MOVING IMAGES MOVING BODIES

23/08/2021

Moving Images Moving Bodies started as an exhibition project of the Goethe-Institut Bulgaria, aiming to present video art from Bulgaria and Germany. The unusual year of 2020 changed the plans, but instead of thwarting it, it allowed the project to grow and develop. After two curatorial selections by Ludwig Seyfarth, Kalin Serapionov and Krassimir Terziev with films by nearly 20 authors, a "video art week" with an exhibition at three locations, performances, meetings and evening screenings is now forthcoming.

Video art began to develop when the first portable video camera appeared on the US market in 1967. Along with technical experiments, theatrical performances are also documented, which, like ordinary physical performances, are often held only to be recorded. In the beginning, Bulgarian video art was also strongly influenced by performance and the study of the human body, although here too the line between documentation and independent video art is often mimicked.

Today, technical opportunities, including those for digital manipulation, have expanded endlessly and are available where previously political boundaries have created differences in technological status. The topic of the human body, also related to the study of interpersonal relationships, is still the main focus of video art or the art of working with moving images. Examples from the current cultural scene in Bulgaria and Germany show this.

Website: www.ica-sofia.org