site.btaSelf-taught Artist of Bulgarian Origin Presents Exhibition in Odesa

An exhibition of the Bulgarian artist Aleksandr Abardzhi, uniting in his art the Bulgarian and Ukrainian distinctive culture, was opened at the Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Odesa on Friday. The exhibited works of the self-taught artist mainly present still-lifes, portraits, and most of all landscapes from his native land in Bessarabia, which are intertwined with elements of Bulgarian traditional culture.

"I am Bulgarian and the Bulgarian theme is central in my work," Abardzhi told BTA.

He was born in the Bulgarian village of Yarove, Bessarabske Municipality in Bolhrad District in the second half of the 20th century. He started painting in his childhood and his love for art was passed on by his mother.

He failed to become a professional artist. He became a chef and worked as such on a ship for over 20 years. However, he stresses that even while working on the ship, he painted. His first exhibition was in the 1980s. This was followed by exhibitions in Genoa (Italy), Varna (On the Black Sea coast, Bulgaria), and in Kiev, Odesa and Chornomorsk (Ukraine).

The exhibition will be on display until December 15.

Odesa Province is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people, according to an official population census in Ukraine in 2001. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians live in the provincial capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the province are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.