Water Tower Art Fest - one of Bulgaria's contemporary art stages turns 20

The survival of independent art is, indeed, a mission possible - and one of the strongest testaments to that fact is the international contemporary arts festival Water Tower Art Fest, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026. Renowned for transforming unconventional urban spaces into stages for contemporary artistic expression, the festival's jubilee edition will bring together artists from 14 countries.

The festival was founded and is curated by Nia Pushkarova, a graduate of Fine Arts at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. After completing her studies, she returned to Sofia, where she has continued to live and work ever since. The idea for the festival emerged in 2006 from an initiative to clean up the area surrounding the abandoned Water Tower in Sofia's Lozenets district. From that effort grew a broader vision: to explore alternative spaces that art can transform into places whose purpose and meaning may be reimagined.

"A new reading of architectural landmarks and direct engagement with artists are what make art - often perceived as incomprehensible to ordinary people - accessible and meaningful," Nia Pushkarova believes.

"I have told this story many times - the story of a shared future that I envisioned while passing by the neglected tower, which had stood unused for fifty years. It is remarkable to see where that initial impulse has led me. I like to use the term 'places of geographical memory,' and it was precisely this idea that attracted people from all over the world," Pushkarova recalls in an interview with Radio Bulgaria.

"Today we have built a platform of like-minded individuals from every continent. Somehow, intuitively, we found one another and have remained connected through that original mission. Art is not something separate from life. What may seem obscure to people who have never even stepped inside a gallery suddenly becomes understandable when they encounter artists who have offered their own interpretation of a space, a history, or an architectural structure specifically for an event. In that encounter, the distance between the public and the seemingly intimidating world of contemporary art disappears. Contemporary art is, after all, nothing more than the thoughts of contemporary people living in contemporary times."

What began as a modest artistic initiative has gradually evolved into one of Bulgaria's longest-running independent platforms for contemporary art. Over the course of two decades, Water Tower Art Fest has featured more than 600 artists from around the globe.

Its development has been supported by organizations such as the Swiss arts foundation Pro Helvetia, Sofia's Cultural Calendar programme, and cultural institutes from Poland, Austria, Germany, and Spain. As it turns out, building such an international network is not as difficult as it may appear. Artists are constantly seeking kindred spirits, and geographical distance - even between continents - is no barrier to the exchange of ideas.

According to Nia Pushkarova, the festival transcends notions of individual authorship. It is built upon togetherness, shared experience, and a collective empathy for the past, present, and future. The encounters it fosters often become the inspiration for future works and collaborations.

"There was never any need to persuade people to participate. If anything, I often found myself apologising because we could not accommodate everyone. The platform itself was powerful enough as a concept to attract so many artists. Creative people are always searching for vessels that can connect them through ideas. They are willing to travel millions of kilometres simply to meet others who share their vision. They recognised something of that spirit in my ideas. We inspire one another, and choosing among so many proposals was often the most difficult task. With most of these artists, we have remained friends, and some of them will return this June."

The 20th edition of Water Tower Art Fest invites audiences to encounter contemporary art across several venues in Sofia, including One Gallery, Figura Art Space, and the “Sofia Arsenal” Museum of Contemporary Art, where visitors will be able to experience the events in person and meet some of the participating artists.

The festival opens on 7 June, while the anniversary celebration and closing event will take place on 27 June at the Water Tower in Lozenets - the very site where the festival was born.

The artists' message is unequivocal: the tower must never again be left abandoned. Instead, it should function permanently as an artistic space dedicated to the realization of contemporary creative ideas.

"All that is needed is a measure of political will. Funding can always be found; culture itself can be an economic force," says Nia Pushkarova.

"This place is truly extraordinary. Yet none of this would have happened had I not first motivated myself. I have no intention of entering politics; I cannot perform the functions of the state. But I will continue doing what I do, and evidently it has the power to bring about change, since this tower ultimately became a gallery. I am not an institution, although at times it may seem as though I have become one. I am simply an artist with a vision, pursuing it year after year. Like everyone else, I have moments of doubt. That is why I would like to say this: do not doubt yourselves. Be a little more confident. Because confidence is often what allows us to move forward."

One of the festival's key events, scheduled for 25 June, is a discussion dedicated to the fragility of artistic freedom and the search for alternative models of funding independent art. The discussion will be hosted by the Toplocentrala Regional Centre for Contemporary Arts.

The full programme is available on the festival's official website, and all events are open to the public free of charge

English: R. Petkova