Princess Casino

What would it even be like to be human in the future? What is the impact of technology on the human race and how has progress affected our relationship with both ourselves and the world? Can we think of human evolution un-marked by digital developments? Will reality become a virtual fantasy? How will we imagine death?

The concept for the exhibition PRINCESS CASINO began from Alina Papazova's interest in ancient civilizations and peoples who largely based their culture around the cult of death. Alina's research concentrates on the funerary customs of the Etruscans, juxtaposing them with the way death is perceived in a great part of the contemporary world.

The Etruscans, for example, believed in an afterlife and that the tomb was the home of the deceased - therefore, items that would help them in life after death were buried with them. Their funerary rituals emphasized the representation of joyous scenes (celebrations, dances, music, and the like), and men and women were portrayed equally.

By interpreting the theme of death and its perception in the past, the present and the future and connecting it with her questions about the technological progress of humanity and its consequences, Alina Papazova creates a "walk-in" artwork, transporting us to an unknown realm existing on the boundary between the real and the virtual.

Alina Papazova:

Alina Papazova was born in Sofia in 1993. She works in the field of ceramics and illustration, experimenting with many other forms of visual art. The images she creates have symbolic influences from different cultures, interpreted in a humorous way. She graduated with a BA in Graphic Art and Illustration from New Bulgarian University, and a Master's degree in Ceramics and Porcelain, again from NBU, where from 2020 he is a lecturer and PhD candidate in Ceramics. 

Over the years, he has participated in numerous local and international group exhibitions including: FLUCA presents: "LIVE FOREVER, FOR THE MOMENT", Dupka Contemporary, Plovdiv 2022, "Pathways to bliss" KO-OP Sofia 2022, "Ceramic topography of consciousness in the mountains" Gifted, Sofia, 2020, "Imaginary room" Cu29, Plovdiv, 2019.

The exhibition is part of the DEPOO SITE-SPECIFIC - a joint project of Depoo Gallery and Citywise Foundation curated by Nikolay Petrov Glow. The project foresees six solo exhibitions , for which six prominent Bulgarian young artists are invited, united in the construction of a site-specific intervention that transforms the gallery space from a white cube into a complete work of art.

PRINCESS CASINO can be visited until February 10.