Tag: Melba 2024

Seventh edition of the Melba Festival in a nutshell

This was the seventh edition of the international design festival Melba. Thank you for being our guests and for sharing the experience together. The program was once again a vital platform full of lectures, exhibitions, exchange of ideas and meetings with exciting and meaningful design examples. Save the dates for the eighth Melba festival -> 6-16.11.2024. And until then, let’s recall some of the highlights from this one.

Overview of Bulgarian design with the theme “A Matter of Image”

For another year, Komplekt is producing an exhibition focusing on Bulgarian contemporary design. This year’s curators are Andrea Popyordanova, Viktoria Staykova and Mila Yaneva-Tabakova from the TI-RE collective, and the theme is Matter of the Image or How Media Change the Image. They invited 10 young Bulgarian artists working in the field of illustration, typography and photography to work on an assignment. In the travelling exhibition “A Matter of Image” participate Dimitar Ilchev, Alexandra Vacheva, Iva Ivanova, Elena Chergilanova, Stefani Nedelcheva, Dora Ivanova, Martin Grigorov, Nikola Lamburov, Pavel Pavlov, Andrea Popjordanova, and the exposition design is handled by Georgi Sharov. After the exhibition is shown at the Swimming Pool Gallery in Sofia, it will travel next year to the Graphic Days festival in Turin.

The International Symposium

Toplocentrala once again hosted the Melba International Lecture Symposium. On stage we welcomed Bram Broerse and Maurits Wouters from Studio Airport, Max Enrich, Anna Sarvira from Pictoric Illustrator Club, Maria Jeglinska – Adamczewska, Kirsten Algera and Ernst van der Hoeven from MacGuffin magazine. We heard their stories told through projects, ideas and dreams. Traditionally, the foyer was animated by our partners and friends who contributed to the good mood throughout the day.

The atmosphere during the coffee breaks of the international Melba Symposium was contributed by our partners and like-minded people in the lobby of Toplocentrala: Urban Embassy Specialty Coffee, иХляб, Mahala Bookstore, Punkt, Testpress, Sito Studio, Avrtikl Bookshop, No8, Crystal Water&Air, 1664 Blanc, MOTO-PFOHE, Fashion Days.

Design Residency: the exhibition Mamo Dzhanka by poet Bojana Slavkova and graphic designer Stefanie Nedelcheva

For the second year in a row, Komplekt produces a design residency for young artists. For this edition we partnered with the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Fashion Days. Bojana Slavkova and Stefani Nedelcheva spent a week together in Chepelare this summer. Inspired by the image of the junk as a symbol of wild and free nature, they created poetry and illustration, which they wove into a joint exhibition. Their project remains sealed in a small edition zine, which can be ordered or seen at the Studio Komplekt office.

Diploma project: Pandæmonium by Danail Kapchin

Following projects in ceramics and digital arts in previous editions of the Diploma Project series, this year the focus falls on fashion. Danail Kapchin’s diploma project Pandæmonium was selected second in the IDEA MODA competition. The fashion collection is his graduation project, with which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in fashion at New Bulgarian University with teacher Nikolay Pachev. Pandæmonium comments on the role of demons in contemporary society through the language of clothing. We are grateful for the partnership and hospitality of Unicredit Studio.

Exhibition “The Pollinators of Slovenia”

With this exhibition, we at Komplekt are fulfilling our dream of expanding the festival programme by showing exhibitions created by the symposium’s guest speakers. Arranged in the Serdika Gallery at the Women’s Market, the interactive exhibition with creators Studio Airport and Emergence Magazine told through authentic and diverse stories about the interaction between humans and pollinators in Slovenia in times of ecological crisis. Characters include a forest beekeeper who shares his bed with bees, small family farms for regenerative agriculture, two urban beekeepers and a guest chef whose farm is entirely dedicated to bees. You can learn more about the project from its online presentation.

Posters by contemporary Ukrainian illustrators

In line with the idea of showing more international content in our programme is the #SUPPORTUKRAINEPIC exhibition curated especially for Melba. After participating as a speaker in the symposium, Anna Sarvira presented her 28 selected illustrations on the history, culture, traditions and nature of Ukraine to the audience and in the presence of the Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Olesya Ilashchuk. The extremely varied illustrations are the work of artists from the Pictoric Illustrators Club collective. On the initiative of the Ukrainian Embassy in Bulgaria, the exhibition is expected to visit other places in the country.

MOME University of Art and Design Exhibition

Once again, the festival partnered with the Liszt Institute – Hungarian cultural institute whose gallery hosted the group traveling exhibition “Interpreting Heritage” with projects by graduates from the Budapest University of Art and Design (MOME). Interpretations of traditional craft techniques and heritage could be seen on site, inspiring young designers to apply them to their work with 3D printing, ceramics, textiles, wood and recycled materials. All the objects showed both a high level of sensitivity to a wide range of topical issues, and attention to execution and the high quality of the end result.

Exhibition “Bulgarian Product Design: Furniture”

According to 84.3% of the visitors of the exhibition “Bulgarian Product Design: furniture”, which was presented in the San Stefano Gallery, Bulgarian furniture can be competitive on the world markets. The exhibition, organized by the design, interior and architecture magazine MD, presented 30 products from the winners of the “Bulgarian Furniture of the Year” competition in the period 2011 – 2023.

Melba School

Our ambition to support and develop talent is encoded in the Melba School series. We have re-emphasised learning new skills through experiment, play and good examples. The mentoring and teaching role, as usual, we cede to professionals whose work we like very much and believe that their knowledge and experience can be useful for others. Thanks to arch. Penka Stancheva and to graphic designer and visual artist Philip Boyadzhiev for agreeing to host the two-day Melba classes this year.

———————————-

The dates for the next edition of the Melba Festival are: 6 – 16.11.2025.

Photos from the symposium, exhibitions and classes: Mihail Novakov

Photo from MOME: Antonia Baramova / Liszt Institute Sofia

Photo from Bulgarian Design Review: MD magazine

MANY THANKS to our supporters and partners:

The Melba Design Festival is implemented with the financial support of the National Culture Fund under the Creation Programme and is part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of Sofia Municipality.

The festival is held with the kind support of the following institutions: the Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of Spain, the Embassy of Ukraine, the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Institute Sofia, the Polish Institute in Sofia, the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation.

Thanks for the support of: Fashion Days, Moto-Pfohe, 1664 Blanc, UniCreditBulbank, Mahala, FESPA Bulgaria, EpayGo, EasyPay.

Locations: Toplocentrala, SwimmingPool, L44, Unicredit Studio, Serdika Gallery, San Stefano Gallery, Dot Sofia, Komat Restaurant.

Visual identity and website: Punkt

 

Melba, Bulgaria’s main design festival,  is back for a seventh year in a row

From 1 to 10 November 2024, Sofia once again welcomes the international Melba design festival. The festival heralds new and surprising approaches and is a vibrant platform for ideas, diverse perspectives and knowledge. Melba is a driving force that enriches and enhances society. The festival’s program offers a deep dive into relevant topics within the creative industries and brings together some of the most influential figures in the field of graphic design, design research, illustration, architecture, curatorial work, product and industrial design. 

Melba Sofia Design Festival presents an opportunity of broadening the discussion on the topic of design and its role in society. It is also an inspiration and enjoyment with its ten days of exhibitions, creative workshops, discussions, and the one-day Melba symposium, sharing its content across various audiences.

Spend a day at the International Melba Symposium

The International Melba Symposium is the signature event of the festival and will take place on the 2nd of November at Hall 1 of Toplocentrala. This is an unmissable all-day design and creative conference with some of the most exciting thinkers, makers and movers in design, branding, illustration, interiors, materials and beyond.

Open your mind to new ideas and innovations at the symposium and hear from: 

  • Seetal Solanki, founder of the design studio Ma-tt-er, a materials designer, researcher and educator, who works with brands such as NIKE, Google, Venice Biennale, Dezeen, IKEA/SPACE10, British Council, The Design Museum London, Hyundai; 
  • Spanish designer Max Enrich provokes our sense of aesthetics and functionality by creating furniture more akin to sculptures; his collectible objects bring character and joy to any interior; among his clients are brands like Hermès; 
  • Bram Broerse and Maurits Wouters, founders of Studio Airport, agency of the year at the last European Design Awards; an independent practice in graphic design and film that explores the intersections of these two disciplines with a balanced approach between the commercial and the creative; among their awards are The Webby Awards, Awwwards, ADC Awards, Stack Awards;
  • Anna Sarvira is a Kiev-born illustrator, curator and art director who co-founded the Pictoric Illustrators Club, a cultural organisation for exhibitions of illustration and printmaking, which launched the #SupportUkrainePIC project with the start of the war in Ukraine; 
  • Kirsten Algera and Ernst van der Hoeven, Dutch art historians and designers, founders and art directors of MacGuffin Magazine (2015), an award-winning design and craft magazine that tells compelling stories about the lives of ordinary objects.

 

Matter of the Image: Review of Bulgarian Design 2024

The exhibition Matter of the Image: Review of Bulgarian Design 2024 is another highlight in the festival’s program. For this year’s edition of the state of Bulgarian visual culture Komplekt has invited as curators the respected creative collective TI-RE – Andrea Popyordanova, Viktoria Staykova and Mila Yaneva-Tabakova. Their take on the brief explores the theme of reproduction as an integral part of the creative product through a series of experiments with different printing techniques such as offset, digital, screen and riso printing, vinyl and others. Participants are nine young Bulgarian artists working in the field of illustration, typography and photography. Georgi Sharov is the author of the exhibition design and visual layout. Matter of the Image can be seen at the Swimming Pool Gallery. The opening marks the launch of the festival and is on 31.10.2024, Thursday at 7 pm.

 

And More Melba Program 

Other festival’s highlights include the exhibition Diploma Project, which presents Danail Kapchin and his fashion collection Pandæmonium. It explores the role of demons in contemporary society through the language of clothing and invites visitors to engage in a provocative experiment, cleverly mixing shapes, silhouettes, scents and sound through the non-verbal language of fashion. 

For a second consecutive year Komplekt produce a design residency as a main accent in the festival’s program. In 2024 this is a collaboration between the poet Bojana Slavkova and the illustrator Stefani Nedelcheva, and in partnership with the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. “Mamo Dzhanka” (Mother Cherry Plum) presents the results of their stay in the Rhodope Mountains during the month of August.

 

The festival programme is on the Facebook and Instagram profiles of Melba Design Initiatives, as well as on the website festival.melba.bg.

 

About Melba

The Melba Design Festival mixes different perspectives on design in various creative activities – an international symposium, an exhibition-review of Bulgarian design, accompanying exhibitions, workshops, lectures, discussions, etc. It is part of Melba, a series of design initiatives that the cultural producers at Komplekt launched in 2017. The project has quickly become a unique platform with a strong community and carefully curated content: the Melba online bilingual Archive of contemporary Bulgarian designers, Melba Meetings with local design heroes and an annual Sofia Design Festival.