The National Palace of Culture and its park are a “stage” for all kinds of art. After the entry of graffiti culture in our country, it didn’t take long before the space below and above the surface around the National Palace of Culture became a field of expression for some of the first graffiti artists. In the first years of the 21st century, the part of the National Palace of Culture underpass where trams, trolleys, buses and cars cross was transformed by a group of contemporary artists. The walls of the tunnel were cleaned and painted with graffiti.

Преди да бъде НДК

By #soSofia

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In the underpass, which was called “Graffiti” until a few years ago, some of the biggest names in art – Mad, Nasimo, Vapsky, Chrome, as well as the LBC crew – painted some of their first graffiti. The transformation of this otherwize plain space is immortalized in the music video for the song “Poster” by NDOE under the alias Smotan MC.

In the following years, another place around the National Palace of Culture appeared where graffiti artists could demonstrate their talent. The lack of maintenance gradually turns the monument “1300 years of Bulgaria” into rubble. Safety barriers have been placed around it, which became a scene for thousands of writers for years. A number of festivals such as Sprite Graffiti Fest and Write 4 Gold, a competition with international participation, are held on these panels. Until their removal, the barriers around the monument are one of the few places where graffiti painting is tolerated by the authorities.  

In 2006 next to the alley in the direction of Rakovska str. was placed an original piece of the Berlin wall, dividing the present German capital in the period from 1961 to 1989. The piece measures 3.60 by 1.40 by 1.20 m and is covered with many historical layers of writing and graffiti. In 2015, the inscriptions were plastered over by a worker with building compound by mistake, but the monument was restored soon after.

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The articles for the project “NDK is #soSofia” were developed by Viktor Topalov, author at “Bohemian Sofia” in collaboration with the #soSofia team. 

The project uses visual archives from the National Film Centre, the State Agency “Archives”, the Bulgarian Visual Archive and information from the following sources: 

Miloshev, Yordan, NDK – memories of builders | Sp. 1 – 1982, 6 – 1984, 3-4 – 1986 | Mircheva, Simona, Palace in the Life of the City | Tromkov, Ilia. National Palace of Culture “Lyudmila Zhivkova” | Milev, Ivo. “The Life and Death of Lyudmila Zhivkova | BNT. Aleksandrova, Albena. Kovachev, Oleg. Study of beauty from within | omda.bg. Interview – Gyurov, Vasil. Gyurov, Konstantin. Places of everyday life. Cravaai. | Langova, Sonya. Shofelinov, Ivan. Cohen, Emil. Film – We from Kravay. | Trifonova, Teodora. BTV News. 18.07.2017 Ready project for the soldiers’ memorial has been there for years. | Veselinov, Veselin. Liternet. Memorial to the fallen of the 1st and 6th infantry regiments. | NDK Press Center | ndk.bg | newtheatre.bg | Thank you for talking to the NDK teams. | All Day NDK. | DJ GIORGIO. | Sofia Graffiti Tour.

The NDK is #soSofia project is realized with the support of the Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurship Programme of the National Culture Fund and the help of our loyal friends from Storytel, Fashion Days, Beefeater and DEVIN.