40 teenagers from Kardzhali, Botevgrad, Dolna Banya and the village of Mirkovo, Sofia region, started working in specialized art workshops in music and dance art, visual arts, street art and wood carving with famous art mentors from the 4 settlements under the project ” Stages for young talents”, which is implemented by the Foundation “Krug Youth Center – Art Movement Krug” with the support of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2020. The partner is the concert association KUTIN KONSERT FORENING from Norway. The long-standing cause of Krug, dedicated to supporting and developing the talents of young people, this time brings together organizations and artists from 4 municipalities and 2 regions in the country with the aim of increasing access to culture for representatives of ethnic and cultural minorities (with a focus on Roma). , carrying out a series of cultural and educational events, traveling tours to remote and hard-to-reach areas, summer art residencies and festival events in partnership with local community centers and schools. Within the framework of the project, a series of theoretical materials and methodologies will be developed using Norwegian experience for working with budding talents, applicable in the practices of the cultural and educational sector in our country.
On July 1, an introductory press conference on the project was held in the Art Center with Gallery “Krug” in Kardzhali with representatives of the Organization and Management Team (EOUP), with guests from schools and community centers in the city, and with the participation of the famous Norwegian pianist of Bulgarian origin Kiril Kutin from Norway, founder and managing director of the concert association KUTIN KONSERT FORENING.
During the workshop that followed the official part, a specially prepared and printed work entitled “We need a fair and open environment where all young people have equal access to development opportunities” was presented, which contained a frank conversation between Radost Nikolaeva, an expert on the project , with Kiril Kutin on how to increase the chances of young talents and what are the principles in the policies for working with them of the Norwegian organization Kutin Konsert Forening. The brochure presents the experience of the Norwegian partner organization in solving problems with social inequality, such as practices and forms of the so-called “anticipatory education” with differentiated curricula and programs by thematic areas, subjects and modules. These are different models through which the transformation of teaching methods is carried out: forms of additional education in class; specialized accelerated education with subject classes and modules; special classes for advanced, regardless of age group, to turn gifts into skills; differentiated curricula and “anticipatory education” programs by thematic areas, subjects and modules; individual study plans and programs; training in small groups on programs for creative development in a certain area, etc.
Within the framework of the workshop, the invited young pianists presented with great inspiration to the Norwegian musician their original performances, while at the same time others painted and/or finished on specially prepared panels their visual interpretations of the event. Kiril Kutin commented on each performance in the context of cultural entrepreneurship and the necessary skills of the artist to communicate with the audience, and finally performed his own compositions. Kiril Kutin is a famous Norwegian musician, he himself sat down at the piano when he was only 4 years old, and today he actively performs concerts in Europe, the Middle East, China and the Scandinavian countries. In Norway, in addition to being a concert pianist, he organizes and actively participates in festival programs, and works with young Norwegian musicians, preparing them for participation in concerts.