In Greece they are giving a lot more funds then in Bulgaria. Nowadays serious art with no money cannot be done and it becomes more and more expensive. In Bulgaria there is the opinion of the politicians that there shouldn’t be paid so much attention to the culture because it is boring and that is why we got to where we are. It is clear that when you don’t have the governmental policy for culture sooner or later you won’t have a government as well. The damages in the country are already visible, they will be hard to correct and more funds are needed than if everything would have been going as it should. The sponsors in Bulgaria are like a light motif. Only that nobody asks the question what sponsors are we talking about, meaning where do the money come from. How would you go to ask for sponsorship for the opera “Karment” when the sponsor will ask who is this folk star? And if we make a test, if there is one out of every one hundred who knows the opera than this is great. These people came from nowhere. These are not the sponsors of the La Skala in Milan, where ten generations are giving the heritage of their grandparents who were the first ones to sponsor and they know all of the operas which are being played there by heart.
However in Bulgaria there are no “mellow money” for many centuries the people live a more humble life…
In Bulgaria there is the government – the government always has money if it wants to. At the free market everybody does what he wants to – if he pleases he listens to Azis, if he pleases to Gloria. And the task of the government is by using the instruments it has - the National Radio, the National television to offer high quality things. They say “people do not watch”. Well nowhere in the world they do. However there are these 5% to 8% which is not little. In our country the national channel is a competition to the private. It has to offer something of high value, not to be competition to the private channels. Then already there is no way out. Here the public theaters are two – 100% and they have no right of receiving sponsorship. And this is very right as there is always the thought that behind the sponsorship there is something more. For example I have an affair with an actress and I say she will play the star part, however she might not really be a good actress and probably she is not… And in order not to have conflict of interests here in Greece when you say public it means that the government finances it. At a symphony concert here you could see present about 20 – 30 members of the Parliament. It is not because they all like it, but because they know they will be seen here. The camera is filming them… There is nothing like this in our country.
Where is the problem in Bulgaria as you could define it?
We have the obligation our children to live their childhood normally, not to have a seven years old child acting like Azis. It is not for his age, it is bad. The child has to listen to the music of his age. When the child is three years old it has to listen to songs for children, at the age of five – others, and the time will come when it will find out what exactly he likes to listen to. But when from everywhere you could here this… It is a matter of government policy and it would be critical if nothing is done. It is not possible that we want to be in Europe, but to have a country full of people who do not think. In Europe the people go on strikes, and our politicians are happy we do not have such problems. It is not something to be happy about. When you have no opposition it is a problem. The nation downgrades. You could even see the joy in the eyes of the politicians because people are easier to be managed like this that it would be if they were smart and thinking. I read the opinion of a scientist that soon we won’t have a public radio and television and if this really happens then this would be our end. Here they have three public televisions and if you look at the program you will see how many documentaries they broadcast, concerts…
And if you lose this instrument, you lose even that little seed that you have left to plant. Then will only remain the garishness. There are ways to preserve the culture- how did Pavarotti do it, who was singing opera in crowded stadiums. However he wasn’t singing the whole works of art, but only separate arias. Despite of the fact that if I go to see “La Boheme” by Puccini I want to hear the entire opera, not some bits and peaces. In the foreign press a lot was written against this way of popularizing. Now I see this is better. However first a Pavarotti has to be born, and how will a Pavarotti be born since when there is somebody who has a good voice a company would get to him and turn him into a chalga singer. How will he be born?!
You sound pessimistic…
The art is a business and the one day hits bring more money. The producers companies want somebody with an opinion who should be somebody and all the somebodys are lost. The one day hits do not need a constant support, you use her for a year or two or three and then comes the new one. However I believe there are seeds – true poets, writhers and if there aren’t any – I have to leave for an island, go fishing and smoke a pipe.
How does the creative process flows with you?
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