Za Cherni Dni (2025)

Za Cherni Dni roughly translates to ‘for black days’. It might seem like a stark contrast to the joyful spirit of these images, but within this phrase and this installation, the emphasis is on what you do in spite of the looming presence of dark clouds. Rather than describing the context of the darkness, the images visualise an approach to coping with it.

The work is drawn from two archives. I brought together my own body of work, and that of the photographer Panayot Burnev. Both myself and Burnev are young adults navigating the same city of Sofia in a youthful haze, and finding similar compositions mirrored 70 years apart.

Parallels exist beyond the superficial appearances. Prior to the six month period I lived in Bulgaria, the country grappled with life and death under the strain of the covid pandemic. Once the restrictions had passed but the uncertainty remained, I found myself in the midst of an explosion of energy. I cannot say for sure what Burnev felt about his circumstances, but I can be certain that his life in the 1950s & 60s was not far removed from uncertainty. Under the rule of the Bulgarian Communist Party, this period of the country’s history was pockmarked with atrocities. Despite these dark clouds, Burnev’s photographs capture the light.

These archives reflect a universally appreciable essence of youth. A pent up and frustrated joy. Only, with the added gravity of the surrounding socio-political contexts. This exhibition is about doing justice to both that specificity and that universality. What do you do with the wild abundance of energy and joy that you experience in youth if it is not the time to be expressing it outwardly, in society? Where does it go, how does it burn out? I think that this is something that can only be answered for in experiences. Which is why it is so important that these archives exist, replete with experience.

Sketch Book

With thanks to
Bulgarian Visual Archive / Milena Nikolova