ПК 5500
Categories projects
is a social design project, that took place in Lovech, Bulgaria. This project was provoked by the process of regeneration of a former military barrack site, initiated by the local administration. Using artistic tools the project engaged with the local community. It reconstructed local narratives and peoples desires. Ultimately the project addressed issues of self-organization, readings to cooperate, civic engagement and participation in decision-making about the urban environment.
The political changes of 1989, followed by a weakening economy and decrease in population, increasing centralization and deindustrialization, left many cities in the country suffering. Lovech is located in Bulgaria’s northwest region, characterized by the lowest economic development indicators, the highest unemployment rates and rapid outmigration. Similar phenomena of urban shrinkage have been managed world- wide with varying success. Cultural strategies have often been incorporated in the process of urban regeneration. The question is, are such strategies realizable without the support and self-organization of local groups, in an environment marked by pessimism and inertia, in a community, conditioned by everyday survival. This project calls for a critical exploration of the psychosocial prerequisites of civic participation and an integration of strengths-based psychological approaches reinforcing positive attitudes.
What should / can happen, if at once 60.000 m2 space in the city center become public again?
Inspired by the wishes expressed by the local community and the force of nature reclaiming the space over the years of disuse, we worked towards a vision based on strategies of ecological restoration, cultural regeneration and historic preservation through staged development and temporary use.
The project was presented at the Exhibition „Junge Kunst“ in Oberwart (Austria) where local, international artists and art students addressed the OHO´s annual focus on social design in rural regions and the potential regional development projects in cooperation between artists and local interest groups.
With Ana-Marija Vasicek and Vera Naydenova / Cooperation between the University of Applied Arts Viena and the Lovech municipality
Photos by: Daniel Schwanden, Jan Phillip Ley, Ana-Marica Vasicek, Vera Naydenova, Tinka Legvart