client
self-initiated
gallery
GARA / Marina Genova
curator
Denislav Golemanov
task
Artwork
year
2022
photography
Lubov Cheresh
materials
tree, paint, IKEA stool, candles, custom brass ornament, clay
A reverse Advent calendar set within a hallway niche of a studio apartment - created to delight and then perish, together with every promise and hope left behind after the New Year. Optimistic, in its own way, but necessarily so. Sad, Cells, Sticks is an exhibition of needles, dust, and cracks, accompanied by a poem.
The theme of this social event was the environmental impact of rituals and celebrations on nature.
The event unfolded in two stages: the exhibition opening on 22 December 2022 (a traditional Christmas Eve dinner accompanied by a presentation of the theme and installation), and a second gathering on 26 January 2023 (observations and conclusions). This specific time frame was intentionally chosen to document the natural withering of a Christmas tree as an in situ installation at GARA Gallery and its website, where it was livestreamed 24/7, making the project accessible to online audiences at all times.
The installation catalyzed discussion, bringing together professionals from various creative fields aiming to generate and discuss creative ideas and solutions for sustainable, environmentally conscious ways of observing holidays and traditions within our society.
The project was realised with the help of the National Fund of Culture Bulgaria.
25 levas paid. We go home. I adorn him, I make him shine.
To beam happiness between the sofa, the TV, the cacti, the violets - to lооk at life.
Smells right.
To look after revelries, memories, dreams, and ribbons being cut. I couldn't help but get mad when we bump shoulders – two frameworks standing. Now I am cleaning. I promised myself to be more balanced. Not a lone promise. Now I have to clean after him and them as well. I carelessly gather all the remainings into mixed piles. One warm month with me was enough for him to see the very same world where, supposedly, he was the cleaner and I, the polluter.
I wonder if he saw how deep my roots go.