The IME Assn. was established in 2004 in order to support cultural production and cultural life on the Balkans and to connect the Region with other parts of Europe and the world.

The Association consists of creative independent people. As a small organization it does not pretend to be representative of the Bulgarian culture but simply intends to collaborate in a creative way by addressing cultural, social and other issues on national and international basis.

The main activities of the IME Assn. are marked by the initiation of the biggest contemporary art festival Water Tower Art Fest since 2006

We started as a grass root initiative with only a handful of people motivated enough to want change in the society. Now the festival is the biggest international platform for exchange in Bulgaria using abandoned buildings not only in Sofia but also other cities in Bulgaria.

What we believe in is that arts have a social function and can lead to change in society and better quality urban life. The power of arts is unquestionable and we would like to use it.

IME Assn. is a member of a few respectable associations, among which The Bulgarian Festival Association, ResArtis. Also, it is part of the Cultural calendar of Sofia Municipality for the third year. The festival received the prestigious EFFE Label for quality for 2015 and 2016.

Contact

Phone: +359 898 312 030

Email: info@watertowerartfest.com

Website: http://www.watertowerartfest.com/

Water Tower Art Fest logo for 2016
Design: Agnieszka Ziemiszewska

WTAF is an artist run initiative started only with a few people in Sofia encompassing ideas of art, creativity, urban renewal and alternative art spaces. Gradually it became an international event gathering artists from around the world that came together as independent entities representing their individual style and search for mutual understanding and cosmopolitanism in the face of widely spread apathy and unwillingness to cooperate.

The motivation has been a major point to all of us – to communicate freely on the basis of artistic expression within spaces that allow our imagination to run wild and at the same time reflect upon history and architecture, social and other issues as well as urban habitat – to find our own place within a particular city structure.

The places inspired us and gave direction to the format, in which the festival took shape and form – through communication. We felt that by doing this we have the will power to change our own surrounding where we live, how we communicate with space and transcend the past and future in a way possible only through art with direct response to the social environment, transcribing histories, memories, textures and functions into art. It is an injection of international creative thinking of alternative spaces in Eastern Europe.