Iara Boubnova on Sofia's Cultural Rebirth

In a dispatch from Sofia, Aaron Moulton recounts a taxi ride where the driver's cultural references leap from Monica Lewinsky to Bill Clinton, bypassing the Bush years. The journey underscores a city where, as Russian-born curator Iara Boubnova, co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary Art, notes, "Everything is happening for the first time here. It's the second time which is the challenge." The Balkan mountains cradle Sofia, a city experiencing a cultural renaissance amid post-communist transformation.