On October 4, the representative exhibition of the Museum of Humor and Satire “Our Common World – Smiling Messages from Bulgaria” was launched in the administrative capital of the Republic of South Africa – Pretoria. It presents a selection of contemporary Bulgarian cartoons, the work of the leading Bulgarian artists in the field. The initiative for its realization belongs to the Embassy of Bulgaria in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the Museum of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo, Bulgaria and the National Library of South Africa. In this way, a popular genre of fine art becomes a spiritual bridge between the republics of South Africa and Bulgaria, shortening the distance between the two countries – for cartooning should also be a universal art that is fun and recognizable, viewed from Sofia or from Johannesburg.
The exhibition was opened by HE Maria P. Tzotzorkova, Ambassador of Bulgaria to South Africa. The concept and the artistic works were introduced by the curator Kalin Nikolov.
The selection from the Museum’s collection includes 40 works by Anri Kulev, Velin Andreev, Dimitar Tomov, Boris Dimovski, Rumen Dragostinov, Traiko Popov, Ivaylo Tsvetkov, Irien Trendafilov, Dilyana Nikolova, Svetla Hristova, Lyubomir Mihailov, Yovcho Savov, Hristo Komarnitsky and others, as well as 12 works by the fathers of Bulgarian cartoons, Alexander Bozhinov, Ilia Beshkov, Stoyan Venev.The exhibition is aimed at all lovers of fine art from academic and educational circles, youth and civil organizations, representatives of the diplomatic corps, book publishing, cultural sections of the media, the Bulgarian community in South Africa and the South African public at large.
The artists represented in the exhibition go beyond the topicality of the ordinary cartoon and include their names in the golden fund of Bulgarian fine art. Some of them—Donyo Donev, Boris Dimovski, Georgi Chaushov—frequently suffered the blows of Socialist censorship, which monitored the content of each issue of the press. The works are in the traditions of color graphics with a satirical tone. The techniques applied include drawing in ink or black tempera, as well as conceptual coloring with pastel, coloured pencil, and watercolor. A complex imagery, as well as the use of symbols from surrealist paintings, literature, cinema and posters, are integral attributes. Drawn in the style of contemporary satirical language, the works represent the intellectual school in Bulgarian cartooning.
The exhibition was made possible through the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, in accordance with the Plan-program of activities of the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions abroad in the field of public, cultural and digital diplomacy and strategic communications for 2024.
The photos are provided by the Embassy of Bulgaria in South Africa