Giving Freedom to Bulgarian Artists to Express Themselves on the Facade of the National Palace of Culture

A month before the pilot edition of LUNAR, Bulgarian artists were provoked to create their own light artworks, using the facade of the National Palace of Culture as their canvas. The challenge came as part of the supported by eMAG competition “eXperience by eMAG: Dream, Create and Inspire”. 

We are talking to Miroslava Staneva, Brand Marketing Manager, eMAG Bulgaria, about the company’s reasons for giving this great opportunity to artists, as well as her belief that communications and brands should add value.

Miroslava is a Marketing and Communications specialist, passionate about social responsibility, with over 14 years of experience in the corporate world. Prior to her current role, she was part of the Marketing and Communications departments of Lidl, Nedelya and The Coca-Cola Company.

eMAG joins LUNAR in a very interesting way – by giving an opportunity for artists to apply with their artworks, created for one of the most iconic facades in the capital – the one of the National Palace of Culture. How did this idea appear?

It is in our DNA as a company to give freedom and make things accessible – through the freedom to choose from thousands of products to the freedom to decide where and when to order. We are working to make online shopping more accessible and recognizable, to give access to the merchants to new customers and markets to merchants, through our platform. Somehow, naturally, came the decision to give freedom to artists to express themselves. At eMAG we are driven by innovation and we always strive to be better. I believe that with this competition we give a stage – and one of the most emblematic facades in Sofia, to be an occasion for inspiration and challenge to the artists.

What artworks do you expect to receive?

The competition is open until April 25, 2022 and I look forward to seeing the artworks that have been prepared for it. I have no specific expectations for the artworks themselves – I leave a room to be surprised. Rather, I will be happy and curious to see the different interpretation by the artists on the three topics in the competition – eMotions, eXplore and eFuture.

Why is it important for artists to have an opportunity to show their work and does the business have a role in that?

I am very glad that the question is “why” and not “whether”. Business must be responsible – both to its customers and employees, and to society. To be this element that supports the environment in one way or another – here every company has the freedom to choose specific areas or tools.

At eMAG we strive to develop the environment – both by setting high standards and goals in our field, and in society and important topics. With the support of the festival and the organization of the competition, I hope we have focused on how important searching is. The searching for a new stage for expression, new inspiration, new horizons and something new to inspire others. And the expression of artists and art – I believe that it should be accessible to more people and make our world as beautiful and meaningful as it can be, regardless of its format.

In addition to the artworks of the three winners, the facade of the National Palace of Culture will be transformed with a fourth artwork. The unifying artwork is on the topic “eXperience by eMAG. Dream, create and inspire ”. What is the message you want to send through it?

With the unifying artwork, which will be created by MP-STUDIO, we aim to “tell” and transform the message that each one of us must keep searching – to dream, to create a more beautiful and meaningful world, to be inspired and to inspire others. Demand and curiosity are engines for each of us and it is important to maintain and share them with each other.

It is tangible that technology is increasingly changing the world around us. What is their role in art?

Technology not only changes the world around us, but is an integral part of it. As in principle, so in art, I believe that they give more freedom – for expression, for experiment, for innovation, for interaction. It is the interaction with the artwork or the story that is perhaps the most valuable thing that technology provides, in my opinion. Thus, the viewer is not just an observer, but can be a part, even personalize the artwork, be a co-creator of something new. In my opinion, technology is another opportunity for artists and a way to express themselves.

The festival aims to become an annual event. What do you imagine it to look like in 5 years?

I imagine the whole city to be transformed with interesting and interactive installations, projections not only in the central part of the city, but why not with a focus on industrial buildings or certain suburbs. It may even happen in parallel in several cities. I believe that the festival will become one of the key events in the country – an occasion to attract foreign artists and give a big stage to Bulgarian ones, an occasion to see the city through new eyes, an occasion to be inspired, to explore and be fascinated by the environment and beauty around us.