Local Beauty. Review of Bulgarian Design 2022.
Studio Komplekt continues its series of reviews of the current state of Bulgarian design, which has become a traditional annual practice since the first edition of the festival. The group show brings together some of the notable manifestations of the discipline through projects in various fields of design. For the first time the show is curated by Marina Dragomirova, Studio Furthermore.
The exhibition LOCAL BEAUTY will open on November 3. at KO-OP Gallery (17. Yanko Sakuzov Blvd.) at 7.00 PM and will run through MELBA Design Festival 2022.
with: Dimitar Stankov, Maria Jekova, Raya Stefanova, Nikoleta Nosovska, Lyouba Assadourova, Milen Radev, Neva Balnikova, Yana Yunakova and Dani Yordanova
Curatorial text:
The exhibition LOCAL BEAUTY gives an overview of different, authentic Bulgarian localities. We are invited to see them through the eyes of nine artists who have created works with regional materials, resources and traditions especially for the occasion. Each of them works with different textures and a unique personal handwriting – be it the deep pitch of the bagpipe, captured in the form of a jewel by Dimitar Stankov, or the taste achieved through an old Rhodope wheat storage technique, which Maria Jekova recreates. Raya Stefanova builds two fountains based on the typical Bulgarian roadside fountains, using beeswax instead of concrete, while the dancing “kukeri” superheroes of Nikoleta Nosovska bring new life to the ceramic plates from childhood. Lyuba Asadurova creates a contemporary trail-carpet of sheep’s wool. Milen Radev’s lighting bodies are carved from stone he found in the Rhodope Mountains. The experimental reuse of car headlights by Neva Balnikova was inspired by a local car component recycling company. Yana Yunakova unravels an old mountain technique from glass beads, which she interprets in a new ceramic form, while Dani Yordanova literally bottles the essence of the region in a flavor extracted from nature. In each of the works we find something familiar, but seen and rethought through an unfamiliar perspective.
About Marina Dragomirova
Marina Dragomirova was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. After completing her bachelor in Graphic Design followed by Interior design at New Bulgarian University, she continued her education at the Royal College of Art in London. There she met Iain Howlett and in 2015 they cofounded Studio Furthermore in Shoreditch, London.
* The exhibition is realized with the kind support of the National Culture Fund – Program Visual Arts.
