In June 2023, the S-Z Foundation supported the project “NATURE MORTE” by Nikola Stoyanov and curator Hristo Kaloyanov. The authors carry out a thorough study and on-site study of the ecological situation at the Maritsa East TPP site – the result of decades of open-cast mining and lignite combustion.
The excavation of rocks, clay, minerals, stones and ash unfolds the bowels of the earth, from where traces of long-sunken worlds are visible. The critical infrastructure of the Maritsa East mines is the space in which the artistic and research activities of the authors involve us as spectators.
The use of site visits, combined with the artistic transformation of geodetic measurements and satellite imagery from the 1980s to the present, have created a powerful combination of video art, 3-D objects, graphics and sound. The project is documented in a well-presented publication/catalogue presenting the curatorial approach of the authors and valuable documents and data on the creative process that has entered into the implementation of this project.
The exhibition is supported by the Goethe-Institute Bulgaria and with the additional support of the Singer-Zahariev Foundation.
Photos from the opening of the exhibition at Goethe Institute, Sofia
