Sofia Underground is an annual international festival held in Sofia, Bulgaria showcasing contemporary performance art with an emphasis on performance art. Established in 1997 by art critic and activist Ruen Ruenov, the festival has grown to become one of the most important platforms in Eastern Europe for performance artists from diverse backgrounds, including visual artists, musicians, and activists.
Over the years the festival has grown from a small gathering of alternative artists to a week long event every April with different workshops, exhibitions, actions, after parties and more across a wide range of underground and alternative spaces. The festival regularly supports new, diverse and marginalized voices from the local and international art scene including acts from the UK, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Turkey, Croatia, Italy, China, Ireland, the USA, Estonia, India, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Mexico and many more.
Some of the more notable acts which the festival has supported over the 27 years of its existence include Nikhil Chopra’s Dokumenta 14 participation Drawing a Line Through the Landscape, as well as Ursula Sherrer, Jacek Senkiwich, Electric Indigo, Kink, ErrorBeauty, Wackelkontakt, Voin de Voin, Simon Whetham, Tsvetan Marangozov, RASSIM, Cai Qing, Non Grata Group, PISTAMASHINA, Georgi Ruzhev, Marcel Sparmann, NxMx, Geeske Jansen, Boryana Rossa, Dobromir Ivan, Maluk Ruchei, Krasimir Terziev, Dimitar Yaranov, Nadezhda Oleg Lyahova, Daniela Kostova, Dan Tenev, Sasho Stoitzov and more.
The different festival statements and concept during the past years exemplify how the event reflects ongoing processes happening within our social environment.
Over the years our partners have included the National Culture Fund, Goethe Institut in Bulgaria, French Cultural Institute, Polish Cultural Institute, SBH, Irish Embassy, Gaudenz B. Ruf award for new Bulgarian art and more.
Currently the festival is run by Studio Dauhaus (Yovo Panchev & Ivaylo Ivanov/ Yves_0) and Synaesthesia Collective (Georgi P. Pavlov, Diana Bunkin, Stefan Hristov). The festival is a part of the EFFEA festival network, as well as Plan.E Ireland’s festival network.
You can find more info about the festival here.