get in touchProduction contact : Christian Bakalov |
09:00-18:00 | 18 |
Daytime meeting spaceLocation: Foyer, Toplocentrala
Location: Foyer, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility The foyer at Toplocentrala will act as a space for you to meet up with old and new friends and take a break between or during sessions. You may want to grab a coffee or explore possible collaborations with international peers. It’s your space! |
09:30-10:30 | 22 |
Burn In: Connecting bodyLocation: Hall 3, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 3, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility With several impressions, IETM meetings can be intense for the mind and heart. Тo sustain your energy, good mood, freshness and curiosity, we’re offering this gentle physical session with our vehicle - the body - which unlike our mind is always here and now, ready to support your ‘burn in’ experience. Maximum number of participants: 30 Just turn up - first come, first served. |
09:30-11:00 | 18 |
Breakfast with the Global ConnectorsLocation: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Following the Global Connect 'Conversation Starters' Online Sessions held on 30 April, 30 participants have the opportunity to share breakfast with the 10 Global Connectors 2024 to deepen the discussions and ideas sparked online in a face-to-face setting. You can watch the sessions recordings with the presentations of each Global Connector here. Maximum capacity: 30 |
09:30-11:00 | 22 |
Artistic Walk: City Sensory JourneyMeeting point: In front of National Gallery
Meeting point: In front of National Gallery
Address: pl. "Sveti Aleksandar Nevski" 6 | Event Map | Venue Accessibility The City Sensory Journeys present an unusual point of view towards the city and its many dimensions. These journeys allow us to reach a deeper state of awareness about the space outside and within ourselves. An experience beyond words engaging all senses of the participants (sights, hearing, touch, smell, taste). These are journeys for those of you who like to explore and experiment, and those of you looking for poetry and the soul of the world around you. Last but not least, these are journeys which help you slow down, stop time, even lose yourself completely. It depends entirely on you how far you will go. Guide: Sensory Theatre Sofia and the Institute for Silence Research Accessibility: The walk is about 3.5km long and participants will be blindfolded for most of the walk. It is not suitable for people with mobility difficulties. The walk starts on the stairs of Sofia university between the statues of the two brothers Georgievi and ends in front of Toplocentrala. Maximum number of participants: 20. This session requires pre-registration. Price: Free of charge with an optional discretionary donation at the end of the walk |
10:00-18:00 | 18 |
Accreditation and information deskLocation: Foyer 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Foyer 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Our staff will be at the accreditation desk to answer your questions and provide you with your badge if you weren’t able to get it the day before. The first session on Thursday starts at 10:00. |
10:00-19:00 | 21 |
Planetarium - Understanding dark matterLocation: Planetarium, Toplocentrala
Location: Planetarium, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility This immersive movie experience about space takes place every 20 minutes. Duration: up to 25 min Credits: Planetarium Andromeda Get in touchContact: Sofia Planetarium How to book?You can purchase your tickets on the spot at the reception - no pre-booking required. |
10:00-11:00 | 18 |
Who's there?Location: Terrace, Toplocentrala
Location: Terrace, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility A speed-meeting session for those who want dedicated time to make new connections. This is the most joyful and fun way to start your meeting experience. |
11:15-12:45 | 19 |
Sensing Earth WorkshopLocation: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility This workshop encourages practitioners to further reflect on the environmental, organisational and political aspects of their practice, and to explore tangible new ideas for the development of greener, more resilient, and ecologically connected performing arts. Participants will break into three groups, each of which will tackle one of the themes below. Tackling the tension between artistic autonomy and environmental responsibility placed on artistic work - whether art is being instrumentalised for ecological purposes and how growing demands for ‘climate proof’ art may change the aesthetics of its works. How can we develop autonomous aesthetics that are closer to the Earth, to nature and our ancestors, perhaps by drawing lessons from indigenous cultural practices? Sensing Earth Organisations: How Can We Constitute Ecologically Sustainable Art Institutions? Given the potential influx of greening regulations aimed at benefiting our ecosystems, which can be challenging for cultural organisations, we look at how to take environmental sustainability into our own hands. We look at strategies for self-organisation based on the principles of the commons, which offer a third space between state (government subsidies) and market (creative industries). How could the performing arts make cultural organisations greener, yet more resilient, by managing natural and cultural resources independently and in a circular manner? Sensing Earth Politics: How Can We Influence Decision-Making that serves People and Planet Political decision-making focuses too much on greening existing industry sectors through technological innovation. Arts and culture are expected to deliver the creative resources that drive such innovations, to increase citizens’ ecological awareness and to mitigate socio-economic decline in places that are undergoing profound climate-related transition processes. We will attempt to design elements of more advanced cultural policies that respect culture and nature as one ecosystem that serves people and planet rather than already powerful industries and lobbies. Moderators |
11:45-13:15 | 18 |
PitchoramaLocation: Hall 4, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 4, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility The IETM Pitchorama is a session where you can present a project or an idea and look for partners by taking part in a live pitching session and Q&A during the IETM Sofia Plenary Meeting Moderator: Cathie Boyd |
14:00-15:30 | 19 |
How do we make it work? A panel on working conditions and status of the artistLocation: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Amidst the challenges magnified by the pandemic, the importance of the 'status of the artist' has become increasingly evident in both national and international dialogues. This concept has not only influenced numerous discussions but has also been incorporated into the names of new laws. The topic of working conditions in the cultural sector has gained momentum at the European Union level, and several national governments across the globe introduced new measures to tackle it. However, UNESCO’s recent study investigated the global situation and concluded that despite the increase in various laws and measures to address artists’ status, conditions are worsening for many artists worldwide. What are the reasons? Is political will insufficient to effect change, especially in the face of rapid changes and constantly emerging global challenges? Are these measures too progressive for their rather conservative contexts? Or is there a lack of recognition of both old and emerging issues that artists really face today? This panel aims to make a breakthrough in the ongoing quest for better working conditions in the arts sector by gaining deeper insight into the types of solutions in place and the obstacles to their success, and shedding light on the nuances crucial for advocating or designing policies in this complex field. Moderator Elena Polivtseva, Belgium Speakers Tom Fleming, United Kingdom More speakers to be added. |
15:00-18:00 | 21 |
Sensory Theatre - PortalLocation: On the river towards the left side of the bridge, towards the mountains
Location: On the river towards the left side of the bridge, towards the mountains
Address: Ivan Vazov District, 3 Petko Karavelov Blvd., Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility This site specific performance will be located on a steep slope heading down to the river and is not accessible for people with limited mobility. The performance requires good walking shoes and comfortable clothes to enjoy the experience. The sensory experience requires silence, touch from the facilitator and contact with the water. It's a unique individual experience. IF WATER IS A DOOR, A PORTAL… …then what lies on the other side - and have we already passed through? Indeed - who is the ‘water’? Is it possible for the answers to these questions to be available not to THINKERS and their rational minds, but to EXPERIENCERS through their senses and intuition? And if so, would you become one of them? PORTAL is an immersive sensory performance created by SENSORY THEATRE SOFIA, in a site-specific context of the river and the water park next to TOPLOCENTRALA. Duration: 30 min. Entrance is permitted every 10 minutes at the following time: 15:00 Genre: Sensory theatre, site specific theatre Get in touchProduction contact : Zlatina Toleva, PR Manager Global Vision Circle tel:(+359)0885 617 207 Status: Available for local versions and ready for touring How to book?Tickets are available to purchase on the spot, in Foyer 1 at Toplocentrala. There will be a printed schedule and you can book your preferred time slot for either June 12, 13 or 14,4 from 15:00 until 18:00. It’s a personal experience, so you canwill enter individually at your allocated time. The performance is limited to 20 people per day. Important: After you register at the Toplocentrala reception and receive a ticket with the exact entry time of your performance, please arrive at the location 10 minutes before to be able to enjoy the performance. |
15:30-17:00 | 19 |
What we burn for and what we burn out fromLocation: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility In this small group session led by a psychotherapist, artist and writer with over 24 years’ practice, you will learn practical techniques to help centre your thoughts and feelings as you move through your day – whether you have five, three or only a minute! Participants will be asked to share the biggest points of stress in their lives, and we will draw on a range of techniques - breathing, body work, meditation and creative activities – to discover the most useful tools for tackling them. Working with the group, you’ll have the opportunity to rehearse putting the tools into practice. Wear loose clothing, warm socks and comfortable shoes for walking and moving. Maximum number of participants: 30. This session requires pre-registration. Moderator Virginia Zaharieva, Artist & Psychotherapist, Bulgaria |
15:45-16:45 | 19 |
Defining a professional artist - measure for measureLocation: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Europe hosts a wide variety of contexts for artists to work within. Some of them include more and some less obvious ways on how an artist can survive and live sustainably by practising their profession and the adjacent competencies. As a follow-up to the panel How do we make it work? on working conditions and the status of the artist, this session will provide a practical and hands-on approach to help us get on the same page in the rich contextual environment. We will form working groups to explore further local contexts and possible ways to define what a professional artist is, based on a variety of social, economic and cultural factors. We will aim at developing an ‘Are you an Artist?’ calculator in order to help better ‘quantify’ what a professional artist is. Moderators |
17:30-18:20 | 21 |
Art Office - The oranges and love of…Location: Amphitheatre, Toplocentrala
Location: Amphitheatre, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility The popular play by the Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi ‘The Love of Three Oranges’, together with the poem by Jacques Prevert ‘Like A Miracle’, are the foundation of the play The oranges and love of… by Anastasia Subeva. It is a vibrant celebration honouring humans’ foolishness and naivety, while at the same time talking about how wonderful man can be in their inability to achieve their beauty and dreams. Through the prism of street comedy the authors mock excessive ambition, greed, ignorance and naivety. Clown performance, music, songs, dance and acrobatics are among the main means of expression of the actors Augustina-Kalina Petkova, Ventseslav Dimitrov and Nikolay Nikolaev, who put their gravity and plasticity to the test. All of this happens in close proximity to the audience - on the square, without the constraints and vanity of the theatre hall. Duration: 50 minutes Credits: Adapted and directed by: Anastasia Subeva Get in touchStatus: Available for local versions and ready for touring How to book?Free of charge. |
18:00-18:30 | 21 |
TanTou - RE(W)RITE! - human specific performanceLocation: Toplocentrala yard, near BAR STAGE Terrace
Location: Toplocentrala yard, near BAR STAGE Terrace
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility RE(W)RITE! is an immersive performance, a ritual space devoid of fictional elements, roles or characters, that takes the audience on an emotional, participatory, journey. Duration: 25 min. Credits: Performers: Nullo Facchini, Maria Stoyanova Get in touchProduction contact: www.tantou.dk How to book?Enter your name at the participation list and be at the BAR STAGE terrace 10 minutes the scheduled time: 18:00 or 18:30. |
18:30-19:00 | 21 |
TanTou - RE(W)RITE! - human specific performanceLocation: Toplocentrala yard, near BAR STAGE Terrace
Location: Toplocentrala yard, near BAR STAGE Terrace
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility RE(W)RITE! is an immersive performance, a ritual space devoid of fictional elements, roles or characters, that takes the audience on an emotional, participatory, journey. Duration: 25 min. Credits: Performers: Nullo Facchini, Maria Stoyanova Get in touchProduction contact: www.tantou.dk How to book?Enter your name at the participation list and be at the BAR STAGE terrace 10 minutes the scheduled time: 18:00 or 18:30. |
19:00-23:00 | 21 |
Planetarium - Amazing journey to the solar systemLocation: Planetarium, Toplocentrala
Location: Planetarium, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility This immersive movie experience about space takes place every hour between 19:00-23:00. Duration: up to 25 min Get in touchContact: Sofia Planetarium How to book?You can purchase your tickets on the spot at the reception - no pre-booking required. |
19:30-21:00 | 21 |
Derida Stage - FractusLocation: Derida Stage
Location: Derida Stage
Address: 32 Tsar Samuil St., 1000 Sofia Center, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility FRACTUS is a visual dance performance in which bodies interact with each other in a certain geometric structure. In the performance, this internal relationship develops in many layers, building a universal pattern in the relationship, which associatively leads the viewer to a personal experience. This visual expression follows the natural regularity of fractals, which are geometric shapes made up of smaller, similar parts. They move in the so-called organised chaos, in which each component develops its own trajectory, limited to a common geometric figure. The concept of the performance provides an opportunity to observe from different perspectives, which allows the viewer to build their own three-dimensional space. Jivko Jeliazkov was awarded IKAR 2017 for a contemporary dance performance for S INNER and is one of the TOP 20 choreographers of Europe in the frame of 'Aerowaves - dance across Europe' with F63.9 performance. Duration: 1h30min Concept & Choreography: Jivko Jeliazkov Get in touchStatus: Available for local versions and ready for touring How to book?Tickets are available for purchase through ePayGO ticketing platform through the link below. The discount of 20% will be applied when enter a promo code WELCOME24 |
19:30-20:45 | 21 |
36 Monkeys - 37 MatchesLocation: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility 37 Matches is a play that walks on the edge of the crime story genre. It is also a play about social inequalities in Western societies, which are increasingly exacerbating the tensions between people. These dynamics threaten to explode our connective social fabric. It is no coincidence that the title refers to Andersen's The Little Match Girl. The play will take us directly into the life of Elena, who is a caregiver and at this very moment goes to see yet another client. Everything seems as usual, even better than usual. The agency offers good conditions, the house is nice and the family seem kind. However, she starts feeling pressured from all sides. Her own family needs the money she earns in Germany, and the clients are proving to be less than trouble-free. Duration: 1h15m Credits: Zdrava Kamenova and Gergana Dimitrova Get in touchStatus: Available for local versions and ready for touring How to book?Tickets are available for purchase through URBO APP. The discount is automatically applied through the affiliate link below. |
19:30-20:30 | 21 |
Yalta Art Room - Morphine by Mikhail BulgakovLocation: Yalta Art Room
Location: Yalta Art Room
Address: Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 20, Sofia, Bulgaria | Event Map | Venue Accessibility The one-man play Morphine zeroes in on the human condition and explores the disintegration of character, arising from the clash of reason and emotion, the divine and the earthly, the real and the unreal. Where do self-isolation, alienation, lack of intimacy and love, the search for meaning, and the yearning for connection lead? These are just a few of the unsettling questions Dr. Polyakov must confront... What dreams does he have? What visions plague his hallucinations? What is he fleeing from, and is there anyone capable of rescuing him? Duration: 1 hour Credits: Polyakov: Petar Petrov – Pero Get in touchStatus: Available for local versions and ready for touring How to book?Tickets are available for purchase through ePayGo ticketing platform. The discount is automatically applied through the affiliate link below. |
20:00-21:00 | 21 |
Yanitsa Atanasova - AwlLocation: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Awl is a performance that aims to highlight the state of being ‘stuck’ in one place and how the body can transform even the most limited environment around it. To provoke reflection on the idea of ‘comfort’ and its relationship to social and cultural norms. The awl is a symbol of the desire for physical and emotional liberation, a reminder of how the body can rebel against constraints and seek its sense of comfort and satisfaction. The performance is also a meditation on the experience of sitting and the sensations that can arise in the body when we allow ourselves to be still. An exploration of sitting as not just physiology but as culture. An insight into the circumstances that keep us ‘stuck’ and how we can get out of there, push our boundaries, and discover new potentials to help us move further than just surviving. Awl is the third co-production between One Dance and Toplocentrala. Credits: Concept/Choreography: Yanitsa Atanasova Duration: 50 min. Get in touchProduction contact: Yanitsa Atanasova How to book?Book your tickets through URBO APP via the link below. |
21:00-22:00 | 21 |
Stephan A. Shtereff & Ligna - Nonument 2.0Location: Toplocentrala, Hall 4
Location: Toplocentrala, Hall 4
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Nonument 2.0 is a film about the radio ballet premiered at the Park-monument of the Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship in Varna in October 2022. As a trilogy, it presents the monuments which have lost their meaning over time, and from places of memory and tribute became such of worship of ideological myths and convenient historical narratives. The so-called ‘no-numents’ are ideologically charged, surrounded by hate, nostalgia, attitudes of revisionism and destruction, but also by desire for protection, conservation and rethinking of their function in the present. Can a theatrical interference (performance) demythologise a NO-nument? Can it make a contemporary interpretation of it so that we change the imposed perceptions of the past, we can live the same emotional and critical sense of the present and provide a meaningful future without any lies? Duration: 1 hour Credits: Get in touchProduction contact : Storycatchers How to book?This performance is free of charge and requires no pre-booking - just turn up! |
21:30-23:00 | 21 |
VOX POPULI - ExhibitsLocation: Alley 2, Toplocentrala
Location: Alley 2, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Exhibits is an outdoor theatrе installation in which viewers meet unique ‘exhibits’ in their personal bio-space of 1 sq.m. Exhibits reveals the strength, eccentricity and worldview of people deviating from the social standard. These are stories of real-life individuals, conveyed by the actors through verbatim earphone technique. 1 sq.m is our untouchable zone, an arm's length away, the small circle of attention and the limit of intimacy. The spectator and the actor enter into direct human contact, which can hardly happen in the theatre hall. Genre: Verbatim theatre Credits: Neda Sokolovska Get in touchProduction contact : VOX POPULI Status: Available for local versions and ready for touring How to book?The spots where the artist is going to perform are located outside Toplocentrala, in the park alley. You can join and listen to a story at whichever time you like. No tickets required. |
22:00-00:00 | 18 |
Late night meeting pointLocation: Terrace, Barstage Toplocentrala
Location: Terrace, Barstage Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility An informal moment to come back together, network, relax with colleagues and friends and meet new faces on the large terrace at Toplocentrala. |
22:00-22:50 | 21 |
Ana Dankova - OratoriaLocation: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 2, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility Oratoria is a contemporary performance that creates a neo-dramaturgy consisting of music articulations based on a variety of genres ranging from opera to trash and hardcore by using only the intonation and sound extraction of speech. It choreographs a contemporary dance from the gestures we use while speaking. The project traces human verbal development solely through the non-rational, automatic and affective aspects of speech - intonation (music) and gesture (dance). Thus Oratoria ‘reconstructs; a universal ‘authentic’ proto-language, that everyone can understand, and opens up a space for research into the causes and the functions of speech as a human phenomenon. Duration: 50 minutes Credits: The performance is realised with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and ‘Etud’ Foundation, co-production with Toplocentrala. Written and directed by Anna Dankova Get in touchProduction contact : Anna Dankova How to book?Tickets are available for purchase through URBO APP. The discount is automatically applied through the affiliate link below. |
22:45-23:15 | 21 |
Christian Bakalov - One-TwoLocation: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility breathing (inhale One - exhale Two). The hyperventilation that the dancers are under the influence of at all the time makes their body movements sensitive, with heightened sensibility and devoid of theatricality or acting, referring to one of Marina Abramović's early works - ‘Rhythm 4’, 1974. One Two is a breathing story about life, love, despair, pain, hope before death and dance as a way to go through them to make sense of them. Duration: 40 min Credits: Christian Bakalov Get in touchProduction contact: Christian Bakalov How to book?Enter the URBO APP via the link below and select the date and time of the performance. This performance is limited to 40 people and is an immersive performance using infra-red cameras, requiring audience participation. |
23:55-00:50 | 21 |
Christian Bakalov - One-TwoLocation: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Location: Hall 1, Toplocentrala
Address: ul. "Emil Berzinski" 5, 1408 Yuzhen, Sofia | Event Map | Venue Accessibility breathing (inhale One - exhale Two). The hyperventilation that the dancers are under the influence of at all the time makes their body movements sensitive, with heightened sensibility and devoid of theatricality or acting, referring to one of Marina Abramović's early works - ‘Rhythm 4’, 1974. One Two is a breathing story about life, love, despair, pain, hope before death and dance as a way to go through them to make sense of them. Duration: 40 min Credits: Christian Bakalov Get in touchProduction contact: Christian Bakalov How to book?Enter the URBO APP via the link below and select the date and time of the performance. This performance is limited to 40 people and is an immersive performance using infra-red cameras, requiring audience participation. |