We begin our introduction of the artists in “Brieftopia: Art Between Crisis and Imagination” with the author of the concept itself — Behzad Khosravi Noori.
In this video, recorded during his second visit to Gabrovo (January 2026), Noori speaks about “Brieftopia” not as a utopia, but as a way of thinking: how art opens real possibilities for a tangible future — precisely at a moment when we are being told that no such future exists.
What else does he share? Watch to the end.
For the first laboratory in Gabrovo, Noori got inspired by the large number of caricatures and unique collages in the museum’s collection by Iranian cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh, as well as by childhood memories of watching the animations of Donyo Donev on Iranian national television. He will present his new film, Three and More Fools, shot within the museum. The film is narrated by the author in the form of a letter to his Iranian colleague, who will “receive” it posthumously, alluding also to the peculiar, brieftopian sensation one must have experienced when receiving mail at that time (something the collection of the museum is based upon historically), under conditions of political isolation.
Behzad Khosravi Noori, PhD, is an artist, writer, educator, playground builder, and “necromancer.” His research-based artistic practice includes film, installation, and archival inquiry. Khosravi Noori analyzes contemporary history in order to rethink memory beyond borders, examining the entanglements of misaligned collective memories. Through artistic research, he uses personal experience as a starting point to construct hypothetical links between individual memory and major world events, between micro- and macro-histories. His practice explores the margins of the artistic field within the broader contexts of art, transnational history, and global politics.
The project is realised with financial support from procedure BG-RRP-11.021, New Generation of Local Cultural Policies for Large Municipalities, Investment Development of Cultural and Creative Sectors, Component Social Inclusion, National Recovery and Resilience Plan.