REVIEW 2025 – WITH VERA MLECHEVSKA
- viktoriadraganova
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
The Journal of Social Vision’s end-of-year survey gathers the perspectives of colleagues, curators, and critics on the most important events and topics in art in 2025. Participants were invited to highlight standout exhibitions, projects, and figures; identify key international influences; note significant critical publications and media; and reflect on the disappointments that generated tensions within the cultural landscape.
After Maria Vassileva and Kiril Vasilev, we are pleased to present you the observations of Vera Mlechevska, chairwoman of the critics' association AICA-Bulgaria, curator and founder of the art space "Octopus".
During the past year of 2025, there were many events, some of which I was unable to attend, but I believe they deserve the attention of the audience.
How the culture and art of our country is presented to the world is extremely important, not only for a cultural community, but also for our country. In this sense, major events such as the Venice Biennale are particularly important channels for our culture to go abroad. Therefore, the exhibition " Acqua alta. History of Bulgarian national participation in the Venice Biennale 1910 - 2024 " by curators Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva and Plamen Petrov at the Kapana Gallery (13.12.2024-20.02.2025) in Plovdiv provides a field for many reflections and a review of how geopolitics and the consciousness of native cultural carriers shape the cultural image of Bulgaria before the world.
The new acquisitions of Bulgarian art in the collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou this year are also an important step in this direction. The acquisition of three works by the artists RASSIM®, Ivan Moudov and Pravdoliub Ivanov, presented at the Credo Bonum Gallery (exhibition "Doubles of Ourselves" 14.-20.05.2025) , is a difficult success, which is due to the many years of efforts of Dessislava Dimova and happened in a completely absent institutional and scarce financial support.
The exhibition "Irradiation" by Anton Vidokle , curated by Martina Yordanova and Vasil Vladimirov (National Gallery - The Palace, 23.10.2025-25.01.2026) shows how important exhibition design is in order for the viewer to be fully absorbed by the author's idea and to fully perceive the ideas and visual qualities of the work. The project is also an opportunity for the National Gallery's collection to resonate in a meaningful way with the sensibilities and work of contemporary artists. Dorit Kreisler 's performance within the exhibition was also a strong and new experience, to which the atmosphere of the ballroom undoubtedly contributed.
A similar attempt at cooperation between a state institution and contemporary arts was the project "Through the Prism of Borders", curated by Katya Anguelova, Angelika Burtscher and Marion Oberhofer at the National History Museum (9.04.-29.08.2025) . Although the exhibition met with some misunderstanding on the part of the museum, it nevertheless shows the potential of such collaborations, which mutually enrich the program of the institution and the creative idea of curators and artists.
1. "Acqua alta. History of Bulgarian National Participations in the Venice Biennale 1910 – 2024", 2025, Photo: Vanessa Popova
From the solo exhibitions, I was impressed by:
Viktor Petrov's exhibition "The Floor is Lava" at ICA-Sofia (curator: Marina Slavova, 10.09.-11.10.2025) , because of the unusual observations on a neutral matrix that insidiously transports us from children's play to the uncomfortable constructions of totalitarian discipline.
Also "Fangirl" by Nevena Ekimova with curator Rene Georgieva (Vaska Emanuilova Gallery (29.10.-7.12.2025), because of the original point of view that shows intergender representations beyond the standard clichés of victimization or heroization of one or the other gender.
The exhibition of artist Terry Vreeburg "some messages don’t make it“ at the Goethe-Institut (26.09.-17.10.2025) , who came out of his solitude in the Rhodope Mountains and showed us the sculptural and architectural potential in the remains of the collapsed village houses in a completely unexpected and creative way.
Andris Eglītis's "Circulation" exhibition with curator Snejana Krasteva at +359 Gallery (10.10.-16.12.2025) , because of the enormous effort to make the space and the work work as a whole living organism.
Lachezar Boyadzhiev 's exhibition " On vacation... CORPUS EQUORUM " in National Gallery - The Palace (curators Övül Ö. Durmusoglu and Joanna Warsza, 10.07.-28.09.2025), which is a long-standing idea of the author and was looking for its place and time to unfold to its full potential.
As a positive change in artistic life, I consider the efforts of the Plovdiv Municipality to democratize the competition for the autumn exhibitions. The benefits of this were already evident in the first exhibition "A Piece of a River" by Vessela Nozharova .
Regarding criticism, it can be said that we have very few reasons for joy, which are the activity of the new publishing house "Temporary Publishing" of Hristo Kaloyanov, Philip Stoylov and Nikola Stoyanov and their latest production, as well as some colleagues who dare to debut in an extremely sectarian environment.
The biggest disappointment is the new cultural policy of the Ministry of Culture. It can be said that it is opaque, fragmented, populist and deeply incompetent.
In the new year 2026, contemporary visual art will be poorly supported. With few exceptions, next year there will be an abundance of events with amateur content and narrow local impact at the expense of group projects of organizations that have been producing quality content for years. For the latter, the year will be difficult. What drives me personally are research projects that I work on and to make exhibitions, as well as the collegial environment, which is quite productive and critical.
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