Syndicate:Center for Computer Arts-Sofia, Bulgaria

[krasi@[194.141.1.156]]

Centre for Computer Arts

At the end of last year Soros Centre for the Arts - Sofia and the
Student Computer Arts Society joined resources and efforts to
establish a Centre for Computer Arts. The Centre aims to support the
development of non-commercial computer art projects - graphics,
computer animation, electronic and computer music, multimedia and
videoart. The Student Computer Arts Society for provided the premises
and part of the equipment required while Soros Centre for the Arts
provided the grant for project development as well as the rest of the
technical equipment. The Centre for Computer Arts acts as a grant
giving body as well as an information resource centre.  The centre
also aims to facilitate the international presentation of Bulgarian
computer art projects. 

In November 1996 the Centre for Computer Arts (CCA) began active
consultations with artists willing to submit projects for financing
during 1997. For four months CCA consultants met with more than 80
people to discuss their ideas and to assess their abilities to
complete the projects. We did not aim to censor the artistic ideas but
to be assured that artists could realise their ideas with minor help
from a computer specialist. We were really interested in providing
financial support for projects that were sure to be completed. 

Eleven projects were selected for financing in 1997 ranging from
computer music to CD-ROM and Internet Interactive projects. Some of
the projects will become parts of installations on their completing.
The Internet project of Petko Durmana "Interaction" will be an
interactive installation demonstrating the changes following the
interaction between the outside agents and the individual inner needs.
Through Internet all participants in the installation will be able to
"inject" different substances (agents) to the object (a human body)
and watch the changes that follow online. 

A CD-ROM project called "The Conquest of the Irrational" allows the
viewer to animate the image and to interact with the picture in order
to "see" through it a different image. 

We were happy to receive 4 projects from very young artists. All their
projects are almost ready computer films for whose completion we
provide technical support.

The Centre for Computer Arts also supported two projects for computer
music.

As for the plans for future development of the Centre for Computer
Arts, a more detailed information as well as some of the projects on
the Internet will be soon sent to you. Look out for our Homepage at
the end of April! 

We also plan to organise a number of seminars and workshops to train
Bulgarian artists to work in and with the new media. 

For more information on the project contact Krassimira Teneva, project
coordinator at Soros Centre for the Arts at kteneva@sca.osf.acad.bg 

or Rossen Petkov, Student Computer Arts Society at rkp@vmei.acad.bg
Krassie Teneva
Soros Centre for the Arts
16 A, Patriarch Evtimii Blvd.
Sofia 1000
tel/fax: 00359 2 898994 or 00359 2 9802861
e-mail: kteneva@sca.osf.acad.bg