Radar FAQ

Most probably, yes. Wherever you are based in the world, you are eligible to apply as long as you can speak basic English (or Bulgarian) and have submitted all the required documents in English. For writers, the sample of work you need to send will have to be in English as well. However if you just embark on your first artistic project, which in the eyes of many people makes you a beginner, it will be wise of you to wait for several years before applying.

This means that you arrive on a Monday or a Tuesday, the latest, and leave on a Monday. We need you to be here on a Sunday, because Sundays are good for presentations, readings and networking events. Otherwise you choose how many weeks you prefer to stay and we together see what is possible.

Well, kind of. We are also artists and we hate deadlines, although they sometimes help organise ourselves. This is our kick-off year and we start accepting applications in three batches, but actually the process is open throughout the year.

The early birds, or those submitting by June 20, can apply for a period starting as early as 20 days after the date of application and these submissions will be reviewed and answered very quickly so that we can start rolling.

Applications received after June 20 but before July 20, will have to propose a stay starting at least a month after the day of application.

Everybody applying after July 20 will need to propose an arrival date at least two months following the day of application.

You can apply earlier for a later period (which is to say that by June 10, for example, you can apply for a residency with us in January next year.)

In your application you are asked to give us two options.

It is you who choose whether you want to stay for one, two, three weeks or for maximum one month at Radar. However, the exact length of your stay may need to be further adjusted after you get selected.

No. We don’t have the time and resources to reread every application that needs adjustment. You’d better edit and proofread everything before you press “send”. However, if an important information around you becomes available after you submit, you can send us an e-mail to inform us about it.

Once you enter into our calendar, changes are not possible. That is why we will discuss all the details around your prospective coming before publicly announcing your stay. Once that is done, no changes are possible. You also have responsibility towards other artists who did not get selected for this particular period.

Yes, we offer also creative space for those without projects but with exceptional biographies. Your chances to get a residency slot with us increase if you submit a project. The chances are even higher if the project is somehow related to Sofia or Bulgaria. But Sofia or not, what we seek are the exceptional voices.

We would love to organise this for you. However if your project is not in the phase it can be presented, we would encourage you to present yourself with (some of) your past works. This can be a formal or more casual reading, meeting with audience and makers from the local scene, presentation, screening or whatever we arrange together with you that would best suit your needs and preferences. However, we are aware that some percentage of all artists have these periods in their lives when they just want to be left alone and work. We would respect that. You can use this residency to isolate yourself from your normal (hectic or nor) environment and just create.

Yes, one of the rooms is equipped with a small extendable sofa, so this can be arranged for mothers. This is a residency option that wants to cater for the needs of all types of creators.

We are working hard to find a room that will be accessible to people in wheelchairs as well. For the present moment we can’t offer accomodation to people who can’t climb stairs and we are sorry for that.

Hmm, we hate to say no. This artistic residency is about you and your creative time, and very probably about your next project. It is not to be considered as a family holiday option. In the same time we can’t reject your partner accompanying you if you convince us you can only create with him/her.

Once you come to Radar Sofia, you can only stay for the period that has been agreed beforehand, because other artists/writers/creators are coming after you. The maximum period of 4 weeks can be extended under exceptional circumstances or urgent need, which is agreed only before arrival of the guests.

Located in the heart of Sofia, Radar is at just a 30-minute ride by metro from Sofia Airport Terminal II and about 10 minutes from the Central Railway station and the Central Bus Station of the capital (two stops with the metro).

We don’t know. You will have a room in a shared flat and pets need to be negotiated with other residents at the time.

Yes

The accommodation is located in the centre of the city with many pedestrian zones and a complicated and expensive system for parking around. If you leave your car at the outskirts of Sofia (for example at the parking lot at the airport) the price would be about 22 EUR per week.

Well, most of residencies for writers ask for an application fee, even when they are highly subsidised institutions. We are not and in our case there are several reasons for this. First, a fee with your application makes your commitment to the residency experience much more serious. It is not just sending us a CV and probable dates for a stay that you as an artist have impulsively come to one late summer night and then, after two months, it turns out that you actually want to or have to do something totally different. We spend a lot of time reviewing your applications and this needs to be respected. “But can I come in April instead of March, or “Can we make it two weeks in October, instead of three in November? – Well, we can’t handle this if it comes from 20 different directions in the same time. We know what a fee is – it makes you think twice before sending all the documents, and especially makes you think about when you are indeed able to come.

And then, yes, we start off as a totally independent centre and have absolutely no income to cover our operating expenditures: we are investing our own funds. This is good at the beginning when enthusiasm is high, but then we have to think of how to keep it going for a longer period. So the small fee we ask for will help us keep our balance sheet at zero. You can take it as a donation to a centre that you truly believe needs to keep existing. It’s a statement. It’s a position you take.