site.btaAustrian-Bulgarian Artist Iv Toshain to Present "Trousseau for Mars" Exhibition in Sofia

Austrian-Bulgarian artist Iv Toshain will present an exhibition titled Trousseau for Mars in Sofia, from June 27 to September 8 at National Art Gallery Square 500. Curators are Snezhana Krasteva and Martina Yordanova, the organizers said here on Monday. 

The work, measuring 5 by 4 metres, resembles a carpet woven from 2,000 steel shuriken. The trousseau combines opposing elements, a cool weapon traditionally associated with war and violence, and a cross as a symbol of faith.

As a part of the installation and a symbol of peace, the chamber choir Yoan Kukuzel the Angel-Voiced will perform Byzantine compositions and Eastern Orthodox troparia. 

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the large-scale installation of a trousseau - or dowry - that a bride carries to her new home after the wedding. Earlier in 2024, it was presented in the Rocca Paolina fortress in Perugia (Italy) and will be shown for the first time in Bulgaria in Hall 19 of the National Art Gallery, where an ancient tomb from the 4th century is also placed, the team said. They note that the exhibition's title, Trousseau for Mars, with Mars here being the God of War, follows the Neoplatonic idea of conquering war through faith and love.

Iv Toshain is born in Sofia in 1980. She studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, followed by a postgraduate degree at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. She has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions both at home and abroad, including at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, the Lentos Art Museum in Linz and Museum of Modern Art Tbilisi in Georgia. Iv Toshain creates at the intersection of installation, sculpture, painting, performance and activism.