Duppini Art Group is a team of Bulgarian and international visual artists – both creators and organizers of land art events.
It is an association with distinct creative identity, exploring the horizons of contemporary art and culture.
WHAT`S NEW? WHAT`S NEXT?
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The history of Duppini Art Group started in 1999. It is based in Veliko Tarnovo and includes a diverse selection of artists, working to create an open community of creative professionals with experimental spirit.
The core activity of the group includes the creation of original artworks in the field of contemporary visual arts and the development of a suitable environment for new and diverse forms of cultural exchange.
Gabrovtsi ART-NATURE Symposium
Since its establishment, the group has been organizing annual international open-air workshops in the abandoned hamlet of Duppini – a picturesque place, sheltered deep in Tryavna branch of the Balkan Mountain. In 2012 these events were transferred to the nearby Gabrovtsi village, where the first ART-NATURE Symposium was held in 2012. Since then this format has been sustainably developed and is now popular within the world nature art family.
Gabrovtsi ART-NATURE Symposium is an annual open doors public event. After 2015 Duppini Art Center has become the main venue for the event. The specific architectural spaces it provides quickly turned into a favorable factor for the field work of various artists. Their works, as well as the growing number of sculptural installations around the village, naturally led to the creation of a unique outdoor sculpture park.
The symposium is a sustainable event like no other in Bulgaria – the only forum in the country for authors from around the world, working in the fields of nature art, land art and site-specific art, a place to share experience and inspiration between young and established artists. Its program also features workshops, creative exchange events, author’s presentations, master classes, and last but not least – organized visits to iconic modern and historical locations in Veliko Tarnovo and the region. For the participants themselves, the symposium is a time to indulge in individual creative process.
An integral part of the symposium is the Open Doors Day, when we present publicly the results of the ongoing event. Anyone who loves art and nature is welcome. Admission is free – donations accepted!
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Duppini Art Center & Residency
Since 2014 we’ve been working on transforming the former abandoned school in the village of Gabrovtsi into an active Art Center and Residency for Contemporary Art and Culture. We have developed the building into a center of our group’s activities and step by step turned it into an inspirational creative space and gallery for us and artists from all over the world.
The Art Center is both a space for work and socialising during the symposium and already hosts a rich collection of artworks, both indoors and outdoors. Once abandoned, devastated and sad, today the place is revitalised and conveys a new spirit, being an attractive centre for young and established artists, visiting projects from the country and abroad, creative cooperation, team and individual residences.
PREMISES and GUEST PROJECTS
The Art Center is housed in the building of the former boarding school Maxim Gorki in Gabrovtsi village (Veliko Tarnovo region). It used to be one of the numerous behaviour correction labor training-oriented schools for problem kids in socialist-era Bulgaria. After 2007 all such correctional facilities for school-age children in Bulgaria were closed down. Saturated with history, the old school now breathes and speaks through the unique language of art.
Duppini Art Center welcomes events, art residence programes, cultural exchange and meetings, for which we are able to provide large spaces. We have creative spaces and sculptural studios located both outdoors and indoors; there are kitchens, social and work areas, bedrooms.
Here you can take a look at previous guest projects and our working environment (photos).
We are also actively seeking support for the Art Center! We accept donations and welcome both local and international partnerships in the fields of art, culture, science and education. We are looking for partnership with professional organisations, NGO’s, government institutions, civil society initiatives, etc.
Duppini Art Center & Residency
Contact us for more information about the conditions and opportunities for future collaborations!
ART PROJECTS
We organize and participate in various projects for the general public in urban environment: exhibitions, festivals and events for open-air urban spaces.
The group’s portfolio contains various performances, artistic installations, original projects and collective artworks under the Duppini Art Group umbrella, curatorial and organizational activities, some of which are realised in partnership with other organizations.
CATALOGUES
Have a look at all our catalogues…
WHO WE ARE?
Duppini Art Group was created in 1999.
Duppini Association is a registered non-government organization for public benefit, working in the field of art and culture.
Download CV (pdf, eng)…
The Group connects artists, working in various fields of art and unites diverse creative energies. Members of the group varied during its many years of existence, but the core of the group is unchanged. Duppini Art Group is an association of free artists, which greatly contributes for its vitality.
Nowadays the Group includes Bulgarian and foreign artists and researchers – professional artists with plenty of achievements and awards, art teachers, photographers, set designers, translators, children’s books illustrators.
We are Rumen Dimitrov – POPA, Tzvetelina Maximova, Rumen Rachkov – Darvesniya, Orfey Mindov, Margarita Rachkova, Elena Dimitrova, Katerina Milusheva, Kiril Georgiev, Yanitsa Fendulova, Lidia Karkelanova, Aleksandra Angelova, Slavcho Slavov, Cristian-Auel Seusan, Marina Angelova-Gonzalez.
SUPPORT US!
We believe that artistic ideas have the power to change the world.
We make bold ideas come true, we change lives through art. We make it meaningful, complete and shared. And we do it together – with joy, enthusiasm and creativity.
We enthusiastically developed our Art Center and Residency in the village of Gabrovtsi – an ambitious endeavour that unites the efforts of the team and our friends. Despite the lack of basic living conditions, overgrown alleys and dilapidated rooms, the inaccessible (until now) building of the former correctional school is reborn with a unique atmosphere – a place for innovative ideas, dialogue and international cultural exchange.
We believe in the power of art to unite and know that together we can do more! Thanks to this attitude we have continued to work and exist for the last twenty years!
Support us with a financial donation or with contribution in kind; as volunteers or assistants!
We will use your financial donations in accordance with the goals and core activities of Duppini Art Group. Even modest donations would help us continue in:
- promoting Bulgarian art and culture;
- organizing cultural events for children and grow-ups;
- publishing of digital and printed contemporary art materials;
- improvement of the conditions and expanding Duppini Art Center & Residency in Gabrovtsi Village.
Do you have an upcoming project? We’d be happy to work together! Share your idea with us!
CONTACTS & LOCATION
Duppini Association headquarters are in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria Our activities are focused in Gabrovtsi village – 20 km south of Veliko Tarnovo.
Check out where, when and how to find us!
Contacts:
Rumen Dimitrov – POPA,
Chairman of Duppini Association
+359 899 825 255
Aleksandra Angelova,
+359 895 363 209
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Cover photo: Katerina Milusheva / Duppini, „Simbiotic Connection„, Gabrovtsi ART-NATURE Symposium 2021 / photo: Georgi Krastev
Duppini Art Group 