For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the Bulgarian Pavilion will present the exhibition titled “Education is the movement from darkness to light.” Curators Boris Tikvarski, Bojidara Valkova, and Mariya Gyaurova, joined by Belgian photographer Alexander Dumarey, have chosen to focus the exhibition on the subject of depopulation, urban decline, and rural flight, expressed through the image of abandoned schools present in the country. The project was selected following a national competition organized by The Ministry of Culture, The Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria, and the Union of Architects.
Over the past three decades, the country has been undergoing a process of rapid population decline, a phenomenon expected to continue in the future. A marker of this is the fewer number of children attending school. The exhibition aims to illustrate this process of abandonment in a visual manner, showcasing images collected during photographer Alexander Dumarey’s travels in the country. He turns his lenses to abandoned and derelict schools, degraded furniture, and disregarded tools. The curators are also collaborating with local municipalities and institutions to gather these artifacts.
The exhibition is divided into three main areas: the entrance, the classroom, and the interview and debate area. The disposition of spaces hopes to create a gradually immersive experience for the visitors, helping them become familiar with the complex and pressing issue of shrinking regions. The internal scenography is intended to be a simple backdrop that encourages visitors to engage in dialogue about these challenges.
Shrinking regions, preservation of culture during population decline, and adaptive change are all topics intertwined with the curator’s interest in school abandonment. The aim of the exhibition is to contribute to developing a more conscientious and informed discourse about shrinking urban and rural environments. The project highlights a phenomenon that is not unique to Bulgaria but present throughout the entire Eastern bloc. The curators hope to bring awareness to this process and invite visitors to consider the broader implications and potential solutions.
In line with this year’s theme for the Venice Biennale, “Laboratory of the Future,” chosen by curator Lesley Lokko, other national pavilions have also announced their curators and exhibition projects. The French Pavilion proposes a mirrored ball theater to create a place for celebration and collective experimentation; Switzerland explores territorial relationships with its neighbor in the Giardini, Venezuela, while Italian curators are organizing a series of smaller exhibitions to present the particularities of the Italian context. Besides the national pavilions, the Venice Architecture Biennale also includes the international exhibition, along with several other collateral events.
