Mid-Winter Night’s DreamAt the University of Ottawa , a literature professor
of mine used to say that comfort is not what drives the artist to succeed.
On the other hand, hard times and discomfort can become a source of infinite
inspiration driving the artist to defy gravity and reach new heights. In the
same vein, we’ve brought together a few artists who with humble extravagance
have persisted through endless struggles in the pursuit of their dreams.
So, this time, you can meet with the painter
Steven Lamb (Svilen
Hristozof)
who in two interviews shares his life-vision and
journey as an
artist. Further, you can view the
paintings of Peter G.
Ray, one of the rare Bulgarian-Canadian names to make himself a place in
New York City. You will also discover a few projects from Visavis Graphics’
portfolio, a design firm founded by the painters and illustrators
Vesselina Tomova and
Vessela Brakalova.
Elsewhere in the episode, the architects
Vladimir and
Nadejda Topouzanov relate the adventure of transforming a House in the
St-Henri neighborhood into an award winning residence. Among the various
Montreal projects of stature in which Mr. Topouzanov has participated, you
can explore this time the
Pavillon
Lassonde de l’École Polytechnique of the University of Montreal.
Not to miss: two theatre plays staged by
Peter
Batakliev, Steven Kerr’s
Unity 1918
and Hristo Boychev’s
famous
Colonel Bird, where you can equally admire the performance of actress
Venelina
Ghiaourov. She also stars as Sofia in the television series L’Auberge du
chien noir, while Peter Batakliev on his side incarnates
a gangster
in Largo Winch.
For a dose of adrenaline, we attended the filming of a
video clip of the band
iDolphin at -20°C in the much
talked about Ice Hotel
located north of Québec city. It can never look as cold as it felt.
Gold, we’ve been told is the safest investment in the
current economy situation. Thus, the ancient gold collection of the
Iladesign studio founded by
Lydia Ilarionova and Marin Marinov
fits in the zeitgeist. You can get an eyeful in an
additional slideshow of jewelry by Iladesign. And finally the Triple
Urn, maybe our most original feature, will make you discover the
spiritual side
of Lydia Ilarionova’s sculptures.
In the name of all those who like us spent the winter in
Canada, winking at all the cold feet who flew out to the South, we’ve
attempted to capture the
Magic of Montreal in a clip filmed
around the neighborhood, from Le Plateau to Chinatown.
Rossita Dove Rédactrice en chef/Editor-in-Chief
