site.btaSymbols of Mobility Exhibition of Visual Artist Niki Collier to Open in Sofia

The Symbols of Mobility exhibition of Bulgarian visual artist and designer Assoc. Prof. Niki Collier will be on at the National Ethnographic Museum in Sofia from February 3 to 28, said the host from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum.

Symbols of Mobility is a multi-disciplinary project that studies mobility as a physical movement and a process of transformation - of identity, place, and perspective. To be exhibited are 12 textile sculptures in the form of wings, made of felt using the author's special technique and divided into seven installations. The project is inspired by folk tales, legends about birds, proverbs, and cultural traditions, refracted through the personal experiences of people with different life stories related to migration and transition, the organizers said.

The exhibition is held with the cooperation of the Embassy of Ireland on the occasion of the celebration of Saint Brigid, patron saint of crafts in the country. This is the first solo exhibition of Assoc. Prof. Niki Collier in Bulgaria.

To date, Symbols of Mobility has been presented at the Hunt Museum in Limerick and Portumna Castle in Galway. After presentations in Dublin and Vienna, the project is visiting Sofia, where Flamingo Wings will be shown for the first time.

Niki Collier is a Dublin-based Bulgarian visual artist and designer who participates in group and solo exhibitions and projects focused on sustainability, identity, and mobility. After many years of scientific and professional activity in the field of computer science, she established the first Bulgarian school in Ireland and turned her attention to creativity, crafts, and art. She has received international awards from the Union of Artists and the Union of Craftsmen, has held solo exhibitions in state and private galleries, and was a finalist for the Royal Irish Academy in 2012. Collier received special recognition from the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an exhibition marking Bulgaria's Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017, among others.