REALITY IN QUESTION

In his profile pictures on social network profile pictures on social networks, Stanislav Belovski often photoshops his own image onto sunglasses worn by women in famous photographs. Born in 1976, he began exhibiting his paintings in the 1990s, gradually turning to contemporary art and forging his own path between painting, collages, photography, installations, and interventions in the urban environment. In June, he presented his exhibition MIRROR, MIRROR at the Credo Bonum Gallery – a kind of self-portrait of the artist as a diabetic, in which he works with the medical supplies he has been using over the last nineteen years. The satirical collages on his Instagram profile are his response to his surroundings and the events of the day, and in recent months they have become particularly popular in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and political protests. At the end of September, he participated in the group exhibition Tomorow Belongs to Whom? at the Espace PORT gallery as part of the SAW-Sofia Art Week // Swan Song 2020. Inspired by the Bulgarian political reality and the current protests, he presents the symbiosis of Delyan Peevski and Ivan Geshev. On September 27, we also saw Belovski at the Sofia Rivers Festival.

(after Annelie Vandendael), Perlovska River, part of the Sofia Rivers Festival, photograph by Plamen Yankov

Why should art concern itself with dissent and protest?

I don't think this is the sole purpose of art, of course. But the time we live in (especially here in Bulgaria) is too dramatic, it raises such important questions for our societies, and artists cannot write this off as an everyday banality. Art that is only interested in itself, and artists who only care about themselves are no longer of interest to me. The artistic challenge of our time is to catalyze change. It is very important for me that my art provoke people to ask questions, to question reality.

"Friday is a great day to protest..." (after Romano Cagnoni)

Are there boundaries that politically and socially engaged art should not cross?

Money is a boundary here. If the artist starts receiving money for politically engaged art, it becomes propaganda, not art. It's all good, but the source of funding should be made public. Something like a paid publication. It is also not good for satire to turn vulgar, with all the necessary caveats that this limit is different for each individual.

You said in an interview that Bulgaria doesn't have a culture of rebellion. What are the reasons for this?

I remember the 90s protests very well, and also the recent ones, in the 21st century. We're always drawn to demonstrations, to vigils and processions. This does not bother our politicians all that much and they keep going on as before. Perhaps, if we expressed our anger more clearly – like the yellow vests, like the protests in Greece, Belarus, or the crowded protests in Romania, and if we are persistent in our demands, we will achieve the change we are looking for. There needs to be complete intolerance especially with regard to corruption,  because we need a change in our mentality and additude at all levels.

Another problem is that artists here stay silent all too often. Many lack the confidence that their voices will be heard at all. For others, the fear of losing what little they have prevails – their subsidies, their little projects. Artists could give protests a creative direction, they could unite people with different views toward something constructive. And from there, it's a small step to creating new solutions for how to accomplish change.

"Mafia protesting"

Have you noticed any changes lately? What could fill this gap?

At the current protests against Borisov's cabinet, Prosecutor General Geshev, shadowy influences and corruption in politics, I see many intelligent young people. Day after day, for seventy-five days now, they have been in the square insisting that their demands be heard. I don't think they will allow themselves to be used to further someone else's interests, which is what I often see mentioned by anxious protesters from older generations. No, these young people seem sober and confident in what they want to change. They are not looking for leaders and saviors – on the contrary, they say they are ready to do the same thing to anyone who abuses their power. This, in my opinion, is the change we see in them. We will see in the next election what percentage of society shares their views – whether there will be more new messiahs and how long they will be tolerated.

"We are happy a family" on the corner of Gurko and Dyakon Ignatii

When does an artist's every action become an act of resistance?

It seems to me that this is the case under very repressive regimes. Thank God, it's no longer possible for an artist's every action to be a form of resistance. Now, at least I think so, us artists have to purposefully declare our resistance. It's not enough to stay silent and bitter.