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»In Communist times the only demand made on art was that it
should be entertaining and beautiful«, says Bulgarian curator Iara
Boubnova. »These days, I’m afraid, the people and government in
Bulgaria haven’t had a change of heart.« We are sitting in one of
the many new smart dining and drinking places in Sofia, the Opera,
which is designed in a typically Mediterranean »Beautiful Homes«
style. On the menu: crossover cuisine, but certainly not Bulgarian.
»The word ›European‹ is a synonym for ›better‹ in Bulgarian«, Iara
Boubnova explains, pointing outside to where new apartment
blocks are going up in a faceless, international style on every empty
building site in the margins of a city that is a conglomeration of
styles, peoples and religions. Accommodation for globalised IKEA
people. They look modern at first glance, but when you look again
the first bits of plaster are falling off, even though the buildings
are not yet finished. Quite commonly, the inhabitants have no heating
in these new buildings because the owner has given no thought
to conduits for distance heating, or even to asphalt streets or a local
infrastructure. Nouveau-riche citizens, as well as foreigners who
have realised their dream of a one-family home, especially retired
Japanese and Brits, live in virtually »prohibited areas« in the beautiful
foothills of the Vitosa Mountains at the gates of Sofia, not in
the chaotically proliferating city centre and its unwelcoming margins.
Russian by birth, Iara Boubnova, who moved from Moscow to
Sofia in the ’80s, is a sharp-tongued critic of social conditions in
Bulgaria, and acts as a sort of spokeswoman for Bulgaria in the
West. This art historian is one of the advertising pillars for contemporary
art and is part of a generation of Bulgarian art publicists
and cultural producers who rose up against the ancient art
doctrine of entertainment and beauty with alternative projects,
performances and actions. This was just before Communism collapsed,
rather late compared to other Communist countries.
Left over from that time of resistance are a few stubborn people
with whom she founded the Instityt za savremenno izkystvo –
Sofia (Institute of Contemporary Art – Sofia) in 1993, including
artists like Mariela Gemisheva, Alla Georgieva, Pravdoliub Ivanov,
Nedko Solakov and the curator Maria Vassileva. Only a few younger
members have joined the group since it was founded, mostly
because they preferred to go looking for a break-through somewhere
in the rest of Europe.
Those who stayed behind organise readings, debates and performances
on contemporary art in constantly changing venues,
especially in illegal private clubs and cafés, which are born and
buried again at irregular intervals in Sofia. The events are
announced on the Internet or by word of mouth. At present, con-
In 1996 all
of Bulgaria
sank into
economic
anarchy
and the
inflation
rate reached
1,000
percent
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Sofia
SPIKE ART GUIDE EAST 01 — 2009
Sofia