WELCOME TO SREDETS!

Three panels of 80 x 100 cm, photo print on paper, laminated onto aluminium, graffitied with acrylic marker. Black folder with twelve printed sheets of A4 paper, signed and stamped.
2024.

Part of Emergency Entrance, group show, curated by Luchezar Boyadjiev, ICA Sofia Gallery.

Welcome to Sredets! presents an alternative history of Bulgaria, in which the country did not fall under Ottoman rule but instead conquered Constantinople during the Middle Ages, expanded its territories, and became a powerful empire with colonies preserved to this day.

The work explores the paradoxes and problematic aspects of “greatness”. While Western European capitals impress with their beauty and grandeur, their history is often tied to imperial and colonial pasts. This work presents a version of Bulgaria that, for some, embodies a longed-for “greatness”, yet it is accompanied by issues such as class division, centralised power, instability, discrimination, exploitation of resources, and crimes against humanity.

The installation consists of three panels that illustrate landmarks of the capital Sredets (the medieval name of Sofia) as attractive tourist destinations. The panels are covered with anti-institutional graffiti and are accompanied by a folder with documents. The latter reveal the police investigation into the vandals who made the graffiti and the measures the secret services took against those who dared to contradict the official narrative.

Photos by Kalin Serapionov.