Forms of Resistance in Fine Arts

http://courage.btk.mta.hu/courage/individual/n31185

At the exhibition 'Forms of Resistance', Sofia City Art Gallery, March-April 2016.

The temporary collection "Forms of Resistance" is dedicated to the artistic opposition against the communist regime in Bulgaria from 1944 to 1985. The exhibition highlights different forms of repression against particular artists at particular moments during the period of state socialism. It also shows the active role of some painters, as well as their forms of resistance against the dogmas of Socialist Realism and against ideological guidance. The upper time limit is the beginning of the perestroika in the Soviet Union, which marks the beginning of the final disintegration of the system of state socialism, also with regard to the political control of arts.

Location

Bulgaria, 1000 Sofia, "Gen. Gurko" Str. 1.
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Languages

Bulgarian

Website

http://www.sghg.bg/en/?page=izbrana_izlojba&exhibition=2016.03.02-2016.05.26

Name of collection

Forms of Resistance

Provenance and cultural activities

This temporary collection – an exhibition with a published catalog – was opened in March 2016 on the initiative, and based on the research, of art specialist Krasimir Iliev. Iliev is keeper at the Sofia City Art Gallery (SCAG) and curator of the exhibition. The exhibition (and a catalog-book) accompanied by documentaries and discussions represented a large-scale review project dedicated to the relations between art and the socialist state. The collection contains abundant materials about the forms of repression as well as forms of resistance of artists against the state attempts at ideological dictates. The exhibition stimulated the discussion about the specifics of the Bulgarian variant of state socialism as well as about the specific forms of cultural opposition against it in Bulgaria.

"As a rule, my preferences are oriented to less known or completely unknown artists and more precisely to those who didn't accept the directions of the ideology then and those who are not influenced by the soft aggression now", says Iliev. His first exhibition at the Sofia City Art Gallery was a retrospective of Ivan Georgiev-Rembrandt. "My aim was to search for evidence that documents the actions of the system and the resistance of the artists against the deforming intervention of the ideology", explains Krasimir Iliev. The meaning of the exhibition is also synthesized by the quoted words of Sirak Skitnik: "Dogmatics is fatal to art" (1936).

The exhibition presents key stages in the history of the relations between the socialist state and the artists. It includes documents of the repressions typical for the Stalinist period: such as the death sentence of the President of the Union of Bulgarian Artists, Rayko Aleksiev; documents pertaining the imprisonment of artists and their sending to so-called "Work Education Centres", i.e., forced labour camps (Tanev, Shtarkelov, Bozhinov, Dobrinov). Despite the so-called thaw following Stalin's death, repressions continued also in the next period – there were new persecutions of and sentences against artists (Genko Genkov, Asen Nikolov-Shopa, Todor Hadzhinikolov, and others were sent to labor camps); the methods of psychological pressure in order to horrify artists (and to "buy" their loyalty as well) became more intense. In the 1960s, some of the artists whose art had been branded as "decadent" and "bourgeois" were rehabilitated. Their works were allowed to participate in joint exhibitions and were purchased by the National Art Gallery and other galleries in the country. The narrow standards of Socialist Realism were broadened in the 1960s. However, the unpredictability, arbitrariness, and variability of the authorities' assessments remained in place which frightened artists who never knew with certainty, where the regime would draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable artistic expression. In many cases, the formal-style norms of (in)admissibility were used as a pretext of ostracisation of artists who were not loyal enough to the authorities. Manifestations of independence were therefore condemned by a rhetoric of "stylistic diversion" (Genova 2016).

The 1970s and 1980s are defined as a time of more freedom for artistic language. But this is also a time of "semi-freedom" during which "strong self-censorship among most of the artists dominates" (Iliev 2016). In Bulgaria, there were no forms of collective resistance by artists such as the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw or the Accumulator Gallery in Poznan; there were no collective exhibitions such as "New Tendencies" in Zagreb or "Confrontations" in Prague. The forms of resistance and opposition were mainly individual. These practices were manifested differently by the various artists, the most common form of resistance being self-isolation, according to Iliev.

Part of the works shown in the exhibition has been known since the time of their creation; other artwork is shown to the general public for the first time. There are also works from the 1920s and 1930s by famous artists (Ivan Milev, Vladimir Dimitrov-Maystora, Sirak Skitnik, Ivan Nenov, Boris Denev and others), who experienced repression in different phases during the socialist period. The collection-exhibition shows various forms of resistance as well as fates: leaving the country (Hristo Yavashev, Lyubomir Dalchev, Grigor Boyadziev); refusing to participate in the artistic life controlled by the ideological authority (Boris Denev, Ivan Georgiev-Rembrandt, Evgeniya Vodenicharova); self-isolation (Kiril Petrov, Lika Yanko, Galin Malakchiev). Speaking out against the authorities in public and open defense of works rejected by censorship were rarer (Genko Genkov).

The exhibition contains and presents artwork and materials which are the property of various institutions: Sofia City Art Gallery (SCAG), National Art Gallery (NAG), and numerous city galleries and private collections in Bulgaria. The presented documents pertain to organizations and individuals relevant to the artistic life in the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB). They are kept in the Archives State Agency (ASA). Materials from the State Security (DS) are kept at the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army (CDDAABCSSISBNA), in popular parlance: Comdos.

The author of the exhibition, Krasimir Iliev, managed to provoke a broad discussion: there were articles in newspapers and journals, radio and television programmes as well as public discussions during academic seminars and in the exhibition halls.

Description of content

The collection includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, and caricatures from the funds of the Sofia City Art Gallery, of the National Art Gallery and of other public galleries and private persons. The exhibition includes also documents kept in the Central State Archive and the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army (CDDAABCSSISBNA), press materials, personal documents such as letters, notes, etc. The exhibition was temporary (March 3 - May 26, 2016). After its closing, the works were returned to their owners. A catalog, including also essays, was published as part of the exhibition. These manifold materials and the artwork presented, give a multi-faceted picture of various forms of artistic expression of opposition and discontent and help to understand the strategies of artists vis-a-vis the socialist state.

Content

graphics: 10-99
grey literature (regular archival documents such as brochures, bulletins, leaflets, reports, intelligence files, records, working papers, meeting minutes): 10-99
grey literature (regular archival documents such as brochures, bulletins, leaflets, reports, intelligence files, records, working papers, meeting minutes): 10-99
paintings: 10-99
sculptures: 10-99

Operator(s)

Sofia City Art Gallery

Owner(s)

Stakeholder(s) of the collection

Geographical scope of recent operation

international

Topics

Founder(s)

Iliev, Krasimir

Date of founding

2014

Place of founding

Sofia City Art Gallery
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Creator(s) of content

Iliev, Krasimir

Collector(s)

Supporters

Sofia Municipality

Important events in the history of the collection

Access type

parts are closed to the public

Publications

Todorov, Svetoslav. 2016. Izkustvoto kato saprotiva. Izlozhba v SGHG sabira tvorchestvoto na represiranite po vremeto na sotisalizma hudozhnitsi [Art as Resistance. Exhibition at the SCAG collected Works of Repressed under Socialism artists]. Capital. Accessed 8 March 2017. http://www.capital.bg/light/neshta/2016/04/01/2734404_izkustvoto_kato_suprotiva/

Author(s) of this page

Kasabova, Anelia Dr.

References

Todorov, Svetoslav. 2016. “Izkustvoto kato saprotiva. Izlozhba v Sofiyska gradska hudozhestvena galeria sabira tvorchestvoto na represiranite po vremeto na sotisalizma hudozhnitsi [Art as Resistance. Exhibition at the Sofia City Art Gallery collected Works of Repressed under Socialism artists].” Capital. http://www.capital.bg/light/neshta/2016/04/01/2734404_izkustvoto_kato_suprotiva/ Accessed 8 March 2017.

Vasilev, Kiril. 2016. “Krasimir Iliev, curator na izlozhbata ‘Formi na saprotiva 1944-1985’: Tamnite vekove ili ot konzlagerite do avtotsenzurata [Krasimir Iliev, curator of the exhibition "Forms of Resistance 1944-1985": Dark Ages or concentration camps to self-censorship]. Dnevnik. http://www.dnevnik.bg/intervju/2016/04/22/2743504_krasimir_iliev_kurator_na_izlojbata_formi_na_suprotiva/ Accessed 8 March 2017.

Boykina, Darina. 2016. “Choveshkiyat zhivot I materialite za hudozhnitsite kato darzhaven resurs. ‘Formi na saprotiva (1944-1985)’, curator Krasimir Iliev” [Human Life and Materials for Artists as a Public Resource. Forms of Resistance (1944-1985), curator Krasimir Iliev]. Artnewscafe. http://artnewscafe.com/bulletin/index.php/2016/03/17/formi_na_saprotiva/ Accessed 8 March 2017.

Genova, Irina. 2016. Refleksii: Proektat ‘Formi na saprotiva’ v SGHG I hudozhestveniyat muzey sled komunizma [Reflections: The 'Forms of Resistance' in Sofia City Art Gallery and the Art Museum after Communism]. Marginalia. http://www.marginalia.bg/aktsent/16993/ Accessed 8 March 2017.

Iliev, Krasimir. 2016. Formi na saprotiva [Forms of Resistance]. Sofia: Sofia City Art Gallery.

Iliev, Krasimir , interview by Kasabova, Anelia Dr., October 12, 2016. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection

Last edited on: 2018-11-02 09:49:37

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