Theodor Karakolev
Invited by the city Plovdiv, Bulgaria
“Life under quarantine is like a hot summer's day. Or a heavy raining one. It is difficult to judge in Plovdiv. The quarantine for sure makes us feel strange, weird, as in a movie script.”
Life under quarantine is like a hot summer’s day. Or a heavy raining one. It is difficult to judge in Plovdiv. The quarantine for sure makes us feel strange, weird, as in a movie or computer game script.
Plovdiv is a rather strange city. Probably each city is strange, yet Plovdiv is definitely such. When it's summer, it can sometimes easily reach 40 degrees and then you can not see a living soul. The streets are quietened, the sidewalks and the large number of pedestrian zones are emptied. The same when it is raining. In Plovdiv we like it moderately warm and the sun to shine. Then you can find us everywhere. On the streets, and the squares, in the parks, and in the gardens. Well, since the state of emergency every day is either heavy rain or too hot. We stay at home unless we have some work to do. I guess, like everywhere in the world. True, the world has already been globalized, but in some weird way in recent weeks, we have become as close to the people in Spain, Israel or New York as we are to our neighbor two corners away. The weirdest, of course, are the sunny days. When the weather is a marvel the spring is blossoming yet the city is a ghost-one. And if we think back a year this comparison is even more absurd. Our city was the European Capital of Culture and we struggled to decide to which of the many events we should choose to go that same night. We were seeing friends all the time, we couldn’t even find time for everyone. More than this - we were welcoming dozens of guests from other cities and other countries. They were coming, they were joyous, they even envied us a bid – for the river, and for the hills, and for the longest pedestrian street and the widest squares. Countless gardens and benches to sit on and share a beer, hiding from the guards, for even before the quarantine it was illegal to drink beer in the park, now it's illegal too, but back then it was somehow allowing the possibility on the side. Well, now might be the right moment to really appreciate all that. We in Plovdiv will appreciate the pedestrian zones, the parks, the hills, the blossoming trees and green meadows. Others in their cities will appreciate other simple everyday marvels. The local cafe or bakery. The neighbour. Our relatives. Our friends. Because the pandemic will be over. Then a crises will probably hit us. But our hope is that at least we, as humans, will come out better people. @Theodor Karakolev Translation Plovdiv 2019 ECoC |
Живот под карантина като в горещ летен ден. Или като в много дъждовен. Трудно е да се прецени в Пловдив. Карантината със сигурност ни кара да се чувстваме необичайно, странно, като в сценарий от филм или ниво на компютърна игра.
Пловдив е малко странен град. Вероятно всеки град е странен, но и Пловдив е странен. Когато е лято, понякога е 40 градуса и тогава няма никой из града. Улиците са притихнали, тротоарите и голямото количество пешеходни зони – празни. Или когато вали. В Пловдив обичаме да е средно топло и да грее слънце. Тогава сме навсякъде. По улици, площади, паркове, градинки. Е, откакто обявиха извънредното положение, всеки ден е дъждовен – или твърде горещ. Вкъщи си стоим по домовете, освен, ако нямаме работа. Предполагам, както навсякъде по света. Вярно, и досега светът беше глобализиран, но по някакъв странен начин в последните седмици станахме еднакво близки с хората в Испания, Израел или Ню Йорк, колкото и със съседа зад две преки. Най-странни, разбира се, са слънчевите дни. Когато времето е прекрасно, пролетта е разцъфтяла, а в града няма никой. И ако си спомним за една година по-рано, това сравнение е още по-абсурдно. Градът ни беше Европейска столица на културата, чудехме се на кое от множеството събития тази вечер да идем. Виждахме се постоянно с приятели, нямахме време за всички. Не само – виждахме се с десетки гости от други градове и други държави. Идваха, радваха ни се, завиждаха ни, че имаме река, тепета, най-дългата главна и най-широките площади. Безброй градинки и пейки, на които да седим и да пием бира, криейки се от полицаи, щото и преди беше незаконно да изпиеш една бира в парка, и сега е незаконно, но тогава беше някак по-възможно. Е, сега може би е време да оценим това. Ние, в Пловдив, ще си оценим пешеходните зони, парковете, тепетата, цъфтящите дървета и зелените поляни. Останалите в другите градове ще оценят друго. Местното кафене или хлебопекарна. Съседа. Роднините. Приятелите. Защото пандемията ще свърши. Вероятно след нея ще има криза. Но надеждата ни е, че поне ние, като хора, ще излезем по-добри от нея. |
Theodor KarakolevTheodor Karakolev is a journalist with years of experience in Plovdivian and national media. His main focuses are topics related to culture, art, architectura and the urban environment. Pod tepeto is an independent online media company with over 11 years of history. The site, created in 2009 by two journalists, today is the information platform in Plovdiv with a focus on solving public and social issues, civil society, preserving cultural and historical heritage and culture. During 2019, when Plovdiv hold the European Capital of Culture title, the media tried to keep track of most of the events in this large-scale project, publishing hundreds of press-releases and materials on the events of the ECoC programme and the artists who participated in it. The creators of Pod tepeto are handling two more media platforms - the cultural platform Kapana and the bilingual online guide Lost in Plovdiv.
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About Europe at Home
This project invites different European cities to bring an artistic perspective on the particular moment of our history – the COVID-19 pandemic - that was lived “at home”. “Europe at Home” is a project carried out by Faro – European Capital of Culture 2027 Candidate City. For more information, please send us an email. |
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