site.btaBulgarian Pavilion at Venice Biennale of Art Gains Popularity

The Bulgarian pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Art 2024 has been a great success among international journalists and visitors, BTA learned from the commissioner of the pavilion, Dr. Nadezhda Dzhakova.

“It is a great honour for us to be recognized as one of the must-visit pavilions, which is an undeniable success for everyone,” she noted.

In the 60th edition of the Biennale, Bulgaria is represented by the project The Neighbours. The authors of the installation are Lilia Topouzova, Julian Chehirian and Krasimira Butseva, and the curator is Vasil Vladimirov. The pavilion was officially opened on April 20 and can be viewed until the end of the Biennale on November 24.

“The Neighbours explores the silenced memories of survivors of political violence during Bulgaria’s communist era (1945–1989). Using found objects, video, and sound, the multimedia installation conveys stories of those who endured forced labour camps and prisons. Rooted in extensive scholarly research and survivor interviews, it reimagines the spaces where the interviews took place, inviting audiences to inhabit them and bear witness,” the Bulgarian entry on the Biennale’s website reads.

The project includes many stories collected over 25 years from survivors of the camps in Belene and near Lovech. The aim of the installation is for the stories to be heard. That is why actors were invited to read the text in English, the commissioner said.

According to Dzhakova, Bulgaria’s pavilion does not just look at the past, but speaks about the trauma of the past and creates its own space for reflection.