On 30 May 2020 Cooltsalon will unite for the third time several countries and cities in a one-day simultaneous exhibition and creative conference, ‘Cooltzine’. Once again, the print zine of the same name will also be available during this simultaneous international event; the third edition’s topic is Changes. The associated self-publication is curated by Cooltsalon as an accessible exposure platform for creative practitioners at any career stage and the pages are created from Open call submissions. Participating cities this year include Sofia, Belgrade and London, with confirmed hosting venues, one of Sofia’s newest multipurpose creative and co-working spaces, KO-OP, and London’s October Gallery. Associated participants from Vienna, Berlin and Lyon will also join the international conversation, with speakers joining relevant panel discussions, but without hosting venues.

The day will be shaped as follows:  

12:30 (GMT) / 13:30 (GMT+1) / 14:30 (GMT+2) – Hosting venues panel discussion

13:00 (GMT) / 14:00 (GMT+1) / 15:00 (GMT+2) – “Urban investigators” panel discussion

13:40-14:30 (GMT) / 14:40-15:30 / 15:40-16:30 (GMT+2) – BREAK /Offline/

14:30 (GMT) / 15:30 (GMT+1) / 16:30 (GMT+2) – “Curators” panel discussion

15:20-16:00 (GMT) / 16:20-17:00 (GMT+1) / 17:20-18:00 (GMT+2) – BREAK /Offline/

16:00 (GMT) / 17:00 (GMT+1) / 18:00 (GMT+2) – Screening (11 min) +Q&A  

16:30 (GMT) / 17:30 (GMT+1) / 18:30 (GMT+2) – “Creative Practitioners” panel discussion

17:20-18:30 (GMT) / 14:40-15:30 / 15:40-16:30 (GMT+2)  – BREAK /Offline/

18:30 (GMT) / 19:30 (GMT+1) / 20:30 (GMT+2) – Screening (5 min) +Q&A

18:50 (GMT) / 19:50 (GMT+1) / 20:50 (GMT+2) – Performance (tbc)

Note that these are not the final timings; the final schedule breakdown will be made available on 30 March.

Participants in each panel discussion will be connected in a live video transmission, to talk to each other and/or hear audience questions. The “Urban Investigators” panel is aimed to bring the perspective of architects, planners, urban development researchers, consultants, advisors, and anyone dedicating their work to making the shared city a more wholesome experience, with applicable case studies. The “Curators” panel will bring together individuals with track record of managing cultural events, art shows or cross-sector exhibition opportunities, either independent or as representatives of cultural/creative organisations. The “Creative Practitioners” panel will involve ones active in producing work in one of the visual media fields or live performance, with an opportunity to showcase snippets of their projects to the present international audiences. The two “screening/performance” slots will offer the same short film across cities (screening times synchronised across different zones) – followed by a quickfire Q&A with the maker. 

Confirmed participants so farinclude: Hristina Kamenova, architect – on the “Urban Investigators” panel from Sofia; Darren Emerson, VR projects creator, co-founder of East City Films and a regular contributor to think tanks & VR labs – on the “Urban Investigators” panel from London, presenting Common Ground as case study; screening of psychogeographic essay Canal(11 min, UK, 2019) with director Chris Penty in “Creative Practitioners” panel from London, and screening of Errance (5 min, France-Serbia) by Clement Bedel, French artist based out in Belgrade.

A full schedule will be announced in advance, and audiences can combine attending locally with switching experiences between different locations. The one-day event will also offer on-site exhibitions/projects (subject to local programming), with one shared installation across all hosting venues: a video piece by Vienna-based artist Daria Tchapanova. To make the on-site works seen by international audiences, pre-recorded video shots will be offered via limited online preview slots, while photos of works will be available through Cooltsalon’s social media channels:

https://www.instagram.com/cooltsalon/ , https://www.facebook.com/cooltsalonbg/