Viktor Yankov is a cultural strategist with a long-standing commitment to the development of urban culture and its European dimension. A key figure of the “Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture” initiative since 2017, he established the project’s international department and later served as Deputy Director, with a focus on the sustainability of cultural policies beyond 2019.
His work is rooted in the belief that culture is not just content, but a structural element of society – one that requires planning, logic, and emotional insight.
Through his roles at the Open Arts Foundation, the “Plovdiv 2019” programme, Viktor has consistently advocated for culture as a long-term investment – with social, economic, and reputational impact. For him, culture is not only about what is presented, but how it is built – with vision, structure, and commitment. In 2021, he initiated the creation of the international cultural management project – Cultart.
A participant in international platforms such as Salzburg Global Seminar and Cultart, as well as co-author of the initiative to save the Kosmos cinema, he is consistent in his belief that culture is a living, transformative process. Victor is also a Bulgarian representative to the expert team for European Capitals of Culture – Capacity Building for ECoC at the European Commission.
He seeks dialogue between innovation, public art, and social responsibility – always with a sense of care for the legacy we leave behind in the city.
He believes Plovdiv is shifting the narrative – not just changing its image, but deeply transforming its cultural role. Beyond events, beyond appearances. With personal commitment and a forward-looking vision.
1. What is Plovdiv to you, and how is it changing?
Plovdiv has always been a city with its own internal rhythm – self-contained, at times introspective, but deeply authentic. Today, the city is evolving – with a higher standard of living, an influx of people, and industrial growth.
The real challenge lies in preserving its unique atmosphere and identity. That subtle, almost pastoral quality that draws people in and makes them stay.
2. What is your vision for the role of culture in the city?
Culture is the face of Plovdiv. And that face doesn’t change.
We must approach everything that has been created here over the years with respect. You enter an underpass and step onto stones from Antiquity. Walk a bit further and you see the most modern museum in Bulgaria. And chances are you’ll attend two different festivals in the same weekend.
But culture is more than heritage or a calendar of events. It’s a strategic investment with measurable outcomes – shaping identity, stirring emotion, and generating economic value. It’s not imposed from above, but emerges from the balance between artists, curators, and audiences.
3. What makes Plovdiv stand out on the cultural map of Bulgaria and Europe?
Let me turn the question around: how many people in Bulgaria have real access to contemporary European culture? Beyond Sofia. Beyond Plovdiv.
And if there’s one city that has consistently invested effort, funding, partnerships, resilience, and long-term vision – it’s Plovdiv. That’s what sets it apart.
4. What makes a cultural project sustainable?
Sustainability doesn’t come from a grant.
It comes from answering one question: is there still a reason for someone to stand on that stage five years from now?
Sustainable is the kind of cultural policy that nurtures an environment, not just a programme. The kind that isn’t handed down as a directive, but created as a shared gesture – between artists, curators, selectors, and communities.
And the kind that understands one essential truth: every event is a result. It’s the product of long-term cultural strategies, extensive documentation, demanding administration, and meaningful intent.
5. Who is Viktor behind all this?
Just someone you might run into in Kapana.
6. If a person could do just one thing to make the city we live in a better place, what would it be?
To show up. To get involved. To be part of the conversations and actions that shape the city they want to live in.
To keep the streets clean, but also to be mindful of the words we use when we talk about our place.
To not walk past with indifference when there’s a chance to do something.
That’s urban culture. That’s culture, at its core.
