site.bta"Federation of Minor Practices" More than Just a "Women's Project", Curator Says, Opening Bulgarian Pavilion at Venice Biennale

"The Federation of Minor Practices", the underlying project for the Bulgarian pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, is not simply a "women's project" but an attempt to show the normality of a situation in which women create and lead a major international project, said the curator, Martina Yordanova, at the opening of the pavilion in the Tiziano Hall in Venice on Thursday evening

She explained that work on the project began in December and initially went through serious hesitation. "The first two weeks were very difficult. I was preparing a speech in which to say: 'Thank you for your time, but I do not think this will work'," she said. According to her, however, the team succeeded in building a shared language and trust.

"I believed in these girls. I knew we could do it," Yordanova noted.

The curator also emphasized the role of the audience. "From the very beginning it was important for us not simply to create something and show it, but to make the visitors themselves become part of the project," she said.

The commissioner of the Bulgarian pavilion, Desislava Dimova, described the project as "more than a pavilion". "This was a creative experience together with the curator Martina Yordanova and the artists Veneta Androva, Geri Georgieva, Maria Nalbantova and Rayna Teneva," she said.

Dimova thanked the Culture Ministry for its support and for "Bulgaria's fourth consecutive pavilion in Venice". She also expressed gratitude to the team of the National Gallery in Sofia, whose director Anelia Nikolaeva was present at the opening, as well as to everyone involved in the realization of the project.

Caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov had sent a congratulatory address, which was read by Ekaterina Dzhumalievа, director of the Cultural Heritage, Museums and Visual Arts Directorate at the Culture Ministry. In it, the minister states that Bulgaria is declaring an active presence at the Venice Biennale with the project "Federation of Minor Practices".

"The play here is not an escape but a strategy – a way for collective orientation in a world in which old structures lose their persuasiveness," the message says. According to the minister, the Bulgarian participation refuses to be peripheral and thinks actively through artistic forms that are at once local and universal.

Speaking personally, Dzhumalievа noted that Bulgaria's participation in the Venice art and architecture biennales "is no longer an exception but a consistent state policy". "Our national participation is recognizable, sustainable and significant," she said.

The exhibition officially opens on May 9 and will run until November 22.