The State Institute for Culture Visits Art Center "Vihroni"
This week, a team from the State Institute for Culture - Director Snezhana Yoveva and Chief Expert Yavor Koynakov, visited the Art Center "Vihroni" in the village of Dolno Kamartsi near Sofia at the invitation of Professor Vihroni Popnedelev - former head of the Textile Department at the National Academy of Arts and a famous Bulgarian artist, as well as his daughter Eva Popnedeleva, architect and head of the center.
During the visit, the State Institute for Culture team was thoroughly familiarized with the current project for a visit by a Chinese group of young artists with teachers, who arrived at the invitation of Jess Moskova, Vice President of the China-Europe Association for Culture, Education, Sports and Investment (KEAOCKI), the Association for International Cultural Exchange - Shanghai and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bulgaria to carry out cultural exchange. The event, which began with a representative exhibition at the Union of Bulgarian Artists, continues with various art activities at the "Vihroni" center, as a result of a long-term cooperation between prominent artists from Shanghai and Bulgaria - young artists and teachers from both countries, of which Prof. Popnedelev is one of the mentors.
During the visit, the Chinese group got acquainted in detail with Prof. Popnedelev's collection, techniques and methods, as well as participated in a specially organized workshop for working with felt and painting with natural materials. Ms. Yoveva talked with the leader of the group from Shanghai and exchanged ideas for possible future projects, as well as protocol albums.
The center was established in 1998 and has been shaped over the years as a unique place for holding open-air workshops for artists, courses in painting, textiles and ceramics, conducting activities with children, students and postgraduates for the preservation of traditional crafts and heritage. Over the past few years, an art space has also been built there, combining a spacious gallery, training rooms, a depot for paintings by the participating artists in the dozens of plein airs, as well as Professor Popnedelev's collection of paintings. In 2023, the project and its interesting story were published on the international architecture platform Arch Daily.