The participation of artist Juan José Valencia at Water Tower Art Residency 2 – under theme of “Social development trough creative practices” – Benevolent edition made a huge impact on cultural life in Sofia. Not only because he incorporated direct approach into streets of the city by interacting and inducing social change, but also because of his more subtle way of portraying something local and at the same time dear to all of us by making his photographs from one end to another of Sofia ‘s emblematic entrances Eagle’s bridge and Lion’s bridge. From one to another he made an emotional map of citizens of Sofia. While the social action by putting a poster on Eagle’s bridge "Yo no soy extranjero” made a vivid stand on passersby at the evening of 14th June. The action was so adequate in our contemporary world that many citizens even not understanding Spanish were involved in it personally by taking and memorizing the event spontaneously by doing selfies and sending it to friends. We have to say a huge thank you for the integrity and sensitivity of the artist Juan José Valencia and hoping we will continue to work on social developments trough creative practices in other cities of the world.
Curator : Nia Pushkarova