Public Republic

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

An Interview with Painter Grigor Malinov by Petia Hinkova

Edited by: Lauren Sophie Kearney

Grigor Malinov: It is very important to save and keep the invisible flame inside you

What does painting mean to you? Have you ever tried to live without painting?

I once read something, but I cannot remember well enough if it was about the fine arts or just art in general. I realized and adopted the following idea: when you start something, you do it with desire and enthusiasm.

Later on, you may transform that into knowledge and become fluent and even make it your profession, but to create real art is beyond this point. It is not just the emotions, success, or acknowledgments that push you forward.

Read on →

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

Photo: dawn’s point of view

Dear Poet,

SPRING POETRY RAIN in Nicosia
the capital of Cyprus – the last divided city in Europe
in May, 26 at 17.30

We are two cultural organisations, Ideogramma and Sidestreets, each based on either side of the divided city, and with this letter we are inviting you to participate in a new project of ours titled SPRING POETRY RAIN, as one of the many poets whose work will be dropped from the sky on Nicosia, over the whole length of Arasta / Ledra Street, which is divided into two at a checkpoint that separates the city in two.

The project
Many types of balloon will have been put in place above the whole length of Arasta / Ledra Street from lunchtime. The largest balloons (1.80 m in diameter) filled with the poems) will be burst in predetermined time intervals dropping the poems.

Many stages will be placed along the street too. From these musicians will play and poetry will be read. Read on →

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov

An Interview with Mayia Pramatarova by Jasmina Tacheva

Photo: Vladimir Gusev

Mayia Pramatarova is the American correspondent for the LIK magazine (Sofia) and The Stage Journal (Moscow). She is a Visiting Professor at the National Academy (Theatre and Film Arts Department) and the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria. Since 1992 she is founder and editor of the Et Cetera arts almanac. Mayia holds a M.Sc. degree in Russian Literature from Saint-Petersburg University and a Ph. D. degree in Theatre Studies from the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS), Moscow.

From 1993 to 2002 she worked as a theatrical researcher and a dramaturg for many theater organizations in Bulgaria, including the Ivan Vazov National Theater. Between 1995 and 2002 she taught as an Adjunct Professor at the Theatre Department of the New Bulgarian University, Sofia. From 2002 to 2006 she served as a cultural advisor at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Moscow, Russia. Mayia lectured at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS) in the spring of 2004.

She is the author of more than 200 publications for Bulgarian, Russian, Italian and American magazines and newspapers. She authored the books: Robert Sturua`s Twelfth Night, Sofia, 2007; Stoyan Kambarev. Mirrors, (with N. Vandov ). Sofia, 2000; compiled and edited GESTUS. Contemporary Russian Theatre, Sofia, 2006; Yordan Raditchkov. An Attempt to Fly and other plays. Moscow, 2005; translated a text book History of Russian Drama Theatre. Sofia, 1989.

Her plays, “The Revolver” and “Kill This Woman” have been nominated for the Bulgarian National Prize “Askeer” (Sofia, Bulgaria)

When and how did theater first spark your interest?

Even as a student I used to run to the theater after class, but I turned to professional theater at the Leningrad University, where among the elective courses a course in playwriting was offered. I wrote my first term paper on Bulgakov’s “The Days of the Turbines”. There was only one volume of his plays in the reading room, as, by the way, of the plays of Vampilov as well. This year I came back to those great masters, this time as a translator. In late March, the Bulgarian National Theatre presented Alexander Vampilov’s play “Duck Hunting”, directed by Yuri Butusov.

Photo: Kill This Woman! Toronto, Dec 13.2009 A play by Mayia Pramatarova, produced by onewaytheater.us; Photo Credit: Katerina Lyadova

After nearly twenty-five years you switched from writing critical texts and books on theater to playwriting. Why and how do you think this transition happened?

I think that in different stages of life, one has different dominants. As a young critic, I had to learn to be brief, because most journals required reviews to be 30 lines and 60 characters long. They allowed more pages only for interviews. At one point I started to actively translate and teach. When you follow your own internal logic, it leads you best, and it is essential for me that whatever the wave may be, the shore will always be the theater. Read on →

Photo: Ivo Oreshkov