labour of love

I made a comment recently about how Sofia could market itself as an art city – and now find myself working on an idea to produce a small book (in English) about „modern” Bulgarian painters which would give the European visitor a sense of what is available in the many municipal and private galleries in the country – but particularly in Sofia. I’ve spent many pleasant hours during this visit with Yassan of the Konos Gallery and his friend who sold me the Emilia Radushava which headed my post of 30 January. Both are painters themselves and - over cheese, bread and wine – have presented me with examples of painters and extended my knowledge of this great painting tradition. I’m defining „modern” to cover the last 100 years – from the superb little 1911 oil by Alexander Mutafov I was offered for 1,000 euros to the younger contemporary painters examples of which can be seen here.
As a result of these chats and my visits to galleries, I now have a list of more than 100 painters – available on my website with some argument about why the book is necessary. I was able to buy in 2008 a nice little booklet which listed all antique dealers in the whole of Bulgaria but later editions are no longer available. The Sofia City Gallery has a few residual copies of a marvellous large book which is a black and white catalogue of all the Bulgarian paintings in their possession – but the little shop which sells it is closed!
This will not pretend to be a comprehensive guide to the painters who have been active in Bulgaria in the past 100 years. Its purpose is rather
• to convey one man’s passion for viewing and collecting Bulgarian painters of this period
• to encourage visitors to Bulgaria to visit both the private and municipal art galleries - and
• to make their own discoveries.

A printer did a tentative costing yesterday – and was able to tell me I could have 500 copies of a very attractive 100 page book for about 3,000 euros – about a quarter I suspect of what it would cost in the UK. I went looking yesterday for what Yassen told me was the best overview (in Bulgarian) of the period (by Dimitar Avramov). My inquiries at the large second-hand bookshop in the underground passage in front of the University threw up only a large 1982 book purporting to be about modern Bulgarian painting – which , however, had no Mario Zhekovs and only 2 Nikola Tanevs. A revealing historical remnant of socialist selectivity! But not, for me, worth the 100 euros they were asking. Neither the bookshop next door nor the cubicle on the left as you enter the School of Fine Arts could offer me a general book on the period although the shop had a great book with what seemed to be the entire works of Boris Anzelyushev – a graphic artist who lived between 1902 and 1966 and seemed influenced by Kathe Kollwitz. The Fine Arts shop had nice booklets on specific artists I didn’t know – such as Marko Monev from Russe.
And, while we’re on the subject of marketing cities, there is an interesting essay on this subject in the current issue of Eurozine.
The painting is one of my Denjo Chokanoffs

case study in sustainability

The EU project I spoke about yesterday was supposed (in the jargon) to „develop the capacity of the Institute of Public Administration to design and manage training to assist the implementation of the EU Acquis”. I have to confess that I struggled to see the logic of the project as it had been designed. The Institute consisted of about 20 administrative staff – the trainers they used were a mix of civil servants and academics. We had to appoint 6 regional coordinators who would select, train and manage appropriate trainers. The Institute did not have the budget for additional staff (even for their existing staff) so the 6 coordinators would be temporary appointments - responsible to the project - and not, therefore, help develop the Institute’s capacity. More seriously, most of the topics of the acquis (food safety; consumer protection; environment) are technical and specialised and do not obviously relate to the core mission of an Institute of Public Management. The project was also supposed to help the Institute set up training centres in 6 Regions – but, again, had no budget for this. Finally, for reasons too complicated to explain here, our project staff (7 key experts!) were not able to develop close working relations with the relevant Institute staff – and little or no „technical transfer” (and therefore capacity development) took place. Sure, we delivered on the tangible outputs – the training manuals; the E-learning platform; the training of trainers; more than 500 local officials trained; and the formal, signed documents for 6 regional centres – but there was absolutely no sustainability. And how could there be from a 12 month project – which, for various political reasons, was actually 6 months? My frustration showed in the Executive summary of the final Discussion paper I left behind-

• The Bulgaria state system is suffering from “training fatigue”. Too many workshops have been held – and many without sufficient preparation or follow-up. Workshops with these features are not worth holding.
• There seems little to show from the tens of millions of euros spent by projects here in the last decade on training of public servants. Training materials, standards and systems are hard to find.
• Training is too ad-hoc – and not properly related to the performance of the individual (through the development and use of core competences) or of the organisation (through, for example, strategic management)
• Laws do not implement themselves. They require political and managerial commitment and resources.
• Such commitment and resources are in limited supply. Organisations (state bodies) perform only when they are given clear (and limited) goals – and the commensurate resources and support. This requires the skills of strategic management. Helping senior management acquire these skills is – or should be - the core mission of the Institute of Public Administration.
• A serious effort needs to be undertaken to establish a network of training suppliers (or community of learners) which can, for example, share experience and materials - and help develop standards.
• It is not enough, however, to operate on the supply side. Standards will rise and training make a contribution to administrative capacity only if there is a stronger demand for more relevant training which makes a measurable impact on individual and organisational performance.
• In the first instance, this will require Human Resource Directors to be more demanding of training managers – to insist on better designed courses and materials; on proper evaluation of courses and trainers; and on the use of better trainers. A subject specialist is not a trainer. We hope this book (and the project’s paper on assessment tools) will help give some benchmarks.
• It is critical that any training intervention is based on “learning outcomes” developed in a proper dialogue between the 4 separate groups involved in any training system (funder; training managers, trainers and learners)
• senior management of state bodies should look closely at the impact of new legislation on systems, procedures, tasks and skills. Too many people seem to think that better implementation and compliance will be achieved simply by telling local officials what that new legislation says.
• Workshops have costs – both direct (trainers and materials) and indirect (staff time). There are a range of other tools available to help staff understand new legal obligations. These are outlined and briefly assessed in section 9 of the final discussion paper
• Workshops should not really be used if the purpose is simply knowledge transfer. The very term “workshop” indicates that exercises should replace lectures – to ensure that the participant is challenged in his/her thinking. Suitable exercises force the participant to examine their own (all too often hidden) assumptions and create an environment in which presentations about legal and policy frameworks become more alive and meaningful. This type of workshop aims at extending self-awareness and is generally the approach used to develop managerial skills and to create champions of change.

It was interesting to talk with the new Head of the Institute - who was our official counterpart on day to day matters. After our departure, the Institute was transferred from the "Ministry of State Admin and Admin Reform" to the Ministry of Education where it languished until it was tranferred to the Council of Ministers from which it had departed some 5 years before! Four upheavals in the course of 5 years! And during these last 2 years it has had to dispense with about 20% of its staff and operate for a significant period of time with no budget!! But shortly it will face the headache of having to manage a 10 million euro project - the 5th or 6th "capacity-building"intervention it's had in the last decade.
The painting (Les Aveugles - blind leading the blind) is one by the Walloon, Anto Carte, whose school of paintings I wrote about some weeks back

Revisiting the scene of the crime

The biting cold continues – just as well I have friends who know the good Rakis (or are prepared to share their home elixir) and that there are so many red wines whose acquaintance I still have to make here. As I write, I’m tasting a Chateau Rossenovo from the „southern black sea region” (Pomorie??) which I took from the sparse shelves of my old wine merchant in his little basement store on Bvd General Totleben (did they make that up? The German name means ”deathlife”!) just before it hits Bvd General Skobelev (Did these two generals have a feud – over a woman perhaps??)
It’s not as good as the Brestovitza reds to which he introduced me some 3 years ago.
Although I spent a couple of hours today with the trainers, most of my time in the last 2 days has been with paintings, drawings and artists. Even last night’s meal with close friends was at the Architects' Association - one of Sofia’s best restaurants (for me).
I still haven’t made up my mind about the Dionesev seascape at Valmar (a bit gaudy). But I was deeply impressed with a dark blue young Stoian Vassilev seascape – and a powerful Petar Boiadjiev cliffscape.

The nice thing about revisiting the scene of your crimes (previous projects) is the possibilities of building some continuity. As the trainers were working on their exercises, I had the time to look again at the Discussion paper I left behind here 2 years ago and was interested to see again some of the points I made in that final document. The project aim was to help Bulgaria implement new EU requirements in fields such as food safety, environment, consumer protection by working with the Institute of Public Administration to design and deliver training programmes (including some distance learning) for local officials charged with the implementation of the new systems, prodecures and obligations. I was not, frankly, very familiar with what is called the EU Acquis Commuanitaire (the huge volume of legal obligations on EU member states) and found quite fascinating the huge academic literature which has developed on "the transposition and adoption of EU norms"(as the jargon puts it). As a "political scientist" (I don't like the term) rather than a lawyer, it is not surprising that I have become pretty critical of the emphasis placed on legislation. For me, legislation is perhaps necessary but never sufficient to achieve the changes being sought. As I put it in the conclusion to the Final Discussion Paper Learning from Experience - some reflections on the role of training in developing administrative capacity-

• laws are enacted in order to achieve specific social purposes
• they are one tool amongst many to achieve such purposes
• although EU law is dominant in many fields –particularly those relating to the single market – considerable scope is left to member states for complementary national legislation and structures of implementation
• this is particularly true of enforcement systems (in the general rather than legal sense)
• the transposition of EU laws in new member states outruns the capacity of institutions, budgets and societies to apply them in the manner intended
• derogations which were negotiated at the accession stage recognise this – but perhaps not fully
• governments in new member states are, however, hesitant about admitting too openly that they have to – and actually do - prioritise areas for improvements consistent with the EU acquis and good practice. Setting priorities is currently one in an ad-hoc and implicit manner
• transparency requires that this process of setting priorities is done more explicitly and openly – and reflected in the action plans
• such a process requires a realistic set of monitoring instruments
• effective training is linked to realistic action plans

Of course, I was just indulging myself since I was just a foreigner parachuted in for a year and why should anyone (let alone senior) listen to me? In fact I did have some conversations with one of the Deputy Ministers (of the Ministry for Administrative Reform) and the Final Conference did give an opportunity for an exchange about such things with one of Bulgaria's prominent jurists who understood perfectly what I was driving at and gave as good as he got!
I'll say more about the project tomorrow
The painting is a Petar Boiadjiev - the one I bought yesterday is much much better!

paintings and books - what else?

An early and cold trip across Sofia to Central Forum Hotel - first by tram to the centre, then by foot to catch a 5 tram down Makedonia Bvd. A coffee warms me as I explain to Violetta what I want to say in my few introductory remarks to the 6 finance officials who will be spending the next three days learning how to present material and to engage their fellow officials in the 20 odd courses they will be leading this and next year. The aim is to help the Bulgarian municipalities make better use of the EU Structural Funds. Basically I just want to elaborate on the nice saying by Ernst Schumacher which is one of opening quotes on this blogsite („Four sorts of worthwhile learning”). That done, I listen with interest as each of the 6 (women!) explain what they want to get out of their three days. Job done, I wrap up against the bitter cold and catch the tram up to the centre – with the aim of visiting the nice little art shop in the National Gallery building. On the way I pop into the Booktrading shop and emerge with Umberto Eco’s Turning the clock back – hot wars and media populism and a lovely Taschen edition about the Belgian painter James Ensor. This is another nice feature for nomads – visiting new bookshops with different collections. Of course, the second-hand bookshops are the best for sheer serendipidy. Last week I found in the boxes of a pavement bouquiniste a couple of books about Russian painters – a 1966 Moscow edition with aquarelles and drawings of the Tretyakov Art Gallery; and a superb 1971 Leningrad edition with full page colour pictures of paintings by Levitan. And a Moscow edition of Aldous Huxley’s Crome Yellow thrown in for free!
Zhechka joins me for a coffe and takes me to her office – but another small gallery catches my attention. Lily (the name of both the owner and the gallery) is a friend of Vihra at Astry Gallery and has 2 Mitko Kostadinovs at very reasonable prices which I quickly snap up. And I’m not done yet – I had spotted another gallery at the top end of the Vladimir Zaimov Park not far from my flat. It turns out to focus on handicapped painters and I buy a Nadejda Beleva sea-cliff view and a nicely executed painting of a couple of boats bobbing in the sea (slightly cliched I know but the water is well done and I do miss my Ocean!). Then to the shops to pick up some food and wine for the meal my friends have opted to take at my place rather than in a restaurant – the ultimate compliment!
I’ve enjoyed these last few months of leisure – not particularly interested in getting new projects. But some project possibilities are now beginning to swirl around. A friend and I are waiting for word of a Serbian project – that would be 18 months and me not in a Team Leader role. I don’t like the paperwork it now entails. And I’ve also been asked to go forward in a bid for a framework project – which are short (eg 60 day) assignments which are contracted very quickly – in Macedonia. A group of us are also talking about going for major project here in Bulgaria. Now that would really interest me!
The painting is a nice exaple of a Russi Ganchev - one of whose landsacpes I bought this week.

nomads

I see that my ratings („hits”) have gone down recently. I do realise my posts are too long – and too personal! Of little interest to most people. But – as I’ve said several times – the daily discipline is useful for me – even the travelogue stuff. So, if you’re a quick skimmer, please persevere….
I remain a nomad – and find that a change of location does bring new ways of seeing things – to steal the phrase the writer/artist John Berger used all of 35 years ago – even if I don’t venture far out of the flat or house I happen to be in (I counted recently the number of flats and houses I’ve lived in (excluding holiday places) and gave up when I reached 30). I soon create my own space – this flat was both metaphorically and physically cold when I arrived a week ago – but now is so cosey (hugelich as the Danes say) with my bright red old kilim; 8 modern (as distinct from contemporary!) Bulgarian paintings; smells of spices; a music system and special lighting.
Sunday morning was reflection and composition time for the blog – then coffee with Ivo at „Tobacco” (back of National Gallery). I’ve never smoked – except in the last 2 decades one Sumatra cigar each quarter year – but I hate the politically-correct banning of cigarette smoking. Another reason for liking Bulgaria. Ivo took me out to the upcoming Mladost area on the airport part of the ring-road to show me a cheap flat in a panel block which has admittedly better air than downtown Sofia – and which will by the end of the year have a very fast metro connection to the centre. But it it is still too much like the Wild West for my tastes – and the flat itself didn’t have the room dimensions I like and also needed a lot of work
Ivo and his colleague Ivan then quickly sorted out the problem I had with my 14-year old Cielo – whose rear brakes first seized up in the cold mid-week and whose battery quickly followed. I was prepared for a major hassle – but the 2 of them took only half an hour (with Ivo’s BMW off-road) to get the old dear back running. Ivo and I had major conflict with one another in the early months of our work together 3 years ago – but he is now one of my few really trustworthy friends. Verily, you have to go through fire to know your real friends! The same happened in Kyrgyzstan where I had a real outburst against a couple of individuals (one the Minister himself) who were, I felt, just a bit too overbearing. After that we became great friends!
I've come across one of the very few other blogs in English from Romania - and this posting tries to explain why the guy chose to live and work in the country - despite the many frustrations.

Preachers of unreason

What a dangerous stage The United States has reached when its main broadcaster on Fox TV is conducting an ideological campaign of hatred against a 78 year-old woman (for something she wrote in 1966) allowing death threats against her to appear on its official website. This is not just a reflection of the violent ant-liberal mood in the States – since Fox TV is one of the main engines of this hatred.
A very thoughtful blog reminds us how anti-liberalism poisoned the politics of Weimar Germany and paved the way for Nazism. The post summarises something else written in the 1960s – The Politics of Cultural Despair - which looked closely at the ideas of three writers whose critique of modernity in the late 19th century, the author (Fritz Stern) argued, prepared the mental ground for the acceptance of Nazism.

The central focus of this cultural criticism was the fact of modernity - liberalism, secularism, Manchesterism, consumptionism, and individualism. These were conservative critics; they favored an earlier time that was more traditional, moral, hierarchical, and religious. They preferred villages and towns to cities; they preferred cultivated thinkers to merchants and professionals, and they feared the rise of the proletariat.
By liberalism they meant to encompass several ideas: individualism, self-interest, parliamentary government, and glorification of commerce and the market. And their criticisms were unswerving: they hoped to turn back all of the liberal democratic and industrial transformations that modern Europe was undergoing.
The movement did embody a paradox: its followers sought to destroy the despised present in order to recapture an idealized past in an imaginary future. They were disinherited conservatives, who had nothing to conserve, because the spiritual values of the past had largely been buried and the material remnants of conservative power did not interest them. They sought a breakthrough to the past, and they longed for a new community in which old ideas and institutions would once again command universal allegiance.
The conservative revolutionaries denounced every aspect of the capitalistic society and its putative materialism. They railed against the spiritual emptiness of life in an urban, commercial civilization, and lamented the decline of intellect and virtue in a mass society. They attacked the press as corrupt, the political parties as the agents of national dissension, and the new rulers as ineffectual mediocrities. The bleaker their picture of the present, the more attractive seemed the past, and they indulged in nostalgic recollections of the uncorrupted life of earlier rural communities, when men were peasants and kings true rulers.

America's First Amendment is a sacred thing - but, in allowing hatred to continue spew from Fox TV and the airways when its citizens are looking for scapegoats for their troubles, is storing up trouble for American society. Anyway, the woman gives as good as she gets - see hereFritz Stern, the author, is a marvellous historian born in Breslau/Wroclaw in 1926 who escaped to America in 1938 and wrote a powerful autobiography essay which I read a few years back with great pleasure and benefit - Five Germanies I have known. He is a highly engaging character - as you can see both from his book and this video of him introducing it
Watching the video reminded me of the great interviews Clive James has on his website – and I liked his short piece attacking the rebranding which Britain’s privatised railway companies carried out you can see half-way through (3 mins 50 secs to be precise) this video interview about George Orwell.

Le Flaneur

Back into the tiny gallery on San Stefano St (at what I think is the north-east corner of Doctor’s Sq at the University area) to have another look at the large Tomev coastscape painting.
Then into the marvellous Alexander Nevsky church and am shocked to see the deterioration in the Nouveaux Arts paintings – many of which have large patches of white (dampness?) spreading downwards.
I stroll to the City Gallery to try to buy another copy of their large catalogue which has a (black and white) reproduction of every painting they have in stock. Only to find that they have some sort of problem with their little shop and they can’t sell its books! All that seems to be missing is a key – and the authority and/or the goodwill for the 2 people lounging at the reception! It reminds me of the situation in Bucharest where – despite the cutbacks – there are apparently many small heritage buildings and facilities with surplus staff.

I have a nice wander around a (quiet) centre – wondering once again why the young Sofians profess to disliking the place. To me it’s a painter’s paradise – not just the friendly little galleries but also the charm of the urban landscape with a mixture of old houses and 4 storey blocks – the space between always revealing a nice perspective. And almost no high rises – as if the supremely ugly 20 story M-tel block on Hristov Botev opposite the majestic beauty of the Ministry of Agriculture building is there to serve as a warning to modernists. The 2 towers of the Ministry building are unique for me. Sadly, however, there is a huge hole in the ground on the corner with Macedonskiya Bvd.
I look again at the painting of Varna port in the gallery at the top of Tsar Samuel(it’s a contemporary - by Lubomir Arnaudov – for 220 euros)
A visit to the small music shop at the end of Solunska St (beside the Methodist church) confirms my fears about the consequences of the change in ownership – a year ago it had in the basement one of the best collections of classical music I had ever seen and now that is gone and the choice much restricted. I need music when I’m working or reading – and forgot to bring some with me. I manage to fiind a nice collection of Bassoon concerts and an historical recording of Richard Strauss and Belle Bartok.
The Assen Vasilev gallery is just across the road and, although its stuff is more superficial, I pop in – after all I have bought a couple of things there. And, indeed, I recognise a Mitko Dimitrov painting and indeed pick out one of his without realising its his – a rather stormy slightly surrealist one with a country church at the top of a hill and a view down a valley to a distant village. Has a nice symbolic touch for me – and only 125 euros. Not quite sure…...My collection is now at the stage I have to be careful about having too many landscapes with houses; I need more seascapes and, above all, paintings with people! And one picture catches my eye – with lots of people in a square, It’s by 74 year old Ivan Manoilev – but a bit pricey for me.
14.00 sees me at Konos Gallery for my meeting with Yassen and his other gallery friend who are bringing some more paintings in for me to look at. This time I’ve brought a wine – I tried to fiind a Brestovitza but could only manage a Telish. Nothing can be better than a bottle of wine, cheese, bread, friends and paintings! I’m introduced this time to Todor Kodjamanov (born the early part of the 20th century) whose 1940s quiet river scene with some beached canoes has a lovely soft pastel colouring. He’s sought after – but I can get this large painting for just under 1000 euros. And there are 2 seascapes for me to inspect – a large Petar Boiadjiev and smaller more dramatic Boris Stefchev which I quickly go for. The Russe Ganchev they have for me is not very exciting – he’s on my list because I liked the exhibition of his work I saw 3 years ago at the National Gallery but have not really taken to the 10 or so I have seen so far for sale. The tiny 1911 Alexander Mutafov river scene still entices – but is, of course, pricey. Clutching my Stefchev, I say goodbye with another session fixed for Monday afternoon – when, hopefully, they will have an Emilia Radusheva for me which has something in common with the one I already have (see top).
Amazingly I stumble across two more antique shops on the way home – one in a tiny basement next to the Assen Vasilev gallery. As I emerge, my attention is drawn to a river scene which is hanging outside (!) and it’s mine for 100 euros!
So ends a very pleasant Saturday flanant (wandering).
Today’s Observer has a touching article by a young Egyptian woman about the developments there and in some other countries of the Arab world

State hypocrisy

The upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt and even Yemen have shown the limits of both „authoritarianism” and of „democracy”. Those who rule without even the veneer of passive popular support are doomed to become currupt, inefficient and unjust; to repress the protest this creates – thereby creating a vicious circle of repression and protest. However, the arab world world is supposed to be fatalistic and immune from aspirations of democracy. So says a large (American inspired?) literature. And watching American statespeople cope with these protests is a real education about the reality of democracy in the USA. Two years ago, the world was full of hope when Barack Obama was sworn in as American President; but he has neither the will nor the capacity to change his country’s consistent support for dictators who give America what it needs – whether that is repression of alternative ways of governing or access to the petrol America needs.
And a year ago Hilary Clinton delivered a paen of praise to the internet – and its contribution to freedom and democracy. But her strong reaction to Wilileaks showed how empty and self-serving were her words. State interests conquer all.

People like Chomsky and Arundhati Roy have been exposing these hypocrisies for many years. The Guardian carries today a good interview with Roy - whose work, I have to confess, is not well known to me. A quick search threw up a strong 2002 piece on the damage Enron was doing in Indiaand a much more recent (and longer) article on the time she spent with Indian Maoist rebels in the field.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I am interested in labels and Roy readily admits, in the Guardian interview, that she sees her writing as an important tool in the struggle for dignity and respect for ordinary people. In that sense she is a "writer", „activist” and „visionary” – although that latter term sits uneasily with activism. Someone (William Murtha) had a nice idea recently – to ask (200) people to put their vision into 100 words and also to list the five books which had inspired them. The result was – 100 words; 200 visionaries share their hope for the future I said it was a nice idea - not necessarily a good book! The invitations seem to have been restricted to "new age" Northern americans - and the contributors don't say why the books have inspired them. It was Scott London’s blog which put me on to this - at least in that posting he does give a nice little summary of what his 5 books meant to him.

Nice bit of serendipity yesterday - the 22 tram outside takes me to the old (outdoor) market in the down-at-heel area just past the mosque and Jewish synagogue. My main interest was the Araab shops - for spices for the flat. I had intended to have another look at a (modern) painting of Varna port which is a good buy at 225 euros but decided to check again on the Valmar Gallery (at 55 Stamboloyski Bvd where it crosses Hristo Botev Bvd) which seemd to have disappeared last time I tried to go in the summer. Lo and behold it was still there - and open - although its windows were covered in shrouds and it looked closed and derelict. To enter it is to enter an Aladdin's Cave. I showed Valery my list - and he spent the next 90 minutes hours pulling paintings from the piles. What a contrast with the reception you get when you go to the Viktoria Gallery (and auctioneers) - where you are met with a deadpan look!! Not satisfied with showing me examples of those I had on my list, he introduced me to the works of more than 15 painters whose work was sufficiently attractive to me to have me scribbling their names down. By the end, I had almost 10 paintings put to one side for consideration - having regrettfully passed on a 15,000 euros Nikola Tanev painting and a 4,000 euros painting by one Ianko Marinov (born 1902). But I did get a Dobre Dobrev (which I have been looking for for some time - an example is above) - and another Alexandra Mechkuevska to add to my collection.