•DA Fest 2013•
2013.07.31
Digital Arts Festival
Sofia
Digital arts festival (DA Fest), initiated and organized by the NAA is the only one of its kind international cultural and educational festival in Sofia, which aims to meet the Bulgarian audience with various artistic trends in the field of digital video, sound art, net art, multimedia performances, installations and other interdisciplinary forms.
The program of the festival includes an exhibition, performances, screenings, presentations and workshops that take place in different areas of the main building of the Academy of Art at No. 1 Shipka Str. During the festival artists from all over the world present contemporary artistic practices, research and technology and demonstrate significant achievements in the field of digital arts.
DA Fest is an example of innovative approaches to education in contemporary art with which the academic community is directly involved. Students of the Academy actively participate in the exhibitions, workshops and as volunteers.
The pilot edition of the festival took place in October 2009 with the participation of 33 artists from 9 countries (Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Croatia, USA, Japan). For five days the rich festival program included seven performances, five presentations, three workshops, two parties, an exhibition with thirteen works and film program with seventeen films. The interest of the audience was remarkable, especially for the pilot event and every day the program of DA FEST attracted between 150-200 people. Thanks to all that the Academy of Art changed its image and became one of the most interesting places in Sofia during the last week of October 2009.
The second and third edition, held in September 2010, and 2011 asserted its prestige among youth and specialized audience as a dynamic cultural event with its image and high level of participants. In exhibitions, performances, workshops, lectures, presentations and concerts in the hall of the Academia gallery, in the studios and the yard of the Academy at No. 1 Shipka Str. performed over 30 renowned artists from Austria, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, USA, Finland, France, Netherlands, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, and film screenings showed 87 titles by authors from 30 countries. The festival received recognition and good appraisals by specialized audiences outside the country.
The three editions of the festival DA FEST were financed by the National Academy of Art and with the financial support of: Municipality Program Culture, Goethe Institute, the French Cultural Institute, the National Fund Culture, and the embassies of Austria, Greece, USA, Finland, Croatia.
In 2011 the organizers decided to transform the Festival on biennial principle. The fourth edition will take place from 10 to 14 September 2013.
The festival program is currently being compiled.
Gallery
