"We had an exciting and difficult time reading, rereading and discussing the proposals of so many brilliant applicants and their amazing projects. In the end we decided for the Polish-Romanian/Hungarian duo of Julianna Bloodgood and Zsófi Pálffy." -Radar Sofia http://radarsofia.org/2020/01/15/east-west-open-call-results/
Julianna Bloodgood and Zsófi Palffy were selected as the resident artists in Radar Sofia's "East-West" project. During their time there, they will put together the beginning of a piece that would reflect critically on a topic related to the 30-year anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of communism and the neoliberal consensus that followed across unified Europe and beyond.
Radar Sofia is interested in various different positions and points of view towards the East-West division, the current crisis of liberal democracies and the possible ways forward for the future. During our time there we will research, discuss and understand the local context and how it fits in the larger shifting geopolitical frame.
Our application for the residency was based on the work we developed through Make A Move, Creative Europe at the University of Arts, Targu-Mures called "Vital Space”. Based on personal and collective stories, this project was born from a reflection of the Hungarian and Romanian conflict/separation/divide/historical struggle/memory that lives in Transylvania. We wanted to touch upon personal and collective mythology and create a place where body memory can live and individuals can meet confronting the human core of the situation.
We're looking forward to our residency there, and so curious to see how we can take the process we've begun in Romania and let it inspire us for our future work and subject matter in Bulgaria!
photo: New Generation Studio Târgu-Mureș