PLOVDIV CITY PORTRAIT

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Installation view at the Plovdiv City Art Gallery, Bulgaria

Plovdiv (BG) is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It’s history is ubiquitous. I love the Greek, Roman, Ottoman history artefacts that are all over the place. People love them.

I have to admit that I got more touched by the large scale concrete housing projects from communist times. Like the neighbourhood of Thrace.

During communism, buildings were considered to be equal. Also it’s furniture.

A recurring story amongst the old-timers here in Plovdiv is that when they see pictures from other cities or even Russia... Those depicted buildings and its furniture are often exactly the same as their own!

I’m surprised how the outside walls are laden with subtle ornament. If you take your time here in Bulgaria, you’ll appreciate the endless amounts of bas-reliefs, grid patterns and unique awnings.

Since the end of Communism in Bulgaria (30 years ago), everyone’s freestyling. The most visible testimony is the ubiquitous stucco-work. It’s is a thing here. The plasterwork and its function of outer isolation makes living in a flat during their strong winters a little less hard. It happens for example a building of 25 stories, is laden with differing plasterwork-approaches per unit. The colouring, texture and thickness depends on the owner’s taste. It’s a mish-mash of personal taste. Bulgarian stucco-workers are in Belgium considered as the finest craftsmen.

At the end, those buildings still look (often) raw but the unique personal unit approaches makes them burst with personality. A lot of those have make-shift overpasses. I sometimes imagine a dystopian future.

I was working in Plovdiv on invitation of ContextAir, an artist-in-residence program supported by the Plovdiv municipality.. ContextAir focuses on artists that use their city as a main source of inspiration. They provide an income, housing and guidance.

At my arrival, I didn’t know anything about Plovdiv. But I had to understand what defines this place. I strolled through its various neighbourhoods and gathered materials from the streets. Things that catch my eyes and ears. Sound recording was part of the job. The result is a sculptural city portrait of Plovdiv, inspired by the neighbourhoods where most of the Plovdivians live.

It is installed at the garden of the Plovdiv City Gallery: a revived historic building with concrete interventions in the front garden. I used such an intervention to install my work.