Eastern Balkans Institute of Art and Architecture

06/08/2026

We are pleased to welcome Mariam Chkhaidze, the fifth resident within the program Creative Compass Georgia (CCG)– a four year EU-funded project which is implemented and co-funded by Goethe-Institut Georgien.

Mariam is a contemporary poet and visual artist. Her practice operates at the intersection of text and organic form, exploring the structural possibilities of natural materials and free-verse poetry. As an artist and the founder of the sustainable design brand Hikari, her work focuses on manual fabrication, concept-driven objects, and space installations. Through both visual and literary mediums, her research examines the dialogue between language, environment, and a slow, intentional creative process. In Bulgaria, she is interested in developing her skills in creative writing and poetry, as well as refining her approach to bamboo and woodcraft through exposure to new methods, materials, and
working processes. She seeks to understand how international residencies and interdisciplinary cultural spaces function to develop her own small art residency and studio in Shroma. The experience is intended to support the development of a novel that blends personal narrative and magic realism, while also strengthening her ability to translate new ideas into meaningful local projects, such as workshops, cultural gatherings, and sustainable artistic practices rooted in her community.

07/04/2026

We are pleased to welcome the second resident in the Creative Compass Georgia (CCG) program in April 2026. CCG is a four–year EU–funded project implemented and co-funded by Goethe-Institut Georgien.

Sophio Tsertsvadze is an emerging multimedia artist and creative writer from Gori in the Shida Kartli region, currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Art History at Ilia State University. Since 2020, she has been developing a practice that blends creative writing with visual storytelling, photography, and collage, exploring the interplay between language and image. Her work includes “Wyurvili,” an ongoing Instagram-based project featuring emotionally charged short texts and experimental visual
compositions, as well as community-oriented initiatives through Gori Art House and projects promoting sustainability, such as “Herba,” which creates plantable paper art products. She has also coordinated activist art workshops and collaborative projects aimed at engaging youth in civic and creative participation.

Within the International Study Visit Programme, Sophio’s learning goals focus on expanding her creative writing and multimedia skills, experimenting with new narrative forms and techniques, and exploring how artistic practices can intersect with social and environmental impact. She aims to learn from international creative spaces about organizing collaborative projects, fostering community engagement, and sustaining cultural initiatives. Additionally, she seeks to build an international
network of young artists, exchange ideas, and gain inspiration for innovative approaches that combine artistic experimentation with activism and sustainability. The knowledge and experience gained will be applied to her work at Gori Art House and her own projects, enabling her to design impactful workshops, develop creative networks, and strengthen her role as a writer and multimedia artist committed to both personal growth and community development.

About the project:

Creative Compass Georgia empowers cultural and creative industries across regions in Georgia, contributing to enhancing the socio-economic environment of the country. The project focuses on identifying and connecting local creative resources, developing cultural spaces, supporting entrepreneurship, and fostering collaboration across different sectors – both within Georgia and internationally.

Eastern Balkans Institute for Art and Architecture is part of a network of 17 partner organizations from the EU, the UK, and IPA countries within the International Study Visit Programme.

04/04/2026

With a substantial delay, we would like to remind ourselves and others of the stay of the fascinating Polish artist Karolina Pawelczyk at our residency last year.

We await her return to the residency for her new performative video work that builds on two earlier works: the video work “Cosmic Grass” (2022), where she repoliticized a late-socialist children's music revue by stripping away the moralism and infantilization that covered up environmental and economic damage (the work became the subject of a critical study published by University of California Press); and “All I Wanted Was to Break Your Walls”, which used objectophilia (erotic attachment to objects) to ask: can you love a structure designed to crush you?

Karolina’s practice blends official records (documentary formats, archives, legislation) with fiction, speculation, and pop culture. Her works explore how authority is manufactured and performed, tracking dysfunction in systems and relationships, as well as the delusions around social, political, and technological failures. She works across performance, video, installation, speculative storytelling, and political activism. She pursues a practice-led PhD focused on the feral transmission of artworks and their afterlife.

She has been commissioned by Humboldt Forum Berlin, MoMA Warsaw, presented at Zachęta National Gallery, and was artist-in-residence and co-directed a theatrical production in Komuna/Warszawa. Pawelczyk carries a professional fluency in corporate and bureaucratic systems, which fuels her practice, and an MFA from Mirosław Bałka's Studio of Spatial Activities.

Photo: Jadwiga Janowska

The residency was supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute

07/01/2026

The Institute is pleased to welcome its first resident in 2026, Gulo Aphkhazava, as part of the Creative Compass Georgia (CCG) – a four year EU-funded project which is implemented and co-funded by Goethe-Institut Georgien.

Gulo is the Director of Innovart Creative School, where she manages the organization and oversees creative and educational programs, including visual arts. Her work focuses on education, creativity, and sustainable community development. During her study visit in Sofia, she will aim to explore best practices in visual arts education, especially drawing-based programs for children and youth. Gulo is particularly interested in how art institutions design creative learning spaces, support young artists, and integrate art education into community and cultural life.

About the project:

Creative Compass Georgia empowers cultural and creative industries across regions in Georgia, contributing to enhancing the socio-economic environment of the country. The project focuses on identifying and connecting local creative resources, developing cultural spaces, supporting entrepreneurship, and fostering collaboration across different sectors – both within Georgia and internationally.

Eastern Balkans Institute for Art and Architecture is part of a network of 17 partner organizations from the EU, the UK, and IPA countries within the International Study Visit Programme.

13/10/2025

We are pleased to have hosted in our residency Leipzig-based feminist artist and researcher Marina Vinnik.

Specializing in the intersections of gender studies, art history, and feminist theory, Marina Vinnik holds a Diploma in Documentary Film from the Moscow Film School (VGIK), an MA in Intermedia Arts from the Leipzig Academy of Fine Arts (HGB), and a PhD from the University of Leipzig, where her dissertation focused on the roles of women artists in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and modern Russia. Alongside her academic work, she has taught courses on cinematic approaches to space and feminist criticism at the Universities of Leipzig and Weimar. Her publications include articles on feminist museology, feminist theory, and the self-representation of women painters, as well as feminist approaches to religion and cultural heritage—demonstrating a consistent engagement with feminist thought and interdisciplinary perspectives.

During her stay, hosted by Credo Bonum Foundation Gallery, she presented her two ongoing projects: the book Object-Oriented Bauhaus and the short documentary film The Northwind and the Sun. The artist talk brought these two projects into dialogue, inviting the audience to reflect on the many ways in which feminist thought can reshape histories.

02/02/2025

23/12/2024

We would like to introduce our last resident for 2024 – Celeste Hsin Hsin Tsai, a Taipei-born, London-based “part-time” artist and digital product designer with a background in graphic design, and art direction. She founded SIIXX to serve a global clientele, offering services in graphic design, UI/UX product design, and branding. During her time at the residency, she facilitated an AMA community called “Confused Girl” and also worked on her newest project Grieft, an innovative grief-support app.

Grieft is an approach to providing emotional support and promoting unity among individuals going through the grieving process. The app would incorporate an AI chatbot for empathetic emotional support, guidance practices, and scheduling counseling. The empathetic voice interface not only provides a supportive, therapeutic outlet for processing grief but can also leverage the user's interactions to generate personalized memorial content such as a unique song or portrait that captures the essence of their loved ones. In that way, it becomes a holistic experience that addresses both the emotional support and the creative expression of grief.

“In recent years, many of my friends and family, including myself, have experienced difficult times. At times, when our loved ones lose something or someone important to them that's never coming back, we may find ourselves unable to be there for them physically or provide timely support. Sometimes, we just don't know how which can leave us feeling helpless. Reflecting on what my skills can do, I've decided to build Grieft, which I envision as a supportive friend who can be there for you when needed, providing strength in your journey.”

Let’s also support Celeste in her journey as she is continuing to explore the Balkans by moving to Belgrade after two-months of residency in Sofia! Good luck, and thank you for all the care to Ellika and Femi, and the amazing cooking!! You will be missed.

And happy holidays to everyone with a warm Balkan salute!

16/09/2024

OPEN CALL: FROM DECEMBER 2024
Curatorial, Art, and Architectural Residency

We are glad to invite you to the 2nd Floor Art Residency, nestled in a private home in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Run by curators and educators Snejana Krasteva and Anastasia Skvortsova, co-founders of the Eastern Balkans Institute of Art and Architecture, our residency offers a unique space for artists, curators, researchers, and art practitioners eager to explore contemporary art in Bulgaria and connect with the local art community or just think, relax and procrastinate in an unusual habitat.

We offer a spacious 100 sqm liveable studio, complete with a cozy fireplace, high ceilings, and ample natural light. You’ll have access to a shared kitchen on the 3rd floor, a peaceful courtyard, and a lovely terrace. We also enjoy hosting cozy shared dinners, where we cook together and share stories. Our little 5-year-old artist and husky Femi are always around, adding extra creativity and warmth to our home. 🌟🍲🖌️

We're here to support you throughout your residency—from helping with research, connecting you with the local arts scene, or giving you access to the network of the other co-founders and international curatorial Board of Directors, to organizing a showcase and curatorial feedback session for your work.
The residency durations are flexible, ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months, allowing you to create and explore at your own pace. Residency costs are 650 Euros /month. Food and travel expenses are also covered by the participant, although many times you can just join our meals and trips that we plan across the country/region.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. To apply, please fill out the form forms.gle/MCNEQ6Zz4EJC32R46 . We can’t wait to welcome you to our creative space!

13/09/2024

Introducing some of our past residents:

Born in Bulgaria, Petja is an artist, lecturer and performer whose practice is framed by her “Studio for Poetic Futures and Speculative Ecologies”. Seeking to overcome the linear and binary thinking that technology carries, she introduces poetic, emotional, mycelial and psychic relations to the living world into Computational Art. She studied Visual Communication and Computational/Generative Art at the Berlin University of Arts. Petja has taught speculative design at Linnaeus University (Sweden) and Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, where she received the 2021 Lecturer Award. Recent exhibitions include Soma of the Land at Museum Folkwag, Hesse; Broken Machines & Wild Imaginings, New Now Festival, 3hd Festival ‒ Echo Chambers at V2 in Rotterdam and Our Data Bodies for Transmediale Vorspiel in 2023. Petja is a 2023 Human Machine Fellow at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.

“My work explores the intersection of consciousness, the body, and sacred natural sites, focusing on the psychic abilities of holy water sites and caves. By engaging with these environments, I investigate how natural elements like water shape perceptions and spiritual practices, challenging dominant narratives around concepts of intelligence and ecological awareness.”

During Petja’s residency she was preparing her first institutional solo show in Germany (at Folkwang Museum) collaborating with Yana Abrasheva on the accompanying publication and 3d scanning holy water places in Sofia and the surrounding rural areas. Petja also worked on the performance related to the show, “The Gods Were Tired When You Fell”, in the natural environment of Saeva Dupka– a 3.5 million year old cave off the North flank of Stara Planina mountain range. An evening of polyphonic electronic music, silent initiation, movement, hydrogeologic attunement, and alchemic ritual was held in the heart chamber of the cave. Brought to live together with Nicole Bettencourt Coelho [UK] Alexandra Gruebler [DE] Natalia Jordanova [BG/NL] Camilla Strandhagen [NO/BE] Sarah Kantrowitz [US] .

Captions
Iyo Bisseck, Wet dot do performance. Broken Machines & Wild Imaginings. Akademie der Künste, 2023
Portrait Photo: Ivan Tsutsumanov