Kamen Stoyanov
As part of FREE AWAY.
IATRUS ART RESIDENCY (https://iatrus.art/)
The house is very comfortable and spread over two floors. On the ground floor, there is a fully equipped kitchen and a spacious living area overlooking the courtyard. The first floor has two bedrooms, each with its own studio. In February, I stayed in the house alone; in March and April, I shared it with another artist respectively.
Martina Yurdanova, the director of the artist-in-residence program, organized a meeting for me on the very first evening with Galin Popov and Denitza Milucheva from TaM, a space for culture and social initiatives in Veliko Tarnovo (https://tamvt.com/). The Berlin-based filmmaker Eliza Petkova also joined the meeting. During this encounter, I was able to present my working plans and discuss with the TaM team how they could support me in realizing them.
I regularly attended TaM’s weekly events. The place has a warm, welcoming atmosphere and is ideal for meeting interesting people from the city as well as visitors. There, I also met the Ukrainian artist Fedir Aleksandrovich, who has been living in Veliko Tarnovo since 2022. We engaged in an active exchange of ideas. Since I planned to work with analog film material (16mm) and he shared this interest, we decided to collaborate on a short film. With his help and the support of TaM, we were able to bring additional contributors on board and successfully complete the project.
| 1. | My stay in one word: |
| Deep | |
| 2. | Dos & Don’ts in this place: |
| Dos: Visit the historic old town and sights such as the Tsarevets Church and the Tsarevets Fortress. Try the local cuisine – especially Bulgarian shashlik and banitsa. Be respectful towards locals, greet politely, and engage in small conversations. Buy jewelry, souvenirs, or local handicrafts to support the local culture. Don’ts: Don’t be loud or behave disrespectfully in historical buildings or at monuments. |
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| 3. | Things I miss since I am no longer there: |
| The evenings at TaM. | |
| 4. | Where to shop great supplies: |
| Art supplies are easy to find in Veliko Tarnovo; most things are available locally or can be ordered quickly. | |
| 5. | What you should definitely bring with you from home: |
| I didn’t miss anything. The film material I ordered arrived within a week. You can get almost everything either in town or delivered quickly. | |
| 6. | Concerning art at this destination and where I visited the best exhibitions: |
| TaM, https://tamvt.com/ Heerz Tooya Gallery, https://heerztooya.com/ |
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| 7. | Around the studio – where I shop, drink my coffee and get the best lunch deal in walking distance: |
| Coffee Bar Retro, Restaurant Rich. | |
| 8. | Where I like to spend the evening (dinner, drinks, best sound and networking opportunity): |
| Melon Live Music Club, Tequila Bar Funky Monkey. | |
| 9. | What would have been useful to know before coming here and starting my residency: |
| Since I am originally from Bulgaria, I lack the distance to answer this question objectively. |
Website resident: kamenstoyanov.com