site.btaMarina Velikova Presents Еxhibition of Watercolours Created in Antarctica

An exhibition of watercolours entitled Imprints from Antarctica will be presented by Marina Velikova and curator Lyuben Domozetski from June 3 to 9 at Little Bird Place Gallery in Sofia. The illustrations were created by Marina Velikova between January and February 2024 on the Antarctic Ocean coast, around the Bulgarian Research Base on Livingstone Island, the organizers said.

“I created the Imprints from Antarctica at the border of sea and land, at the intersection of the known and the unknown world, at the border of fear and rapture, with a sense of the beginning of time and earth, and on the threshold of infinity", Velikova said.

Velikova used water from glaciers to create her watercolours, curator Domozetski said. In his words, nature is not only an inspirer, but almost a co-author, a co-creator, making its direct intervention in the creation of the watercolours. Created in extreme conditions, in an unstoppable wind, without prior preparation, these works are an expression of the artist’s storm of feelings, the curator added.

Earlier in May, Marina Velikova presented an interactive exhibition of the untouched nature and breathtaking views of Antarctica as well as the life of the Bulgarian scientists who took part in the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition.

Velikova is a musician, performer, and music director at the Bulgarian National Radio. She has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Prof Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia. Inspired by an interview she took from Prof. Christo Pimpirev, she joined the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute to record the sounds of glaciers, animals, and the ocean. She also decided to draw using Antarctic water and to take various photos.