Join us as we build a raft out of recyclable materials and sail down the Maritsa river!

As part of the Adata AIR programme, the artist Serge Ecker, in collaboration with Alexandra Dimitrova, are building a raft to sail down the Maritsa river. Their journey begins with a collection of unneeded materials from local residents in Plovdiv. Using these recycled materials, and through the help of local builders, they are making a raft to float down the river.

The project directly references the painting by Théodore Géricault titled, "Le Radeau de la Méduse" (1819), depicting a raft of survivors after a horrible shipwreck during the 19th century. It is a powerful work, which had a direct statement to society at the time; exposing the nightmares of humanity and bringing to surface the incompetence of the authoritative figures.

The 2.0 version, or the "Maritsa River Raft" (2019), should be seen as the sustainable social and environmental antithesis of the rather gloomy original story. The project focuses on the relevant nightmare to our society today; the amount of garbage we accumulate, and even, how little of it gets recycled or thrown out properly. This work intends to raise awareness about recycling and how to avoid an environmental catastrophe.

MARITSA RIVER RAFT 25 / 28 JULY 2019
Join us on the 25th of July, at SKLAD at 16 Ekzarh Yosif Str. (at 8 pm) where we will dive deeper into the project and how you can get involved in it. 

On the 28th of July will be the launching date, where we will sail down the river and anchor on the Southern shore of the river, a bit before the bridge passing over the Adata island (across from Bila/Limacon) At this final location, we invite you to join us for a picnic along the riverbank, where we will share more details about the project and how it was built. There will also be discussions focused on how to live more sustainably in Plovdiv, followed by a river clean up and various other activities inspired by the project.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/388175175163188/

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Serge Ecker, born in Esch/Alzette is an independent artist living and working in Luxembourg. After his film studies in France (Nice), he was working as a CGI artist in Germany, Luxembourg and Japan before moving back to Luxembourg to develop his artistic career, while at the same time working as a design consultant and specialist for architectural visualisations and 3D printing. His work has been shown in numerous group and solo shows in Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the United States, Estonia, Lithuania, as well as in Italy where his spatial installation was part of the Luxembourg Pavilion for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. Recently his work turned away from the “object” and changed in the direction of creating social sculptures and participatory actions. More: http://www.sergeecker.com/

Alexandra Dimitrova, is Bulgarian, who was born in France, and raised in the United States. After graduating, she moved to Canada to pursue her art career and later moved to Plovdiv in search of her roots and heritage. She graduated from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts (Plovdiv) during 2016 with a bachelor's degree in Pedagogy of Fine Arts and has been a teacher of Art and English for the past 4 years. She directed a project space called "Point Blank Gallery" in the Kapana district for 2.5 years, presenting the works of emerging Plovdivian artists in various artistic disciplines. Currently, she's a freelancer in the creative industry and works on various arts and cultural projects in the city.

From the end of July 2019 to the beginning of November the riverside areas in Plovdiv will be an epicenter for the realization of artistic interventions in the urban environment. The projects were selected on the basis of the proposals received from the artists who participated in the ADATA AiR programme in 2018. Their proposals were developed as a result of artistic residences in Plovdiv supported by Plovdiv 2019 Foundation in the first stage of the programme.

Follow details here:
https://www.facebook.com/adataAiR/
https://www.instagram.com/adata_air/

The artist-in-residence programme ADATA AiR is focusing the urban landscape of the city of Plovdiv as part of the ECOC programme. ADATA AiR is a production of Plovdiv 2019 Foundation, realized in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Bulgaria and the Polish Institute in Sofia.

Contact: [email protected]

FB page: https:/facebook.com/adataAiR/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adata_air/

The artist-in-residence programme ADATA AiR is an official member of the Res Artis, Worldwide Network of Artist Residencies.

Source: https://plovdiv2019.eu