June 6, 2025

18:00 – 20:00

The site of the former Mausoleum, Sofia

Curator: Vladiya Mihaylova

Moderators: Radoslav Chichev and Lea Vaisova

Participants: Dimitar Kenarov, Petar Denchev, Tsvetelina Yosifova, Velislava Petrova

Visual environment: Filip Boyadzhiev

Video documentation Jelko Terziev

Third conversation in the series “BETWEEN THE PAST THAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND THE FUTURE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN – CONVERSATIONS about society in time”, within the framework of the art installation of the same name by Krasimir Terziev. Placed in the heart of the City Garden, it is the visual and conceptual core of a series of conversations that seek to give voice to the deepest social anxieties, contradictions and opportunities for change.
IS THE PAST OURS?
Today, more than ever, it is time to look back – not to get lost in nostalgia, but to search for which narratives dominate, which are missing and why. How do we relate to the legacy of socialism – as a burden or as a resource? Should we destroy monuments to free up space, and what do we actually put in their place?
The conversation will navigate through concepts such as identity, memory, space, the politics of the past and will look at how these themes shape the present and our ideas about the future.
The mausoleum – as a symbol and a physical trace – resonates in the conversation as a “place of memory”, but also as a zone of resistance and oblivion. The debate will address issues of cultural heritage, urban mythology, destruction as a political act and the shared present as the only territory in which we can consciously influence the past and the future.
Topics and questions:
If we look back, what past do we see? 
Are there any missing narratives? What lies beneath and above the surface of memory? 
What has been destroyed, what remains – and why? 
When does a monument cease to be a symbol and become an obstacle? 
How did socialism settle into our cultural heritage – and why is it difficult for us to leave it? 
Can we “take” something from this past, or must we leave it completely behind? 
The event is open to everyone – passerby, resident, participant in urban life. The square is not just a backdrop, but a space of thought, debate and imagination, similar to the ancient agora – the place where society gathers to recognize and rethink itself. 
Only in the present can we rewrite the past and imagine the future. Welcome to this open circle of conversation, where memory and imagination meet.

The event is part of the Cultural Calendar of Sofia Municipality

Realized by the BulevArt Association

With the support of the Singer-Zahariev Foundation

Partner: Sofia History Museum

Conversation within the art installation
BETWEEN THE PAST THAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND THE FUTURE THAT ALREADY HAS BEEN

City Garden, the site of the former Mausoleum

May 10, Saturday, 4 – 6 p.m.

With the participation of: Alexander Popov, Asen Nenov, Gergana Rakovska, Tsvetelina Hristova

Moderators: Nadezhda Moskovska and Stefan Prokhorov

Visual environment: Filip Boyadzhiev

In the center of the city stands a circle of neon letters – without pause, without punctuation marks, like a thought that tries to contain time. Krasimir Terziev’s installation is not just an object, it is a place for sharing and thinking, in which the past and the future look at each other.
The conversation “Future – Now!” is part of a series of public events within the work. The conversation will seek an answer to the question of how we think about the time that has not yet come, but is already shaping our present. The event is a meeting between science and the humanitarian, between individual fears and community visions. 
Anxiety
What kind of world do we live in and what worries us in it?
The climate crisis, social isolation, loss of orientation – these are not just personal fears, but symptoms of deeper social processes.
Rapid technological changes give rise to uncertainty.
The city – overpopulated, fragmented, often in conflict between development and decay – is a mirror of these anxieties. 
Forecast
What can we predict if we look closely?
Scientific perspectives outline a future of automation and hyper-connectivity.
Education and work are no longer what they were – the future of careers is moving through new models of knowledge, creativity and adaptability.
The urban environment needs a readjustment – ​​towards sustainability, accessibility and care.
Progress
What does “a better future” mean?
Not just growth, but development with measure and direction.
The circular economy and new ecological approaches question old consumption patterns.
Community can be the new engine of change – through solidarity, mutual aid and shared resources.
The conversation takes place where the memory of the place weighs heavily, on the site of the former Mausoleum – loaded with history, irony and paradox. The installation places us “in between” – between the past and the future – but it is precisely this “in between” that is the space of choice, of conscious change, of imagination, which keeps us firmly in reality.

The event is part of the Cultural Calendar of the Sofia Municipality

Implemented by the BoulevArt Association

With the support of the Singer-Zahariev Foundation

Partner: Museum of the History of Sofia

Curator: Vladiya Mihaylova

Interview with Prof. Dr. Yordanka Kandulkova (architect), part of the program of events within the framework of Krassimir Terziev's project "Between the past that is about to happen and the future that has already been".

"It is high time to erase from our behavior the complex of proving ourselves, of constantly seeking the right to be Europeans. We have it by birth.

The past is a pillar and a deep wound. At every moment when the foundations of the present are shaken, we turn to the past. We look for great examples in it and point to them as a guarantee of a sustainable and bright future. We go so far as to invent them, to embellish them, just to make this guarantee seem more convincing. At the same time, like every nation, we have our not-so-glorious, I would even say shameful moments in our biography. This is not scary. This is part of a people's growth in life. The scary thing is that we do not find the strength to point out these mistakes, to say out loud that they are ours, and to rethink them. In fact, we constantly try to wipe them out with an eraser or tear a page from the historical chronicle, as if we did not make them made these mistakes. But this is actually the next big mistake that condemns our children to a "future that has already been", I take the liberty of quoting a fragment of this text, because I find much sense in it."

The conversation is led by Vladiya Mihaylova.

Camera & editing Krassimir Terziev.

Project of the BulevArt association. Part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of the Sofia Municipality. With the support of the Singer Zahariev Foundation and the Regional History Museum - Sofia. Sofia, February, 2025. @MausoleumInstallation

Interview with arch. Lyubo Georgiev, part of the program of events within the framework of Krassimir Terziev's project "Between the past that is about to happen and the future that has already been".

If we do not find ways to conduct a dialogue between different communities and their parallel realities, we will find ourselves in echo chambers in which the others do not exist. One such place of dialogue is the urban space. Developing critical thought about the things that we have perceived as our DNA, be they personal stories or institutional histories, is key to our growth as people. Belief in a possible blessed future is a matter of attitude, of personal responsibility. A person has perhaps always been inclined to run away from the present and seek hope either in the glorious past or in the bright future that shines before us. To realize that you live in the present means to think "and maybe I should do something", not my ancestors, who have bequeathed me a path that I follow only by listening to them, or the visionary, fantasizing future of the isms of the 20th century promised us, but now, at the moment, but how I, with my actions and inactions, leave my mark on reality and can change it.

The conversation is led by Vladiya Mihaylova.

Camera & editing Krassimir Terziev.

Project of the BulevArt association. Part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of the Sofia Municipality. With the support of the Singer Zahariev Foundation and the Regional History Museum - Sofia. Sofia, February, 2025. @MausoleumInstallation

Interview with Prof. Alexander Kiossev, part of the program of events within the framework of Krasimir Terziev's project "Between the past that is about to happen and the future that has already been".

Alexander Kiossev spoke with us on the elusive meanings of words like "us", "here", "now", at the present moment, on the burden of the past and the various ways it is appropriated and replaying at the present, as well as on the dark horizons of the future ahead. He also gave his interpretation of what the installation "Between the Past That Is About to Happen and the Future That Has Already Been" stands for and how it works in urban space as a condition for meaning production.

The conversation is led by Vladiya Mihaylova.

Camera & editing Krasimir Terziev.

Performance

October 13, 2024

idea by Prof. Alexander Kiossev
in the frames of the installation "Between the Past That Is About to Happen and the Future That Has Already Been"

In collaboration with
Krassimir Terziev (the author of the installation)
Vladiya Michaylova (curator)
Martin Penev (artist)

In the frames of "WALLS" | European Solidarity Festival
on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, 2024
The Cultural Centre of Sofia University
Center for Reading and Culture

23.02.2005, 15:00 - 17:00

Sofia Largo

Co-organizers: Regional History Museum - Sofia, Sofia Municipality, Stolitsa Kultura, BoulevArt Association

🗺️ Between global processes and local actions, the city remains the place of our everyday life, worries, anxieties and satisfaction, personal plans and lifestyle. It is the environment in which society is viewed as it is here and now, along with its delusions, choices and actions.

🙋 Therefore, the answers to big questions, such as where we stand today, come from the many personal stories, narratives and sharing; from the ways in which we breathe and eat, move around, spend our free time. From the places we visit, the people we connect with, the care for our children and families and the opportunities to live the way we want.

🗨️ Be part of the conversation that will focus on the PRESENT with our opportunities, choices and personal responsibility. We will ask the questions, what is the city in the center and in the neighborhoods, what is the role of institutions and local communities in our lives, how are our values ​​and attitudes changing, what worries us and what brings us joy in the place where we live?

Moderators of the event are:

🔵 Victoria Simeonova, journalist on urban topics;

🔵 Zhoro Penchev, expert in digitalization and strategic planning from the “Sofia Team”.

The conversation is joined by:

Bozhidar Emanuilov, deputy mayor of the Oborishte District and a long-time civic activist in the field of civic participation, green spaces, culture and education;

Victoria Draganova, curator, creator of the contemporary art space Swimming Pool, on the “9 Elephants” platform and “Journal for Social Vision”;

Yordan Zhechev - creative director at the advertising agency guts&brainsDDB, active citizen and entrepreneur;

Mila Mineva - sociologist, program director of the Center for Liberal Strategies and lecturer at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski".

👌 The conversation about the PRESENT is the first of three consecutive conversations about society and time, which aim to include the citizens of Sofia in a dialogue about the state of contemporary society, heritage and prospects for the future.

👋 The conversations about the PAST are coming up, with moderators Lea Vaisova and Radoslav Chichev, and about the FUTURE with moderators Stefan Prokhorov and Yana Burer-Tavanier.

👏 The series of events is created in partnership between the artist Krasimir Terziev and the curator Vladiya Mihaylova.

📆 The project is implemented by the BulevArt Association, as part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of the Sofia Municipality. The Regional History Museum - Sofia is a partner for the talks.

***

♾️ The art installation by Krasimir Terziev, within whose framework the program takes place, is part of the "Outside" Program of the Sofia Municipality, with the support of the "Struktura" gallery, produced by Neon.BG. Since April 2024, the object with neon letters BETWEEN THE PAST THAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND THE FUTURE THAT WAS is located in the City Garden, on the site of the Mausoleum of Georgi Dimitrov.

☛ Facebook Event here

On June 9, at 5:30 p.m., we held a session of the School4artists 3 program for alternative education of young artists at the Institute of Contemporary Art - Sofia at the site of the former mausoleum with the participants in this year's edition of the program.

With the participants, we discussed the specifics of the artist's work in a public space: the approaches to the context of the place, the scale, the space, the possibilities of working together with the audience and the limits of maintaining a conversation during long distractions. It was about the multiple responsibilities of the artist in the dialogue and negotiations between different institutions, protocols and prescriptions, about the inevitable emergence of unforeseen circumstances and risks. We looked at and analyzed different examples from history, different successful models around the world of art projects in public space. And finally we drew the longer perspective of the treatment of the public space between the phenomenology of minimalism and working with the context, the possibilities for the activation of this context.

City Forum | Contested heritage, troubled future: the memory wars in the urban fabric

The third edition of the City Forum of the Collective for Public Interventions (COI)

June 21-23, 2024 in Toplotsentrala, Sofia

June 22, 2024, 4:00 p.m

A walk through disputed places of memory and a conversation with Krasimir Terziev about his installation "Between the past that is about to happen and the future that has already been"

The focus of the KOI conference on the effects of crises on urban space and places of contested legacies somehow organically connected with the questions that the installation on the site of the former mausoleum raises. This was also the occasion to hold an event accompanying the conference - a walk and talk around the installation. From the distance of time and place, everything looked perfect, until the moment we found the installation on site completely fenced off, as part of the security measures related to the holding of Sofia Pride. And contrary to the installation's principle of shortening the distance with the audience, we found ourselves at a forced distance from it. The urban space of Sofia remains unpredictable and highly contested...

From the 22nd to the 24th of April, the mounting of the installation took place on the site. The unpredictable weather caused us to miss work on the 23rd due to heavy rains. However, despite the short time, the Neon.BG team proved to be extremely efficient, accurate and fast in operations. Thousand thanks to Lena Simeonova and the whole team!