The National Academy of Art in Sofia organizes DA international digital arts festival, which first edition took place in October 2009.

The festival aims to present diverse trends and practices in the fields of digital film&video, sound art, net art, robotics, multimedia performances, installations and other interdisciplinary forms.

In the pilot edition took part artists, media activists and academics from Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, and the USA. In terms of five days the intense festival programme consisting of 7 performances, 5 presentations, 3 workshops, 2 parties, exhibition with 13 art works, and a screening programme with 17 films, had attracted a great number of audiences. A total number of 33 participants from 9 countries have contributed to DA festival, which turned the Art Academy into the busiest spot in the city for the last week of October.

Festival mission is to build an environment that fosters the digital and electronic arts in art education and to create a platform for dialogue between artists, media activists, academics and students.

The idea is to make the festival not an isolate cultural event on the Sofia map but to unite various social spheres, like culture, arts and education. The festival programme consists of performances, screenings, workshops, lectures, and exhibitions. In the festival framework artists from all over the world present latest practices, research and technologies and showcase important achievements in the development of electronic and digital arts.

The successful first edition encourage the organisers to continue this initiative and now we work on the second festival edition, which this time will take place in the mid September 2010.

The programme of the second festival edition will be reached from the last year festival, and will include great numbers and diverse events that will spread out to the entire territory of the central building of the Academy on Shipka 1 Street. Festival highlights will be four workshops led by outstanding experts from different countries, eight audio-visual and multimedia performances, lots of lectures and presentations, film screenings of works selected by an open call, curatorial exhibition and guest festival exhibition sections, as well as open-air DJ/VJ parties every night in the Academy inner yard.

Our ambition is to turn the DA festival into a centre of the young people's life in Sofia. In this event the youths have the possibility not only to participate in the workshops, the film programme and performances, but also to be part of the organisations like volunteers. In this way we aim to bring together emerging artists sharing common ideas and energy, and to introduce them in a comprehensive but professional way with the newest trends in the field of digital and electronic arts.

Festival Team 2010
 
Curators
Svetoslav Kokalov
Venelin Shurelov
Rene Beekman
Galina Dimitrova

Organisation 
Galina Dimitrova

Techinal organisation
Venelin Shurelov

Technical supervisor
Vladimir Karaivanov

PR & advertising
All Channels Communication

Festival Team 2009

Curators
Prof. Svetoslav Kokalov
Venelin Shurelov
Rene Beekman
Teachers of the MA program for Digital Arts

Coordinator
Galina Dimitrova

Technical Coordinator
Vladimir Karaivanov
 

Technical assistance
Nikolay Duhnev

Visual concept
Naoya Yoshida

Graphic design
Iana Krachunova