The Singer-Zahariev Foundation was founded in 2020. The first project of the Foundation was an Open Call for a site-specific work by Bulgarian artists living in Bulgaria and abroad. The call was launched in the middle of the Covid crisis and was welcomed by the artist community as a means of support during this tough period. The winner of the competition was Krasimira Butseva with her project “The Curtain That Separates Us: History is in the Present”. Krasimira’s practice focuses on documented histories research. In 2024 she was selected as part of an artist collective to present Bulgaria’s official contribution at the Venice Biennale 2024 with her project “Neighbours”. We are very proud of Krasimira and her work. 

In 2022 the S-Z Foundation started an artist grant programme to support Bulgaria-linked artists with gap funding for their ongoing projects. 

To date, the Foundation has already supported 35 projects through the Program. Among them many individual projects like the residency of the Ukrainian performance artist Daria Pugacheva in Plovdiv, Bulgaria; a residency with Bulgarian and German artists in a rural location, an exhibition of emerging Bulgarian artist Marta Djourina’s  exhibition in Wolfsburg, Germany ; a student project with the Art Academy of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria;  the immersive dance performance “The last Sunset” in Gabrovo and – most recently, the performance by Bulgarian-Italian duo Voin de Voin and Valentina Sciarra at a collateral event during the Venice Biennale 2024.

In addition to individual projects, the S-Z Foundation has supported institutional programmes and regular events such as  the international art show Sofia Art Week ; the educational activities of the Institute of Contemporary Art:  ICA-Sofia; the comprehensive art documentation of Bulgarian Contemporary art Open Art Files and the programme of the Varna-based Re-bonkers/ Buna art space, and Buna Varna – the largest contemporary visual arts forum in Bulgaria.