Modern art has always been born in the street, right before our eyes and generously expanding its world of illusions with scales and spaces, conquering human imagination. However, the latter turns out to be mortal, just like life. After passing by, memories remain the only gallery of what we have been through.

At the end of May, the Chirpan village of Mogilovo will host the first 3D festival for asphalt drawings in this country. World famous artists from Holland, Italy, Ukraine, Mexico and others will draw 3D and 4D pictures on flat places and walls. Their works will remain untouched in the course of several months with the help of special tools so that more people could see them.

If you are still asking what a 3D drawing is, you may get acquainted with the image of top master Leon Keer from the Netherlands, who will be one of the guests of the festival. The wandering Dutch artist has recently brought a real summer mood inside one of Sofia’s malls with the giant painting of a yellow duck swimming in a glass of water.

In fact, street art was born 5 centuries ago in Italy where wandering artists were common. They were hired by cathedrals and over the rest of the days they made a living via street drawings. The wars of the last century contributed to the gradual fading away of this art, later on brought back to life via an international festival for street art held in the 1970s in the Italian town of Curtatone. This has been going on until now – and now street paintings are turning into 3D images.

As far as the festival is concerned, it will be unveiled with a surprise devoted to May 24, says Vladimir Nedev, one of the organizers.

“The programme begins with the drawing of the 3D Cyrillic Alphabet – it will be something like a workshop of Alex Maxiov from Ukraine and Leon Keer from the Netherlands – those are two huge artists, who work around the whole world. 30 children will draw the alphabet with them and this will turn into an attraction – moreover, it hasn’t been done till the moment. Two additional art zones will be formed. And this all happens on a piece of land known to few – Mogilovo’s Midalidare with spaces, allowing a broad view on everything and with good spots for drawing.”

The big names of street art will add a fourth dimension to their works by continuing their drawings on a wall. However, their images will remain a secret for the moment.

“The selection of the works has been left entirely to the artists’ imagination,” Vladimir Nedev says. “The only thing clear is that they are strongly engaged with the problems of the global world, of the climate and environment. So, we expect their images to be in that direction. For instance, Leon Keer has really strong works on ecology, at different corners of the world.”

The Dutchman’s most famous piece of art is a huge 3D painting of the Terracotta Army, created in the USA. He discovered street art in 2007. Now he comes to Bulgaria, in order to inspire the Bulgarian artists in their professional approach to 3D art. Our young artists have already been working on installations which will hang over the hills above Mogilino. One of them will represent spirals – dynamic and large-scale as a vision, Vladimir Nedev explains and adds:

“The deeper I go into the sphere of street art, the more I see that 3D images are definitely a type of art. Even if they disappear with the next rain – “drawings are indeed temporary, but so is life”, as Leon says. Despite its flimsiness, this art has its impact on an audience far outnumbering all fans of galleries”.

The first international 3D festival in Bulgaria kicks off on May 25. Besides the artist, its participants will include the Stara Zagora Opera House, the Zagorche Ensemble and many other musicians. Local crafts and winemaking will also be represented.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev