Red Riviera Revisited

Curators: Luchezar Boyadjiev, Yara Bubnova

With the participation of Birgit Brener, Christine de la Garen, Ulrike Kushel, Via Levandovski, Olaf Nicolai, Roman Ondak, Sean Sneider.

The Red Riviera is the nickname of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast during the last decades of the socialist camp. Every summer kervans of Trabants, Wartburgs, Skodas and Ladas – all cars from former GDR, HNR, PNR, CSSR – entered Bulgaria to reach the multitude of the camp sites along the coast. Many children are fruits from that late socialist paradise, many East-European adolescents stepped to their mature age in those summers. Many of the latter adolescents became artists, who have not come back to Bulgaria after 1989. But they have kept their visual memories alive. Meanwhile, Bulgaria, the Bulgarian coast and cities have changed a lot and the unpredjudiced eye of the foreigner perceives the changes with ease.

Red Riviera Revisited is a modul of the Visual Seminar of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Sofia and the Centre for Advanced Studies, Sofia. It aims at analysing through artistic product the changes in the visual environment. Last summer, the authors that were invited – all internationally renowned – revisited the places along the Bulgarian coast that they have once been to. They created their works on the basis of the new impressions and the old memries specially for this project.

Sean Sneider goes around Sarafovo, Atia, Ravnetz so, as around many American military bases worldwide. Nothing to wonder about – he has grown up by Virginia Beach with such a base nearby, so that they has become a thread of permanent interest. Ulrike Kushel dedicates her photographies to the surreal, abandoned concrete constructions over Arkutino; to the restaurant in Kavatzite, which has survived the old bungalows around; to the insane “Marina” from Dyuni… Christine de la Garen takes photo of family of unknown origin on holiday, that seemingly doesn’t leave the beach at all. As a result of his new trip Via Levandovski buys a collection of 900 post-stamps from before 1989, and still sends them back one by one via the post in Bulgaria. Olaf Nicolai ordered for his presentation a project for magnificent villa – “…and let it be for St. Ivan island, opposite Sozopol…” – a dream… Birgit Brener presents schizofrennic “dialectic” of the communication between a man and a woman, stuck on their seaside holiday and going again through their relationship. Roman Ondak described with words his “standard”, common experiences on the seaside. Following them, non-professional painters portray the events – from his living memory to the piece of paper.

Red Riviera Revisited is a strange exhibition about who has observed/experienced what before, and what does he/she accepts/rejects now, freedom amidst non-freedom and vice versa…

For more information call or write Vessela Nozharova, + 359 2 988 8188, vnozharova@redhouse-sofia.org