WHO NEEDS ART?
Text for the Exhibition Catalog of Gallery Heerz Tooya 2019 published by JohnJohnBooks Amsterdam
“...our love must begin with one ungratefulness toward those who stayed fulfilled only to save themselves.”
The quote from Ungratefulness, a manifest by Kiril Krastev, has remained in my mind since I first read it. It has always reminded me not to put up with the situation in which I live. The writer uses love not as the love between two individuals but as the love for the freedom of expression. Gallery Heerz Tooya reminds me of such an act of disobedience in an environment with a lack of places for contemporary art. In this text, I will not analyze the artist's work presented in the gallery; instead, I will talk about the situation in which Gallery Heerz Tooya was created and continues to live.
Earlier this year, I came across sociological research on the needs of people in sparsely populated places in Bulgaria. The study reports that the most significant needs of the majority of poor populations in Bulgaria are providing meals and employment and dealing with corruption. At the end of the list are healthcare and education. Nowhere in these people`s needs does one see equal rights for people, science, or art. Where is art in this environment, and what is it for the people living here? Indeed, art is not directly related to human survival, but it is what makes us turn to ourselves, be critical of the world, and develop our ability to imagine what seems impossible. As the anthropologist Ellen Dissanayake argues, the adaptive definition of art is related to its ability to bring society together as one whole, as a tool that enhances the survival potential of individuals living within a group. Throughout 2019, Hertz Tooya has been able to bring people of different nationalities and professions together. The essential role of the gallery was to create a safe space in which one feels supported and free to express oneself. Visitors are put in situations where the encounter with art forces them to turn inwards and reflect on what is happening around them. This is a vital position to be in, especially in a country where freedom of expression is increasingly shrinking, and everyday people are faced with different kinds of restrictions that limit their ability to develop and express themselves, unlike places where people struggle to do so.
Please allow me to express my gratitude to all who attended the exhibitions during the past year. Your curiosity and understanding of the importance of the importance of art motivated us to continue our work with the gallery in an environment that has not always been understanding and welcoming. All the artists featured over the past year have made Gallery Heerz Tooya an island of salvation for those who lived here.
Catalog Launch and artist talk at TaM - Space for social events and culture, together with Plamena Slavcheva, Dimitar Solakov and Lars Nordby
The catalog at TaM - Space for social events and culture in Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria.
