Exhibition of Watercolours by Vejdi Rashidov Unveiled in Sofia

Dimitrina Solakova, Emanuel Smarkov

Watercolors by Vejdi Rashidov presented as part of his exhibition "The Tree" at Vejdi Art Gallery, Sofia, December 11, 2025 (BTA Photo/Blagoy Kirilov)

Sofia,

11.12.2025 20:50

(BTA)

Bulgarian artist Vejdi Rashidov presents 60 new watercolors at his Christmas exhibition "The Tree." It was unveiled at the Vejdi Art Gallery in Sofia on Thursday.

Rashidov explained why the exhibition is titled "The Tree": "Ten years ago, I almost left this world. I was sitting in a white room in Berlin, Germany. There was a small toilet, a table with two chairs, a small bed, and a window. From that window, all I could see -after three months without going outside - was a forest. For the first time in my life, I saw the green tree begin to turn yellow in August and September. I saw how that tree slowly shed its leaves and a small golden circle formed around it. The tree turned yellow, then red, and finally bare. Then I realized that I was looking at a living thing, like a human being. We are born, we grow, we mature, we age, we wither, and finally we pass away, and after 40 days... no one remembers us."

"When I got home, I drew all these trees that were changing all the time. I had nothing else, they saved me. I made over 50 small drawings. I organized an exhibition, sold them, raised BGN 50,000, and donated them to the pediatric oncology department at Tsaritsa Yoanna University Hospital. Then I sat in my yard and started looking at the trees as if they were alive," Rashidov went on to say.

"What a thing life is... there's no need to invent themes, they are right in front of you. It is enough to notice them without wanting to. The current exhibition is dedicated to what accompanies us unconsciously," Rashidov added.

He said he is planning a retrospective exhibition next year on the occasion of his 75th birthday, "in which I will present my journey so far."

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, who was among the guests at the opening, said: "Vejdi Rashidov does not want much. He wants to see how the tree opposite his window changes, and he wants to be alive next year to make an exhibition telling us about the path he has travelled." Valchev recalled that Rashidov, who used to head the parliamentary Committee on Culture and the Media, was the one who proposed him as Director General of the Bulgarian News Agency.

/PP/