Category: Initiatives

Opening: 24.03.2026 at 1:30 p.m., Fourth floor, Museum of Humor and Satire

The exhibition “Structures in Transition” (24 March – 25 July 2026) is the culmination of the two‑month Curatorial School – an educational and practical program aimed at developing curatorial skills, critical thinking, and professional preparation in the field of visual arts.  

Within the context of the Bulgarian art scene, curatorial work often remains ambiguous. The initiative of the Christo and Jeanne‑Claude Center in Gabrovo seeks to create a sustainable framework for learning, collective practice, and public presentation. The school gives its 18 participants an opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration – an approach inspired by the combination of different kinds of knowledge and experience characteristic of Christo and Jeanne‑Claude’s projects.  

Hosted by the Museum of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo, “Structures in Transition” is organized in three thematic sections, curated by three working groups mentored by Margarita Dorovska, Svetlana Kuyumjieva, and Vesela Nozharova. The participants also had the opportunity to consult with the lecturers Vasil Vidinski and Stanimir Stoyanov.

The exhibition includes works from the museum’s archive, brought into dialogue with the perspectives of young painters, contemporary artists, illustrators, and even photojournalists. The project explores the tension between the individual and society, revealing the many invisible ties and rules that connect them.  

Its three sub‑themes are “The Queue,” “The Game,” and “Taming the Monument.”

“The Queue” examines a familiar social phenomenon that speaks volumes about different historical periods – their shortages, needs, and aspirations. A line of people waiting for something is a democratic and self‑regulating structure, yet it can easily become a monument to passivity or a vicious circle. Group “The Queue”: Ivana Borisova, Maria Borisheva, Yoshka Mihaylova, Iva Rudnikova, Krastina Stefanova, Emilia Stoeva 

Taking as its starting point the local case of Chardafon in Gabrovo – a monument whose head was replaced by those in power more than once – “Taming the Monument” investigates the “beheading” of monuments both literally and metaphorically: as the end of an ideological narrative and as a process revealing public memory as a field of continual rewriting. Every monument has an ideological lifespan. Group “Taming the Monument”: Hristina Decheva, Martina Grueva, Ivelina Ivanova, Kalina Ivanova, Teodora Marinova, Marina Kisyova de Heus

“The Game” segment, inspired by Johan Huizinga’s concept of Homo Ludens (“the playing man”), looks at play not only as entertainment or an escape from reality but also as a fundamental principle through which a society understands, constructs, and resists the world. The works presented analyze the mechanisms of (dis)empowerment that shape our reality, leaving room for experimentation and a reconsideration of the rules by which we live. Group “The Game”: Paola Dimova, Aleksi Ivanov, Natalia Krisenko, Ekaterina Leondieva, Ralitsa Petkova, Ana Radkova, Elena Tsvyatkova 

“Structures in Transition” runs until 25 July 2026 at the Museum of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo.  

Participating artists: Zhenya Adamova, Velko Angelov, Zhivko Angelov, Ivo Bistrichki, Tsvetomira Borisova, Veselin Borishev, Lachezar Boyadjiev, Panayot Barnev, Anna Vasof, Alexander Valchev, Ivan Grigorov, Damyan Damyanov, Petra Dimitrova, Angelariy Dimitrov, Evgeni Dimitrov, Stefan Ikoga, Hristo Komarnitski, Veselin Kostadinov, Ivan Landzhev, Roxana Markova, Yoshka Mihaylova, Ivan Moudov, Stefan Nikolaev, Alina Papazova, Adrian Paci, Nia Pushkarova, Kamen Stoyanov, Isao Hashimoto, Veronika Tsekova, Valko Chobanov, Venelin Shurelov, Geri Georgieva

Curatorial School 2.0 is a project by the Christo and Jeanne‑Claude Center and Plakat Combinat Ltd., funded under procedure BG‑RRP‑11.021, Grant Scheme “New Generation of Local Cultural Policies for Major Municipalities,” Investment “Development of Cultural and Creative Sectors,” Component “Social Inclusion,” National Recovery and Resilience Plan.