PROGRAM:
Measured Drawings
Illustrations by Slava Savova
26 May–18 July
Measured Drawings is a survey into the vibrant processes, actors and unsolicited objects that simultaneously interact with and co-constitute heritage sites. The project’s main tool is the architectural drawing – a key component of the heritage documentation process, usually portraying monuments as isolated objects. Measured Drawings, deploying the same recording technology, reverses the focus of the architectural survey in a discrete attempt to eject the monuments from their perceived status of free-standing volumes.
Added Value
discussion with Ivo Strahilov and Slava Savova
26 May, 18:00–20:00
In the past several decades a major transformation in the heritage preservation polices has emerged. Today it is almost seen as a given that tangible heritage should be subjected to the same dynamics of the market economy, as any other product.
National and international strategies on heritage and regional development are constantly being formulated and re-formulated, bringing ever more closely the objectives of preservation with those of increased visitor numbers. A process unfolding on the pages of thousands of different documents is surprisingly uniform, aided by standardized practices of “measuring” the properties and value of heritage.
In the quest to invigorate the economic life of local communities, the actual communities and their intangible contexts often fall out of the official narratives and the experts’ advice. Through a series of local case studies, we will look into these processes and examine how a seemingly technical procedure – recording architectural monuments – aids the erasure of context.
Read on Journal for Social Vision an interview with Slava and Ivo as a follow-up of the discussion in May 2022.
Communist-Era Cultural Heritage
workshop by Vasil Vladimirov with Live action role-playing game (LARP)
28 May, 12:00–18:00
The workshop will use Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) as a research method regarding the communist-era cultural heritage.
The first part will take the form of a silent walk along a predetermined route in the centre of Sofia. The route will be a combination of defined and undefined directions and stops, and participants will be able to move together or separately.
The second part of the workshop will take place at Swimming Pool, where the participants will be invited to reflect, discuss, and present their impressions and materials collected during the walk.
The workshop is organized in collaboration with Yana Abrasheva.
