Bulgarian underpasses have always impressed me and made me think; sometimes in the grip of fear. Subways are inevitable part of urban life and in Sofia’s underpasses you can find various shops but hardly the right exit. Subways here have their gloomy atmosphere reminiscent of the times of socialism but they are also characterised by street music, cracked walls, mysterious locked doors and special underground flavour.
Thanks to the people of the POdLEZNO Initiative some of the capital's subways already look much nicer and more modern. Young volunteers have renovated the underground passages. The projects they have already completed include: "Natural Underpass" near Borisova Garden, "Music Underpass" under Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard and the "Time Travel Subway" in Poduyane district. They are currently working on a project for renovating lighting in underpasses in the Studentski Grad district.
During the past weekend "POdLEZNO" presented the first music project of the team, proving that there is room for music and culture in subways. "The Music Underpass," which opened last summer proved a great setting for the video of the debut song of the initiative - "Someone Told Me." Singer and writer of the song is Dimitar Stafidov. Ivaylo Nedelchev joined with an electric guitar solo and Ivelin Lobutov also plays the guitar. Dimitar Krastev plays the bass, while Dragomir Rusev and the new mascot of the initiative – the dog Rila are drummers. The sound of the new addictive song was heard during a flash mob with a cause that took place on Saturday near the National Palace of Culture downtown Sofia, the Serdika metro station and the underpass near the Sofia University.
The purpose of the flash mob was to promote the activities of these enthusiastic young people and to present their future project - "Movie Underpass." There were smiles and dancing, despite extremely high temperatures. On Sunday afternoon POdLEZNO presented their first song on a stage in the Borisova Gradina Park. One of the founders of the initiative, Yulia, told us more about the excitement of being a volunteer and the desire to create:
"What we really aim at is attracting people's attention. They also have the opportunity to change things they do not like. Everyone is welcome to join our initiative. A good example was a father of two young children who stopped and spent a few hours working with us. People are grateful to us. Later when something gets damaged we see that people fix it themselves. This gives us a lot of pleasure. We try to reach to all generations and our goal is that both young and old should feel good when passing through the subways. The initiative has also been included in the Small Treasures of Sofia chart of Bulgaria Air. The biggest motivation for us is that the things we do make people smile.”
The Fund for Innovation in Culture, the Culture Fund and the Prevention, Integration, Sport and Tourism Department of the Sofia Municipality support projects of the initiative. But do Bulgarians preserve the creations?
"Yes, they do. We did our first project two years ago and things we created are still there. One can see some graffiti around but our work remains intact. When you do something good that pleases people, they keep it,” Mitko Stafidov says.
The best thing is that everyone can join in the new project "Movie Underpass" and help in creating more modern and pleasant urban environment.
English: Alexander Markov
