IETM SOFIA

IETM - the largest network for the performing arts returns to Sofia on 12-15 June 2024 in TOPLOCENTRALA. Ten years ago, the annual IETM meeting was the occasion for an active campaign for the creation of this contemporary art space, and this marked the beginning of a unique collaboration between the local, independent art scene and local institutions.

Registrations for members, non-members and performing arts professionals based in Bulgaria and neighbouring countries are now OPEN and the early bird deadline is soon to expire: 15 May 2024.

From 12 to 15 June, Bulgarian artists will meet over 530 organisations and artists from all over the world during the IETM Annual Meeting, which will be held for the second time in Bulgaria and will welcome hundreds of representatives of artistic companies, performers, directors, producers and festival organisers, setting new horizons for the guild in Bulgaria.

All this will be united under the meeting's motto Burn In, Burn Out, which will put the everyday life of the artist in the context of mental health and the need for an eco-friendly, sustainable working and living environment.

The independent artist is by definition a multi-functional phenomenon, a form of modern day fakir - producing, acting, writing, reporting, organising, setting up, planning, carrying, arranging, selling, reporting, and when time is taken away for recharging, resting, changing the rhythm, self-reflection - things get real emotionally threatening. The focus of the meeting is the painful steam. 

The independent artist is by definition a multifunctional phenomenon, a form of contemporary fakir - he produces, performs, writes, reports, organizes, sets up, plans, carries, arranges, sells, reports, and when the time for refueling, resting, changing the rhythm, self-reflection is taken away - things become emotionally threatening. The focus of the meeting is the painful paradox that the artist "burns" for his art, but "burns out" due to the lack of inner space, calm, sensuality. These needs are in the very essence and mission of the artist in society - to bring detachment, freedom, meaning. All these things are little talked about, they stand as a taboo subject even among artists themselves. That is why we decided to title the meeting this way, to reflect on "what we burn for and what we burn out from".

About IETM: The IETM network was founded 43 years ago in Italy and is headquartered in Brussels.

IETM is a non-governmental organisation, a self-organising system of people - a network which, after its successful work over the years, has won the trust of the European institutions and is now a serious factor and voice in shaping current and future European cultural policies.