Category: News

The event will take place on Thursday, 6 June at 18:00
FREE ENTRANCE

The film traces the art of dance-theatre with fire in Bulgaria – an interesting and still unpopular artistic format, defined as dance, performance, theatre with fire, circus art, juggling, or “flow arts”. Following in the footsteps of fire performers in our country, the author of Born of Fire and the film crew try to answer the question of what is the impact and almost hypnotic effect of this art on the audience.

After its premiere at the Master of Art International Film Festival, numerous successful appearances at prestigious film forums and the Golden Riton ’22 (a festival for Bulgarian documentary and animation cinema) award for its debut in documentary cinema, Born of Fire returns for the ’24 season. So far it has received a warm response from audiences in Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv, St. Zagora, V. Now it is to be screened at the Museum of Humour and Satire in Gabrovo.

After the screening the viewers will have the opportunity to meet the director of the film Sasha Hadzhjieva and the cinematographer Rumen Vassilev, to ask their questions, and to learn interesting tidbits “from the kitchen”.

“We have documented the work of over 30 artists, some of whom perform as individuals and others who are part of different artistic formations. We show breathtaking dance footage and performances, focusing on different styles and aesthetics of work, and the inspirations and excitement of the people behind them.

The path taken is unique to each one,” the filmmaker told BNR. In her documentary, she collects the artists’ stories in a series of candid interviews and builds a different, artistic and multi-layered world, which is presented through the visually stunning footage of cinematographer Rumen Vassilev and the memorable music of composer Klimen Dichev. The fire, in turn, is a kind of metaphor of freedom, a means of expressing emotion and conveying messages, a way of challenging and transcending oneself.

TEAM:
Director and screenwriter: Sasha Hadzhieva
Cinematographer: Rumen Vasilev
Cinematographers – second camera: Boris Lukanov, Ogi Stoilov, Alexander Krumov
Music and sound design: Kliment Dichev
Post-production: Petar Gulov
Animation: Diana Ilignosheva
Costume consultant: Raya Karpacheva
Translator: Iliana Oblakova

Starring: Viktor Teofilov, Gergana Staneva, Dario Tabakov, Daniel Nguyen, Diana Atanasova, Denitsa Doncheva, Elena Papp, Ivan Tsenkov, Ivanka Kolchakova, Kaya Nguyen, Kiril Uzunov, Maria Nikolova, Maria Slavova, Martin Marinov, Milena Sergeeva, Nikolay Kolev, Nikolay Raichev, Petya Bozhinova, Plamen Ivanov, Plamen Petkov, Plamen Radev, Raya Karpacheva, Raya Tsolova, Rosalia Mitrova, Sasha Hadzhieva, Tanya Racheva

Watch the trailer here.
Add the Facebook event to your calendar!
Keep an eye on the film’s official Facebook page for updates:

The film’s distribution in nine Bulgarian cities is realized by D-Zen Studio and Inner Theater
Company with the financial support of the National Culture Fund of Bulgaria.

About Sasha Hadzhieva: Performer, director, visual artist and designer. She defines herself as an explorer on the edge of different art forms and a seeker of the transformative potential that lies within each.

Born of Fire (2021) is her feature-length directorial debut in documentary filmmaking, and in 2020-21 she also directed the short dance films Untold Dreams, What if you crash on my sofa, and the VR film Control.

Deputy Director Nela Racheviz’s words on the project results and value

Thanks to the funding of the Program “Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation”, the Museum was able to complete an important stage of the process of its renovation and modernization. At the end of this project, among the most valuable gains for the Museum, I would point out the confidence that our team can develop and manage relatively large-scale projects – knowledge and skills that we will develop in the years to come.

The third floor of the museum was renovated, including the exhibition halls, the lobby, and the new library. Machinery, equipment, and furniture were delivered. We started working with software for managing and presenting the art collections and library software. Two exhibitions were created, one of them featuring a mobile application. We developed strategic guidelines for the development of the museum library and entrepreneurial ideas for cultural products and services. We developed a marketing plan, an educational program, and a navigation system to help visitors find their way around the museum.

An important upgrade of the capacity of the museum staff in the digitization of works of visual art has been carried out.

Under the guidance of our partner, the Norwegian University College for Green Development, we combined training with the practical application of new approaches in working with audiences. We have acquired knowledge and skills to support the artistic endeavors of disadvantaged communities and groups.

We are convinced of the significant “added value” of cooperation with various civic groups and will continue to spread the model supporting the connection of Bulgarian museums and galleries with new audiences, new ambassadors, and new topics and interpretations addressed to society. A process based on dialogue and shared creative effort that can make the professional work and achievements of museums more approachable and understandable to usually disinterested audiences, as well as give art critics access to better stories and different perspectives.

You can read the methodology here:

The “Address of Satire” project – creation of an exhibition from the fund of the “House of Humor and Satire” Museum – Gabrovo and an accompanying program on the role and limits of satire and its exhibition in renovated spaces in the Museum”.

The project is implemented under the Program “Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation”, financed by the FM of the EEA 2014-2021.
Contract No. BGCULTURE-1.001-0039

What is the new service in the shop of the Museum of Humour and Satire?

Choose one of the great designs based on artworks from the Museum’s collection and we’ll print a custom T-shirt, tote bag, hat, or bandana in the color of your choice right before your eyes.

The new service of prints on textiles is part of the Entrepreneurship Plan of the “Address of Satire” project – creation of an exhibition from the fund of the “House of Humor and Satire” Museum – Gabrovo and an accompanying program on the role and limits of satire and its exhibition in renovated spaces in the Museum”.

The project is implemented under the Program “Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation”, financed by the FM of the EEA 2014-2021.
Contract No. BGCULTURE-1.001-0039

16 – 18 May, Museum of Humor and Satire

Once again, the Museum of Humor and Satire adds a full program to the festivity season in Gabrovo. Here is what to expect at the Museum during the next 3 days:

DAY 1: 16 May

During the first day of the Festival of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo and just two days before the Carnival, the Museum of Humor and Satire team will present part of the results achieved within the project “The Address of Satire” – creation of an exhibition from the fund of the Museum “House of Humor and Satire” – Gabrovo and an accompanying program on the role and limits of satire and its exhibition in renovated spaces in the Museum”, implemented under the Program “Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation”, financed by the FM of the EEA 2014-2021.

Welcome on the third floor, renovated within the project, where:
at 16:00 will begin the presentation of the Museum Library;
at 17:00 in Hall 6 is the opening of the new exhibition “Satire and Propaganda”.
at 18:00 in Hall 3 “Stefan Fartunov” comes the opening of the collective exhibition of PARALLEL of artists Iva, Tihomir and Georgi Rusinovi, Antonia and Ivan Barakovi, and Georgi Karaliev.

DAY 2: 17 May – Gabrovo Day

Open Day at the Museum. Carnival mask-making workshops will be held for the Museum’s youngest friends (unfortunately, all six workshops are already full).
The doors of all cultural institutions in the city will be open.

DAY 3: 18 May – Gabrovo Carnival

This year the Gabrovo Carnival has the theme “Make CARNIVAL, not War”.
To learn exactly how many days, hours, minutes and seconds are left until the beginning, and to folllow all the latest about the events of the Festival of Humor and Satire 2024, check the official website of the Carnival.

16 May, 5:00 p.m., Hall 6

The new permanent exhibition “Satire and Propaganda” traces the period of creation of the Museum’s collection in the context of the new rules in (and uses of) satire during the establishment of the communist regime in our country. Particular attention is paid to how the emergence of the House of Humor and Satire changed and developed the field of cartoons and satire in the country.

The exhibition presents a study of the cartoons that participated in the International Biennial of Humor and Satire, organized by the House of Humor and Satire from its creation in 1973 until the end of the totalitarian period in 1989. Its aim is to assess the possibility of satire in a society in which the freedom of expression is limited, and the possibility of criticism is locked in the norm of “small justice” – individual phenomena and mistakes of the bureaucracy can be condemned to a certain, low level of power, without specifically naming and indicating party leaders, often using the so-called called “Aesopian language”. The organizers of the Biennial are extremely honest, choosing to name the Grand Prize the “Golden Aesop”. The other use of satire in cartoons, where it was directed outwards at international politics and the ideological enemy, was on the contrary quite specific, with clear depictions of political figures such as Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Henry Kissinger. Truthful or not, in a heavily muted and controlled information environment, these cartoons became a propaganda tool – a practice already well worked out on the pages of the newspapers Papagal (Parrot) and Starshel (Hornet) since the establishment of the new government.

In order to illustrate the spirit of the times and the limits of freedom, three events outside the Biennial are also presented in the exhibition:

• the “Hot Peppers” case with the book of epigrams, selected and titled by Radoy Ralin and illustrated by Boris Dimovski;
• the arrest of Todor Tsonev because of caricatures of Todor Zhivkov and other party leaders found in his studio;
• the cartoon “Haidushko Horo” by Georgi Chaushov, published on the pages of the Starshel newspaper in November 1989.

Several key themes stand out in the considered volume of biennial cartoons: wars and conflicts, economic crises, criticism of Western society, apartheid, religion, ecology, on the one hand globally and on the other, domestically – the life of the little man, the bureaucracy , the search for meaning, domestic adversity, power dynamics in the home.

Visitors have the opportunity to engage in the exhibition through an interactive application with two modules – self-irony and re-cartoon. In the first, the viewers can put their own image in the selected cartoon, and in the second they can remix attributes from different cartoons, creating their own one.

The “Address of Satire” project – creation of an exhibition from the fund of the “House of Humor and Satire” Museum – Gabrovo and an accompanying program on the role and limits of satire and its exhibition in renovated spaces in the Museum”.

The project is implemented under the Program “Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation”, financed by the FM of the EEA 2014-2021.
Contract No. BGCULTURE-1.001-0039

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