The upcoming eighth edition of the 180 ° Festival, one of the most innovative contemporary art events in Bulgaria, will take place from July 24 to 30 and will traditionally take over various locations in the capital. After the past pandemic 2020, in which the festival was held for the first time in a hybrid, predominantly digital format, this year the platform for contemporary music, dance, theater and design returns to the live agenda in the capital to meet foreign and Bulgarian artists who will exchange creative techniques and innovations in the field of contemporary art.
The festival selection includes ten international participants, including musicians, composers, dancers, actors, visual artists, sound designers, set designers and more. For its eight years, the platform has proven its ability to be an adequate match of the clock with contemporary art from various fields. For some of them the 180 ° platform is another step in the development, for others – the first presentation in Sofia and in Bulgaria in general. What they have in common is the theme of the festival, on which everyone has a task to think. This year’s theme is ZOOM, and participants will have to look for their own definition, which will be the starting point for their artistic experiment. During the festival week, the artists have the full creative freedom to seek their meaning of the word, to develop their personal interpretation on the topic and to present to the audience their most unusual and bold ideas.
New and highlighted in the program this year is In-Situ: Friction, an educational collaboration project between 180 ° and the International Academy of Modern Ensemble (IEMA, Germany), a music conservatory with a focus on contemporary music. The project allows Bulgarian and German students to explore the different cultural values of the cities of Sofia and Frankfurt am Main, inspiring them to create new innovative formats and cultural projects and to meet the many faces of both cities. The project is part of the Ulysses Network program.
And this year the festival announces an open invitation to professional and non-professional directors over the age of 18 with its competition for the short silent film Videomotion. The films selected by an international jury will be sounded with live improvisation by the guest musicians at 180 ° and will be screened in front of an audience on the last day of the festival. The deadline for sending videos is July 23, the topic is ZOOM, and anyone can participate in the competition with a video of up to 1 minute, and the video candidates must be shot with a mobile phone or tablet. You can find the application conditions HERE.
The beginning of 180 ° is set to be on July 24, when the Goethe-Institut Bulgaria will host the opening of the eighth edition. Then the participants in the festival will be officially introduced to the audience, and the audience will be surprised with a special experiment. The festival will end on July 30 at Factory 126 with an official closing, which will provoke the audience to become a performer.
Details about the participants and all the events within the festival are coming soon. Follow the full program online on the festival’s 180 ° website, as well as on the 180 ° Facebook page. Follow 180 ° and Instagram on @180degreesfest.
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