The Project

The project is executed by the Art Today Association- Plovdiv and financed by the Programme BG08 “Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Arts”, Small Grant Scheme “Contemporary art and culture presented and reaching a broader audience”, Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area.

The project LUMMIX Light Festival has the goal of creating an innovative cultural event, which happens in the city of Plovdiv and helps the cultural diversity and social fusion, trough the cultural dialogue.

Among the specific goals of the project is creating a new art event, which includes creating a new exhibition of contemporary art, enriching the cultural live of Plovdiv, giving opportunity to isolated social groups to participate in cultural events and their direct involvement in the events, and giving opportunity for collaboration between local and international artists and participants from the Roma groups in front of wide audience with innovative works of art. To reach these goals the project inludes the following activities: A workshop in the Stolipinovo Roma neighborhood and the LUMMIX Light Festival.

The workshop includes training of Roma citizens in creating works of art- light installations, objects or video art.

A selection of art works, created by the Roma participants were exhibited in the Center for Contemporary Art- Plovdiv, The Ancient Bath and became a part of the LUMMIX festival. The festival itself happened in two nights. The first one- “In the Spotlight” was in the Roma neighborhood and became a celebration, which integrated а contemporary art installation, created according to the concept of the workshop participants, and traditional Roma music and dances, shown in a creative way, using light. Thus the participants had a chance to come into contact with contemporary art and to show their skills and open the neighborhood and themselves for the broader audience and their culture was accepted and experienced. The second night of the festival included an exhibition in the Center for Contemporary Art- Plovdiv, The Ancient Bath, events in the urban environment, among which different forms of contemporary art, based on light from energy efficient sources- light installations, video art and performance with citizen participation, electroparty and light art show. The LUMMIX Festival of Light turned to be an innovative and large- scale event, which united citizens, works of Bulgarian and foreign artists, of young and established artists and of Roma participants. This was a proof that culture is a shortcut to the integration of vulnerable groups.

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