Sofia’s hottest new contemporary art center

The long-awaited opening has the potential to really innovate Sofia's cultural scene. Until now, attempts to create a multifunctional space, which would unite diverse art forms, have been short-lived and considerably more modest in size and ambition.

Reopening after 40 years

Hidden behind one of the small hills of the capital's South Park, between the historic and cultural complex "Garrison Shooting Range", the Hilton Hotel and the Perlovska River, the building could have been easily ignored - until now.

The heating plant was constructed alongside the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in 1981 and was used to heat up the mastodon building until 1983, after which NDK got its own internal heating system. The heating plant was abandoned and it took over 30 years before someone had the idea to revive it.

In 2014, as Sofia was preparing its candidacy for the European Capital of Culture (a competition was subsequently won by Plovdiv), it also hosted the international meeting of the world's largest performing arts network, IETM. Mr Dimov was a member of the board of advisors of ITEM at the time. "We started thinking about whether something could be done with Bulgaria's abandoned industrial heritage, because after all, it is something that has been happening all across Europe, and especially in the former Socialist bloc - turning abandoned buildings into centers of art and culture," Mr Dimov points out.

Mr Dimov sees the project as a rare opportunity for a meaningful relationship between the independent art scene, the municipal administration and foreign cultural institutes and networks. After an international competition in 2019, the project to redevelop the 4,895 square meter building was won by architects Mariana Serbova and Anton Kolev. The construction works started 18 months ago.

What hides in the "Toplotsentrala?"

The new space's director sees "Toplotsentrala" as an opportunity for Sofia to catch up with some global trends. "From my 20 years on the cultural scene, I have noticed that contemporary art has increasingly moved out of its traditional borders - genres are separated from each other less and less, and different means of expression are combined," Mr Dimov says.

"Toplotsentrala" will open a hall for two hundred people (Hall 1), which starts functioning this month, and in the coming months two outdoor spaces will be completed - a terrace and a small amphitheater with a 80-person capacity, an exhibition space where the program will be curated by Vladiya Mihailova, as well as a bar with a small stage.

The most ambitious and time-consuming change to the building, however, seems to be the additional construction of a two-storey residency center where visiting artists will be able to live and work temporarily in Sofia. It is planned to have an administrative part, two double and two single rooms.

Mr Dimov sees the project as a rare opportunity for a meaningful relationship between the independent art scene, the municipal administration and foreign cultural institutes and networks.

The launch of the regional cultural center, whose grand opening is scheduled for 2022, is being carried out with funds from the budget of Sofia Municipality, the owner of the property, and with the financial and methodological assistance of the Ministry of Culture. As it becomes operational, the funding will be supplemented by profits generated through tickets, bar revenue, room rentals and donations.

"For the last seven years I have been researching different business models in Europe," says Dimov, whose work as a director has taken him to the stages of the Netherlands, the US, Russia, India and Indonesia. His research led him to conclude that there is no place around the globe today where it is possible for such a center to exist without subsidies, unless it is entirely commercial. "Especially in a country like ours where patronage for the arts is not developed."

Mr Dimov takes inspiration from similar places in Europe that have been abandoned, but are changing their functionality successfully. He cites the examples of HAU in Berlin, Podrum in Zagreb, Ljubljana, where the artistic community has several similar locations, including Kino Šiška and Stara Electare, the Arka Theatre in Prague, Trafó in Budapest and The Paintbrush Factory in Cluj, which has made Romania a leading force in contemporary art. The center is also a member of Trans Europe Halles (teh.net), Europe's oldest cultural network, created with the idea of bringing abandoned buildings back into the urban environment.

By the end of 2021, "Toplotsentrala" will host three foreign performances by the famous theatre and dance companies and performers Sascha Waltz and guests (Germany), Jerome Bell (France) and Emes Chuhorka and Csaba Molnar (Hungary). Find out more about the programme at actfest.org.