The Municipality of Sofia (Sofia Development Association) and the Red House Center for Culture and Debate presented the second of a series of discussions entitled “Sofia – Candidate for European Capital of Culture 2019: Cultural Infrastructure – Perspectives for Development”. Mr. Petar Dikov, Chief Architect of Sofia, was a special guest at the discussion.

According to him, Sofia has a very big potential to be a cultural center in the Balkans. Mr. Dikov pointed out the main resources of the cultural milieu:

Archeology – in two years’ time Sofia will be able to show the archeological excavations in the Largo and Maria Luisa street quarter; they can be built upon which will make Sofia the first two-layered city with a difference between the two of 2000 years.

Architecture and town-planning heritage. A question was raised about the difficulties accompanying the preservation of the architectural heritage and the possibilities that the public-private partnership provides for its protection. Architect Dikov gave as an example Yablanski’s house, which has been included on the list of self-demolishing buildings in 2006, and after much effort in 2009, repairing activities have started and the house has been preserved.

Cultural substances – Sofia needs an extension of its material base where cultural products are to be exhibited. A Sofia museum will be created for the first time in the building of the Central Public Baths. The museum composition is yet to be built, the so called Bulgarian Louvers, exhibiting not only Bulgarian, but also foreign expositions. Owing to the good partnership with the Union of Actors, an open stage was built in front of the national Palace of Culture. The building of more open stages is a possibility yet to be utilized. Besides expansion of the material base, it is very important to rethink the use of the current one. For instance, the use of the Museum of Archeology might be rethought and part of its expositions can be moved to the Largo Museum; the Museum of Archeology can be turned into a cultural center. The “Military NDK” can be transformed into a concert hall.

The main conclusions of the discussions that united the opinions of the larger part of participants were:

-         It is necessary to improve, in technical terms, the extant cultural infrastructure of Sofia – the halls, the equipment of museums, theaters, galleries;

-         To map and analyze the extant cultural infrastructure in order to delineate the existing potential, as well as the necessity of building new material base and improving and transforming the current one;

-         To think about updating the visual identity of the city;

-         To develop a conception for the creation of active cultural spaces such as the old tramway depot, the Water Tower in Lozenetz, the former youth center “Lilyana Dimitrova”, etc.

-         In the strategic directions on the development of policies in the sphere of culture in Sofia, the periphery of the city is to be paid attention to, in order to decentralize culture from the city center;

-         To deepen the dialogue and partnership among public institutions at the national and local level as regards the status and the ownership of building and terrains that can be turned into cultural centers.

The potential risks mentioned by the participants during the discussion were:

-         Sofia must not rely solely on its millennial history and heritage as a guarantee for winning the title, because the creative potential and innovativeness of the proposed events and projects are to be estimated. Te historical legacy and long-lived cultural traditions of the city can be of use, but the city’s Capital of Culture candidacy program should be composed of specific cultural events.

-         Sofia should not rely only on import of culture from outside, from the European countries, in order to respond to the European dimension of its candidature.

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