Contemporary Art in the Collection of the European Parliament ​NOMINATED ARTWORKS

NATIONAL GALLERY/
SOFIA
ARSENAL - MUSEUM FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

and

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LIAISON OFFICE IN BULGARIA

present

 

Contemporary Art in the Collection of the European Parliament
NOMINATED ARTWORKS

 

Bora Petkova, Borjana Ventzislavova, Daniela Kostova, Elizabeth Thallauer, Leda Starcheva, Leda Vaneva, Maria Nalbantova, Marta Djourina, Nevena Ekimova and Rada Boukova

20.09 – 22.10.2023

Opening on 20 September, Wednesday, 18.30
Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art, 2 Cherni Vryh blvd.

 

 

The European Parliament’s art collection was started in 1980 on the initiative of Simone Veil, the first President of the directly elected European Parliament.

The European Parliament is proud of the cultural diversity of the European Union and supports all actions for enhancing it. The collection aims to develop at European level the traditional practice of national parliaments to purchase and promote contemporary works of art that present the national artistic achievements.

For over forty years, the European Parliament has acquired more than 500 works of art, representative of EU member states, putting the spotlight on young promising artists at the beginning of their career. The EP collection has been enriched with over 120 donations from national parliaments and different organisations.

Thanks to the new EU member states the collection has grown significantly. In 2011 the European Parliament acquired artworks from Bulgaria and Romania. The new acquisitions from Bulgarian artists were presented in Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art in the same year.

The European Parliament and its Liaison Office in Bulgaria are now running a selection process of new acquisitions for the art collection by approaching independent experts as well as experts from leading cultural institutions.

Nia Tabakova (The State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs), Dolores Dilova (The Union of Bulgarian Artists), Martin Kostashki (The National Gallery) and Venelin Shurelov (The National Academy of Arts) have nominated authors, adhering to the criteria and requirements for the selection of artworks for the acquisition procedure, namely: to be female artists from Bulgaria who work with contemporary artistic techniques and explore present-day themes and concerns that resonate with European values. The proposed artists are established both in Bulgaria and abroad. They are talented and have a poignant sensitivity to global problems.

After the exhibition in Sofia the Artistic Committee in Brussels will determine which of the pre-selected works will be purchased for the art collection of the European Parliament and they will subsequently be exhibited on its premises in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg.

 

For more information:

Tanya Chuntova, Public Relations, European Parliament Liaison Office in Bulgaria, +359878 853 547, tanya.chuntova@ep.europa.eu

Nadezhda Dzhakova, head of Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art, +359879 834 030; sofiaarsenal@sofiaarsenal-mca.org