As a part of his thesis project and research, Vasil is organising an artist residency, happening from June 3rd until June 10th of 2026 in Shiroka laka, Bulgaria.

More updates and materials are coming soon...


+ Contemporary art existing within a rural context, with the specificity of Shiroka laka and the Rhodope region. Seeking alternative ways of display, exploring cultural functions outside of urban zones. 



+ Is it possible for art to uplift the rural and vice versa? 



+ Art as an entity that is meant to exist for its own sake, in theory, then belongs to a space that doesn’t seek its capitalization. Hence nature and the rural.



+ Art as an anti-product.



+ The demographic crisis in Bulgaria and the rural zones in the Balkans and Europe.
The research aims to create a dialogue between the people from different cultures and the local environment. The objective is to involve contemporary art practices within a place where traditions are kept and respected. Using local materials like wool, found clay, repurposing vintage textiles into installations and playing with the village’s architecture, and the space in the forest, the artist’s role appears. A role that is not necessary but is a manifestation of the human nature. In the context of a village that has quieted down over the decades, slowly losing the number of permanently residing people, contemporary art can appear alien-like and an unexpected complication that may create a spark of curiosity.

Artists create tension and ask questions through their work, they repurpose what was once deemed unusable. 

The residency and its production hopes to achieve a sort of renewal and to stir up activity within the village, with semi-permanent installations through the streets and parts of the village in the forest.

The placement of artworks in a rural public context, with the production phase being sustainably procured, seeks to resist the capitalist ideals not just within the art world but in general. The works are created and exist entirely for the purpose of existing and nothing more. Regardless of who views them, why they view them and how much or how little they are viewed. And with no intention of creating an environment of buying/selling. Simply existing and creating a trace of human activity and reorganisation.

These concepts and ideas are highly debatable and contain paradoxes...