site.btaYoung Greek Artists to Exhibit at Two Sofia Galleries

The Borders / Synora exhibition of work by young Greek artists opens at Sofia’s Goethe-Institut and Doza galleries on Friday evening, the organizers said.

A month later, on October 12, Bulgarian artists will exhibit at two galleries in Thessaloniki, the Goethe-Institut and To Pickap.

The Sofia exhibition will feature Daphne Vlasidou, Kostas Xanthis, Konstantina Fakou, Alexandra Papavasiliou, Georgia Sozou, Maria Anna Sauridou, Efstathia Savvidou, Kalliopi Fesara, Aneta Timotheou and Sofia Kiousi. Works by Bilyana Tokmakchieva, Hana Mishel Ivanov, Kiril Buhovski, Kalin Mihov, Lyuba Maznova, Ina Dobreva, Filip Boyadzhiev, Sveta Atanasova, Georgi Pavlov and Samuil Velev will be shown in Thessaloniki.

The curatorial team comprises Savvidou (Greece) and Gergana Minkova (Bulgaria).

The project is organized by The Artist at Play (TAAP), a community of young and emerging artists based in Sofia that promotes collaboration, creativity and mutual support. It aims to encourage artistic exchange through a series of group exhibitions featuring young artists from both countries, bringing the two art scenes closer together and overcoming barriers to their interaction. Despite their geographical proximity, free movement within the Schengen area and traditionally high numbers of Bulgarian tourists visiting Greece, the visual arts communities in Sofia and Thessaloniki remain relatively unfamiliar with each other, the organizers said.

One reason, they said, is that many arts professionals have traditionally looked "to the West", towards prestigious galleries, institutions and major international events. This focus has also contributed to a shortage of lasting regional partnerships and exchange initiatives in the Balkans.

Curator and cultural researcher Melanie Roumiguiere (Germany/Argentina) will be a special guest of the project in Sofia and Thessaloniki. She will lead a workshop in Sofia on September 12 and meet project participants and members of the local art scene. Roumiguiere headed the visual arts department of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Artists-in-Berlin programme, an international residency programme, for many years. Her work focuses on the relationship between local and global artistic contexts, with a particular interest in curatorial practices that broaden and rethink the traditional boundaries of art institutions.

The accompanying programme in Sofia includes a discussion with Savvidou, Xanthis and Vlasidou on September 14. An interactive children’s game, Discover Contemporary Art: A Treasure Hunt, is scheduled for September 19, with advance registration required. A curator-led tour of Doza Gallery and the Goethe-Institut follows on September 25.