12 children and young people from 35 High School “Dobri Voynikov” in Sofia worked yesterday together to transform the environment in which they study and spend their time. With brushes and paints, they created 10 interesting colorful fields.
“Our practice has proved that if we are provoked and involved with a specific work on the space we inhabit, it becomes important for us and we are then more willing to take care of its preservation and good management,” says Pepa Peneva, co-founder of the Foundation “Open Space”. “Our experience over the years has proven that if we live in a beautiful environment, if it is colorful and interesting around us, our own creativity is provoked and we start thinking “What can I do and contribute myself to make it even better?” . The effect of the snowball can undoubtedly be seen here as well. “
Since 2014, Open Space Foundation has launched an initiative in Sofia for artistic intervention in public spaces. We paint benches by presenting books and their authors. We transformed 9 walls (in the electricity trafopost) in Sofia, after which the vandals stopped scribbling them. We made a beautiful environment in the center for children and youth in Fakultteta district and the Center for refugees “Military Ramping” in Sofia, where children, young people and parents receive education, support and development assistance.
We now want to go even further: linking aesthetic and responsible behavior to preserving the environment around “art objects”. By creating positive emotions towards the bins, we want to provoke people and use them. By turning them into colorful spots – they will easily be distinguished in the middle and will provoke people to make an effort to keep their waste to the next color point instead of throwing it into the street.
In the year of cultural heritage, we chose the embroidery as a provocation to young artists. The complexity and diligence necessary for their workmanship draws our attention and reflects on our own efforts in everyday life. Through the action we have started, we say to the people around us: “If the trash can be so beautiful, why should the space around it be ugly and repulsive?” Several Sofia schools are involved in our initiative. 35 High School “Dobri Voynikov” in Sofia is the first. Here are moments from the beginning of the workflow:
The project will continue on the territory of schools in the districts of Darvenitsa, Lyulin and Nadezhda. The project is implemented with the support of the Culture Program of the Sofia Municipality. Participating: children, young people and fine art teachers from 5 schools in Sofia. Besides them: young artists with whom we have been working since 2014, and volunteers from the European program “Erasmus +”.
