Some of the most beautiful buildings in the capital will be part of the first edition of LUNAR festival’s program. Among them is the neoclassical facade of “Kvadrat 500”, on which a 3D mapping show will tell an exciting story about the voices that live in each of us and predetermine our life decisions.
The artwork is called “Imagine” and will be realized with the support of the European Parliament and the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria. It is part of the celebration of Europe Day in our country, and we are talking to Teodor Stoychev, Head of European Parliament Liaison Office in Bulgaria, who shares more about the exciting tradition of celebrating this special day through 3D mapping performances in Bulgaria.
When we made the first show in Bulgaria, 3D mapping was a completely new format for the country, which provoked extremely strong interest among the audience, with a huge response in the media and social networks. That is why we decided to continue celebrating Europe Day in this way for the next 2 years, in cooperation with the Representation of the European Commission, and this has become a kind of trademark for us. Our first large-scale projection in 2017 on the facade of the National Art Gallery caused a real boom in social networks, with tens of thousands of views and shares and hundreds of very positive reviews and comments. During the pandemic, it was impossible to gather many people in one place, so we are happy that this year we can once again delight people with such a large-scale public event on the occasion of the 9th of May. Through this type of light and sound show, we can tell a story with a strong emotional impact, reaching many people.
Photo: EUROPE – YOUR HOME, 3D projection mapping for Europe Day, 2018
I believe that organizing large 3D mapping shows for the general public promotes light art and puts our capital next to many cities around the world, where such festivals are organized regularly and attract tens or even hundreds of thousands of tourists, while enriching the cultural environment.
In 2017, the theme was our common home Europe and the show incorporated elements of Bulgarian and European history, focusing on the issues of identity. Next year, the leitmotif of the show on the facade of the Council of Ministers was the European Year of Cultural Heritage, and in 2019 the focus was on the importance of choices that we all make and civic activism, as European elections were held in the same month.
Photo: TODAY, 3D projection mapping for Europe Day, 2018
From the very beginning, our goal was to celebrate Europe Day in a beautiful and memorable way, because until Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, the 9th of May was associated only with Victory Day. We do not want to oppose these two dates and build new dividing lines, but on the contrary – we want Europe Day to be seen as a day in which we are united and celebrate equally with all other Europeans the successes we have achieved together.
In 2019, Festival of Lights was guest in Bulgaria for the first time, celebrating the Europe Day thanks to the invitation of MP-STUDIO and in partnership with the European Parliament, the European Commission in Bulgaria and the Plovdiv 2019 Foundation, as part of Plovdiv’s program for European Capital of Culture. During two evenings (May 9-10), tens of thousands of residents and guests of the city were able to enjoy two 3D mapping shows and five light installations projected on the facades of the main street of the city and the city park. The concept and content of the light productions for the whole festival was created by the artists from MP-STUDIO. As this was the year of the European elections, our show in 2019 was dedicated to the importance of voting. It was extremely exciting for our team to watch the transformed city during these two evenings. During the day we had the opportunity to talk to the people in Plovdiv at our stands and hear their positive feedback about the festival. We expect this year’s festival, which will last 4 evenings, to gather even more audience and help place a stronger emphasis on the principles and values on which the European Union is built.
Photo: TOGETHER WE CHOSE OUR FUTURE, 3D projection mapping for Europe Day, 2019
Since 2022 has been announced as the European Year of Youth, this year’s show will be represented through the eyes of a young person in whom the inner voices of fear, doubt, but also of hope and faith fight. Our goal is to share our main message for peace as one of the main goals for which the European Union, through the emotions experienced during the show. We believe that solidarity with Ukraine is the most pressing issue on this Europe Day, and we want to emphasize the unity of Europe regarding this topic.
We hope that the Festival of Lights will become an annual event that will grow, gain more popularity, draw attention to Bulgarian artists who are engaged in this art and will attract more and more foreign participants and audiences. The festival could become the main focus of Sofia’s cultural program. Thanks to the organizers of MP-STUDIO, who are representatives of the Festival of Lights International, the installations from the Bulgarian LUNAR Festival of Lights can reach millions of people around the world who follow their social networks.
Teodor Stoychev has been the Head of the Bureau of the European Parliament in Bulgaria since March 2016. He graduated from the 9th French High School in Sofia, has a Bachelor’s degree in History from Sofia University and a Master’s degree in History of International Relations and European Integration from the Robert Schumann University in Strasbourg. His previous experience includes working as an editor and editor-in-chief of various media, and since 2008 he has been a Press Officer for the European Parliament in Brussels and then in Sofia.
The creation of 3D mapping, exciting animations, music through artificial intelligence, and the art of night photography will be just part of the topics of the program Leading Bulgarian and [...]
