In "This month" section, artnewscafe bulletin offers a wide selection of exhibitions, events, and open calls in the field of contemporary art in Bulgaria – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo and in Europe.
The monthly bulletin strives to offer an accessible, thoughtful, and quality information about what’s happening on the Bulgarian and European visual arts stage. artnewscafe bulletin started in 2008 as a project of Open Arts Foundation. In July 2022 the bulletin joined Open Art Files as a permanent collaboration offering the monthly bulletin also in English.
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Vikenti Komitski
Nevermind The Gap, 2017.
Object
Details
- Description: cover: Vikenti Komitski, Installation view from Nevermind The Gap, 2017, Joey Ramone, Rotterdam, in the solo show Same As It Never Was, curated by Tiziano Tancredi, at Punta Gallery, 37 Stefan Stambolov Blvd., Sofia, July 11 - September 10.
SOFIA - ART TALKS SOFIA - PLOVDIV - VARNA - SHABLA - KAZANLAK
SOFIA
¬ Mariana Vassileva / Flying and other daily necessities / solo exhibition / curated by Nadezhda Dzhakova, PhD / Sofia Arsenal – Museum of contemporary art, 2, Cherni Vrah Blvd. / July 3 - August 24. “Mariana Vassileva’s exhibition began as an autobiographical account where childhood memories, her relationship with her mother and homeland all meet, but inevitably progressed to the political and social realities in which we live. ‘I am’ is now ‘we are’. Small personal slogans have become manifestos for freedom and human welfare.” - Nadezhda Dzhakova. https://tinyurl.com/44fkcpzc
¬ Lachezar Boyadjiev / On vacation… Corpus Equorum / solo exhibition / curated by Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu and Joanna Warsza / National Gallery, Kvadrat 500, 1, 19th February St. / July 10 - September 28. “Traditionally, equestrian statues are monuments representing a rider mounted on a horse. The term derives from the Latin eques, meaning ‘knight’, from equus, meaning ‘horse’. They typically portrayed kings or emperors and, from the Renaissance era, military commanders. The removal of those subjects, or the so-called heroes, leaving empty or unfinished pedestals, illustrates how dealing with memory remains infinitely open-ended. The artist explores the way contemporary art can propose counter-monuments while testing the limits of what memorials and monuments in general may achieve.” - Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu and Joanna Warsza https://tinyurl.com/yp2yecpj
¬ Ivo Iliev Yeto / Alchemy of the moment / solo show / curated by Martin Kostashki / National Gallery, Kvadrat 500, atrium, entrance from Vasil Levski Blvd. / June 19 2025 - May 31 2026. “Having launched in 2020, the long-term project of the National Gallery ‘The Wall’ aims to present contemporary masters of mural painting and graffiti artists. Ivo Iliev Yeto is well known for a number of emblematic large-scale murals at key locations in Sofia. Through them, he creates stories in which nature, man and symbols interact in surreal situations, carrying multi-layered meaning and interpretation. In the space opposite the atrium, selection of small-format landscape compositions will also be displayed (June–August 2025), in which reality, magic and dream bring a special sense of timelessness.” - Martin Kostashki https://tinyurl.com/4m69urkh
¬ Vladimir Goev (1925 - 2013) / retrospective exhibition / curated by Aneliya Nikolaeva and Ivan Milev / National Gallery, The Palace, 1 Knyaz Alexander I Square / June 27 - September 21. The National Gallery marks the centenary of the birth of Vladimir Goev (1925–2013), an illustrious representative of the generation of Bulgarian painters that won recognition in the second half of the 20th century. His name is closely linked to the history of the National Art Gallery in Sofia, where he is remembered as one of its successful directors of undisputed merit in establishing the institution and developing its collections. https://tinyurl.com/mvy2x7h7
¬ Denitsa Todorova / Metaphor for memory / solo show / curated by Diana Draganova - Stier / The Vera Nedkova House Museum, 2, 11 August St. / June 17 - November 21. “Denitsa Todorova was born in Plovdiv but has lived and worked in Antwerp for many years. Impressed by the museum in the centre of Sofia, she has prepared an exhibition titled ‘Metaphor for Memory’, an emotional return to and reflectiveness on memories and the past. The works offer a nuanced and symbolic exploration of the imaginary space where the sensitivity of women and their fragility and transformation are mirrored. The project fills the Vera Nedkova House Museum with a fine, delicate energy that blends into the artist’s creative imagery. Her interpretive vision propounds the issue of underrepresented ‘stories’ of women in the history of art.” - Diana Draganova - Stier https://tinyurl.com/z2mwr2nd
¬ Through the Prism of Borders – Episode 2: Artistic Journeys In-Between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey / group show / curated by Katia Anguelova, Angelika Burtscher, Marion Oberhofer / National History Museum, 16 Vitoshko Tulip Str. / April 8 - August 29. The exhibition explores the multiple perceptions of borders, engaging with political, spatial and personal narratives of the southeasternmost border of Europe. Through newly commissioned site-specific works, artists Esra Ersen, Boris Missirkov & Georgi Bogdanov, Ivan Moudov and ZimmerFrei (Anna de Manincor) examine themes of migration, history and identity. The exhibition fosters a deeper understanding of borderlands as spaces of connection rather than division, prompting reflection on historical omissions, collective memory and shaping contemporary dialogue on national and transnational identities. It presents borders as porous, ever-shifting zones of tension and transformation. https://b-shapes.lungomare.org/
¬ Hunger 2.0 / group show / National museum of military history, 11 Kamenodelska Str. / July 3 - October 5. The exhibition interprets the fundamental theme of hunger in five different aspects – physical hunger, hunger for self-preservation, hunger for security, hunger for truth and hunger for the future. Provoking the foundations of our humanity, these five thematic circles intertwine past and present, giving us the opportunity to follow the path of hunger to the present day – a time of wars, conflicts, climate disasters and economic instability, when hunger is no longer just a crisis, but a political and ideological weapon. Created as a space for experience, the exhibition combines original museum artifacts and works by contemporary artists, drawing parallels between past and present and seeking an answer to the question “Have we changed?” https://tinyurl.com/ymdw2n2k
¬ Andrey Yanev / The Council / solo exhibition / curated by Plamen V. Petrov / Art Gallery - Kazanlak, National Archaeological Institute with Museum - BAS, 2 Saborna St. / June 11 - September 29. “Having crossed the threshold of his sixth decade of life, Andrey Yanev today presents us with his latest exhibition. It is a kind of precedent in the established practice in our country, and not only, of the artist arranging his own large-scale exhibition on each of his anniversary. It is in the space between the well-considered gesture and the spontaneous decision that the exhibition “The Council” should be placed, at the center of which is a single work – a painting of the same name, which Andrey Yanev himself defines as a “revelation”.” - Plamen V. Petrov https://tinyurl.com/293hkcbe
¬ Bieke Depoorter / Crossings / solo exhibition / FotoFabrika Festival 2025, Sofia City Art Gallery, 1 Gurko St. / June 5 - July 20. Bieke Depoorter is a Belgian photographer and member of the legendary agency Magnum Photos. Her projects are often born from chance encounters and become intimate visual narratives that question the very nature of photography. She is the author of six books and the recipient of numerous international awards. The exhibition showcases four of her most impactful series. https://fb.me/e/a52dU1OGy
¬ The advent of Chinese and Japanese art in Bulgaria up to the late 20th century / curated by Krasimir Iliev / retrospective exhibition / Sofia City Art Gallery, 1 Gurko Str. / May 29 - August 31. The exhibition examines both the direct influence of Chinese and Japanese art on Bulgarian artists, as well as what permeates through various artistic styles and movements. Far Eastern art came from the West under the cover of and through the influence of impressionism. Art Nouveau brought fashion, and the end of World War I brought the spirit of transience. In the 1950s, artists such as Stoyan Venev and Dechko Uzunov took to the long roads of Tianxia (all under Heaven). The 1980’s were a time of increasing publication of books translated from the Japanese and the Chinese. Ukiyo-e artworks were added to the permanent collections of state-owned galleries in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv and Sliven. Days of Japanese Culture, an initiative launched in the early 1990’s, turned into an annual forum showcasing various art forms… https://fb.me/e/2JgCzuoTj
¬ Care and Healing / group show / curated by Galina Dimitrova / Vaska Emanuilova Gallery, 15 Yanko Sakazov Blvd. / June 26 - August 31. The exhibition Care and Healing is the final part of the trilogy curated by Galina Dimitrova (Fear and Love and Shame and Guilt, 2024) that examines contemporary understandings and reflections on these primal human feelings and relationships. In it we direct our gaze to women, with whom we mainly connect care for children, the family, and other people in need. Women carry the stigma of patriarchy to be the main bearer of this care, but do we ask ourselves what this dedication brings her? The project draws attention to the fact that women also need care in order to be complete and effective people—for themselves and for their community. https://tinyurl.com/4n9yhphs
¬ Do We Remember What We Have Forgotten? / group show / curated by Pravdoliub Ivanov / ICA-Sofia Gallery, 134 Vasil Levski Blvd. / June 10 - July 24. “In Georgi Gospodinov's Timeshelter, one of the characters quotes Renan, who argued that “a nation is a group of people who have agreed to remember and forget the same things.” Perhaps the same process as a defense mechanism in a scaled-down, monological version runs through each of us. Do personal and shared memories as well as forgetting intersect? Will we know what to remember and what to unanimously or personally forget? The visual interpretations of Aksiniya Peycheva, Mariela Gemisheva, Kalin Serapionov, Radostin Sedevchev and Sofia Grancharova offer more than one answer or double the questions.” - Pravdoliub Ivanov https://tinyurl.com/ykjhhj8b
¬ Jump! Don’t jump! / 10 years Swimming Pool / group exhibition / Swimming Pool, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. 10 / July 10 - 31. The exhibition, dedicated to the full and empty pools of the imagination, presents works by Krasimir Terziev, Andrea Popjordanova, Mihail Novakov, Yana Lozeva, Nora Ampova, Altsek Mishev, Savina Topurska and Sasho Violetov. It also opens the second edition of the Nine Elephants festival. https://tinyurl.com/yjhcdwny
¬ Boyan Montero / Das Gift / solo exhibition / Goethe-Institut, 1 Budapest Str. / June 19 - July 29. The word “Gift” in modern German means “poison”, but it derives from the Old High German word for “gift”. This drastic transformation reveals both the linguistic and conceptual complexity of the word, turning it into an intriguing paradox. It is this dual, multi-layered nature of the gift/gift that lies at the heart of the exhibition. “Das Gift” explores the tensions inherent in the act of giving and receiving – between care and control, between freedom and obligation, between generosity and coercion. The starting point is the popular cliché “life is a gift”, which is unraveled through visual collages of family portraits, inherited objects, children's myths and fairy tales. https://tinyurl.com/7675u7fr
¬ Vegetable vision / group show / Credo Bonum Gallery, 2 Slavyanska str. / June 17 - July 19. The exhibition Vegetable Vision draws inspiration from the artistic practice of American artist Emma Roulette. Although she works as an illustrator for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and others, she is in fact a trained zoologist and entomologist. Her experience in this rigorously scientific field has helped her develop her own concept of nature as an artistic subject—nature as a collection of equal and equally important elements, both vibrant and impersonal. A nature in which no species is more significant than another. Joining Emma Roulette in this exhibition are four Bulgarian artists - Dimitar Solakov, Alexandra Angelova, Zornitsa Gramkova, and Miglena Tsvyatkova. https://fb.me/e/6Nsd1C9js
¬ Asti Art Residency – Sinemorets 2024 / group show / +359 Gallery, 13A Galitchitsa Str. / June 24 - September 14. Gallery +359 presents a selection of works created during the international contemporary art residency Asti Art Residency – Sinemorets 2024. In three separate periods, twenty-three artists worked in different directions – painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and video art. The exhibition opens new perspectives on how contemporary art interacts with place, nature and community. https://fb.me/e/3nAoIee6G
¬ Shawn Spangler / Niche forms / solo show / Arosita Gallery, 12B Vrabcha Str. / July 3 - 25. “Despite viewing my time making art as a private act between an individual and their medium, it is still inherently community oriented. These moments transform material into objects that are intrinsically tied to the experiences of others –– their possibility to enrich lives, generate connections, and build relationships with artists throughout the world. My work is a collaboration with historical objects through various eras, focusing on art technology and object interpretation. Ceramic objects can serve as historical markers for us to learn from and build upon –– artifacts that can help gauge a culture, its traditions, and social practices. I see my work as part of a lineage of makers, extending the long sequence of recorded mark-making in clay –– a human trace, carrying the spirit of the time.” - Shawn Spangler https://fb.me/e/7SPf4iK3u
¬ Made in Leshten vol.4 / group show / curated by Teodora Konstantinova and Radoslav Mehandzhiyski / Little Bird Place Gallery, 7 "11th August" str. / July 3 - 27. In a world of accelerated urbanization and digital oversaturation, the Made in Leshten project offers not an escape, but a return — to nature, to silence, to the primordial rhythm of existence. For а fourth year, a group of young visual artists withdrew for a two-week residency in the village of Leshten, where time thickens and the senses sharpen. There, nature is not merely a background — it is a partner, a material, a conversational companion of thought. This year’s exhibition marks the culmination of that interaction, presenting works by Borya Shapshalova, Eleonora Edreva, Ildzhan Ismetov - pilci ilci, Nikola Tsvetanov, and Todor Rabadzhiyski. https://fb.me/e/4P5VlktuR
¬ Dina Stoev / Chapter II / solo show / CCA Toplocentrala Gallery - Cube, 5 Emil Bersinski Str. / July 3 - 31. The exhibition brings together works created from 2023 to the present, along with new, previously unshown works. As the title suggests, the author perceives his solo exhibitions as a series of “chapters” — open stages in a constantly evolving artistic process. This is a kind of visual book without an end, in which each exhibition is an experience, a philosophical note, a reflection on modernity. Stoev explores topics related to the global and local crises of the present — wars, hunger, death, loss of cultural memory, destruction of nature. In his works, disturbing realities are observed from the distance of an imagined future. https://toplocentrala.bg/program/visual/glava-ii
¬ Vikenti Komitski / Same As It Never Was / solo show / curated by Tiziano Tancredi / Punta Gallery, 37 Stefan Stambolov Blvd. / July 11 - September 10. The exhibition presents a range of new works that converge into a coherent — yet intentionally fragmented — vision of a “post-historic” imaginary, where timelines collapse into a paratactic continuum. The works appear as composite relics from a time that never quite existed — an impossible archaeology of the future. With their hybrid forms, they evoke a dissonant sense of familiarity, triggering an anachronistic perception in the viewer that is both alienating and magnetic. "Same As It Never Was" invites us into a world that resists linear interpretation, where the past and future melt into a single, uncanny present. https://tinyurl.com/mwupp47y
¬ Behiç Günalan and Süleyman Akman / The Banishment / joint show / FotoFabrika Festival 2025, Regional History Museum Sofia, Exposition for national reconciliation, 1 Bulgaria Blvd. / June 3 - July 20. “‘The Banishment” presents for the first time in Bulgaria footage from two different waves of displacement. Some of the photographs shown document a crime – the expulsion of over 360 thousand people from Bulgaria in the summer of 1989. But this exhibition also shows something never seen before – photographs from 1969, from another wave of displacement that has remained outside public memory. It is precisely this dialogue between the two Turkish photographers – Behiç Günalan, who photographed the expulsion of Turks from Bulgaria in 1989, and Süleyman Akman, with his photographs from 1969 – that is the great challenge and the great invitation for conversation that this exhibition addresses to all of us.” - Diana Ivanova https://tinyurl.com/ynnx7n6y
¬ Katherine Longly / To tell my real intentions, I want to eat only haze like a hermit / solo exhibition / Synthesis Gallery, 55 “Vasil Levski” Blvd / May 15 - July 24. Katherine Longly is a Belgian visual artist and photographer. She suffered from obesity as a child. Balancing on the edge between control and pleasure, her relationship with food remains marked by the ghosts of these childhood memories, which deeply shape the way one perceives oneself. In the project “To tell my real intentions, I want to eat only haze like a hermit ” the author explores these issues beyond her personal experience — in the context of Japanese society, where the pressure on the body seems stronger than anywhere else. Ultimately, the cultural specificity of Japan gives way to universal, deeply personal stories — stories that invite us to search for the roots of our own relationship with food. https://tinyurl.com/3w9e46tv
¬ Impact Factors: If Shooting Matters / group show / curated by Raul Zamudio and Ivaylo Hristov / HOSTGALLERY, 102 “Akad. Ivan Geshov” Bld. / June 10 - August 20. HOSTGALLERY presents an exhibition dedicated to contemporary photography and video art with a provocative question - does the act of photographing still matter in an era of total digital transformation? In their joint curatorial selection, Raul Zamudio (US) and Ivaylo Hristov (BG) present photographs by Mihail Novakov (BG) and Svilen Nachev (BG), as well as photo and video works by Sasha Kurmaz (UA) and Siyana Shishkova (BG). The exhibition focuses on the idea of photography not merely as a passive chronicler and documentation medium, but as an active tool for generating authentic content within a series of possible realities. https://tinyurl.com/pcfvnh8t
¬ Alexander Valchev / Cult / solo show / Gallery Gallery, Sculpture park Ploshtadka, 20 Elisaveta Bagryana Str. / April 26 - September 10. For his show at Gallery Gallery, Alexander Valchev created a new work titled Cult, in which he turns his attention to the structures that shape our material existence: a system of wealth distribution that treats resources as a zero-sum equation, allegedly a law of nature. The work takes the form of a stylised megalithic structure, covered in recycled cardboard from boxes once used to transport products from the world’s richest and most powerful brands. Cult exists only in augmented reality. It can be seen but not touched. The work exists as a ruin in a speculative future — though the materials and the crisis it points to are of the present. https://www.gallerygallery.space/en/alexander-valchev-cult
ART TALKS SOFIA
¬ Nine Elephants Vol.2 / Fantastic Routes / festival / Swimming Pool, 10 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. and many other locations / July 10 - 20. The second edition of Nine Elephants continues the conversation between residents and artists, poets and gardeners, experts and observers in various places in Sofia and for the first time in nearby towns and villages. "Fantastic Routes" presents numerous initiatives from the fields of art, performance, literature and cinema, which navigate, think and invent urban space in a time of rapid and often contradictory changes. Full program at https://devetslona.art/en
PLOVDIV
¬ Tuning in Progress / group show / Sarieva/Gallery, 40 Otets Paisiy Str. / May 24 – August 3. The summer exhibition at Sarieva/Gallery, Plovdiv, brings together five artists – Dimitar Genchev, Marta Djourina, Nedko Solakov, Rudi Ninov, and Tsvetomira Borisova – whose practices span painting, photography, ceramics, sculpture, and drawing. The title Tuning in Progress is inspired by a work by Rudi Ninov, but also carries a broader meaning. “Tuning” is a word used in music, technology, and even in emotional communication. To tune something means to seek harmony – to find the right tone, the proper rhythm, the suitable frequency. In this context, tuning can be understood as a process – ongoing, intuitive, sometimes improvised. It can be a creative act in itself: how the artist tunes themselves to the world, to the material, to their own ideas, to the working and presenting process. Or how artworks resonate with one another. https://fb.me/e/3nwppp0uE
¬ III International Youth Watercolor Festival / group exhibition / International Watercolor Society – Bulgaria, City Art Gallery - Plovdiv, Kapana Gallery, 29 "Raiko Daskalov" Str. / July 8 - 26. The City Art Gallery once again opens its doors to fans of watercolor art with its exceptional variety of styles, subjects and techniques, presented by young artists from Bulgaria and 13 other countries. Among the young Bulgarian artists up to the age of 35 participating are students from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, graduates of specialized art schools in Plovdiv and other cities in the country, as well as students from private art schools led by established artists and teachers. The audience will also have the opportunity to see original works by prominent watercolorists from the international jury, as well as invited prominent authors over 35 years old from different countries. https://fb.me/e/6xiXBGn7J
VARNA
¬ International Triennial "The Spirit of Watercolor" 2025 / group exhibition / International Watercolor Society – Bulgaria, Varna City Art Gallery, 1 "Lyuben Karavelov" Str. / July 1 - 30. The exhibition features over 350 artists from 51 countries. It includes selected works, honorary participations, as well as watercolor works by prominent Varna artists such as Volodya Valchev, Nikolay Izvarin and Alexander Kaprichev. Among the invited artists and members of the jury are world-renowned names in watercolor such as Richard Chao (Australia), Tere Lojero (Mexico), Amit Kapoor (India), Isabel Aloset (Spain), Nicolas Lopez (Peru) and others. There is a wide variety of styles – from hyperrealism to abstract and expressive painting. https://tinyurl.com/2ad492cf
SHABLA
¬ Anna Jermolaewa and Scott Clifford Evans / Chairs and Currency / joint exhibition / Baba Vasa's Cellar, 22 “Marica” Str. / August 9 - . In her work, Anna Jermolaewa - born in Leningrad (USSR) and living in Vienna since 1989 - proves herself as an astute observer of human coexistence, its social conditions and political requisites. She works with a wide range of media, including video, installation, painting, photography, sculpture and performance. Scott Clifford Evans is an artist and director who lives and works in Vienna, Austria. The premiere of his first feature film “The Demoniacs” (2023) is at the Breitenseer Lichtspiele in Vienna. The two present their first exhibition in Bulgaria at Baba Vasa's Cellar, a contemporary art space founded in 2002. https://baba-vasa.blogspot.com/
KAZANLAK
¬ Bilyana Furnadzhieva / After nature, chapter II / solo exhibition / curated by Olympia Nikolova-Daniel / Art Gallery - Kazanlak, Nenko Balkanski House Museum, 17 General Radetski Str/ June 10 - August 17. “The current exhibition presents Bilyana Furnadzhieva’s in-depth and multi-layered research at the intersection of science, art and a dose of alchemy. The project is an evolution of her previous work, continuing to explore the connections between natural segments and their artistic interpretation, between collection and exhibition, between silence and sound. The exhibition reveals not only the collector’s impulse, but also the inseparable need to share with the audience the eclectic collections, uniting diverse natural and cultural elements, demonstrating dynamic interactions between order and chaos, between scientific classification and poetic freedom.” - Olympia Nikolova-Daniel https://tinyurl.com/3zzv3nky
¬ …and I continued to paint alone. 150th anniversary of the birth of Elena Karamihaylova / retrospective exhibition / Art Gallery Kazanlak, 9 Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii Str. / March 27 - August 17. Elena Karamihaylova is the first truly prominent female artist in Bulgarian art history, but unfortunately, like dozens of other examples, her work remains poorly known to the public and has not yet found its researchers. Her life and creative path pose many questions that have not yet found their answers. Restoring the story of her personality and legacy is a complex and laborious research task, the immediate results of which are contained in this exhibition. https://tinyurl.com/3fuxnuy4
¬ Ivan Milev / You didn’t get who I am / retrospective exhibition / curated by Plamen V. Petrov / Art Gallery Kazanlak, Ahinora Museum, 2 Otets Paisiy Hilendarski Str. / May 3 - November 30. “The current exhibition, 100 years after Ivan Milev graduated, is an occasion for a journey through the artist's short, meandering, and plastically sought-after creative world – from the first surviving attempts to his maturation in the studios of the State Academy of Arts. An opportunity for each viewer to correlate the facts we know today about the author's life path with the images that have come down to us, which came out from under his brush between 1915 and 1925, most of which are today preserved in the collection of the Kazanlak Art Gallery.” - Plamen V. Petrov https://tinyurl.com/4yfwwrt6
Monthly edition by Open Art Foundation
¬ news selection : Desislava Mileva
¬ logo : Nedko Solakov
¬ cover : Vikenti Komitski, Installation view from Nevermind The Gap, 2017, Joey Ramone, Rotterdam, in the solo show Same As It Never Was, curated by Tiziano Tancredi, at Punta Gallery, 37 Stefan Stambolov Blvd., Sofia, July 11 - September 10