The project “The Other Bulgarian Women” by the visual artist Mihail Vuchkov caused a scandal with its appearance.
The project is a reconstruction of paintings by Vladimir Dimitrov - Maystora (The Master), but the models are transsexual.
The appearance of the project, in which you can see the model Melissa, who used to be called Tihomir and was a reality star in the TV format "The Farm", was received ambiguously.
“The attitude towards trans people is like that towards women in the 19th century,” the author says, adding that this is the reason why he replaced the female characters in the Master's paintings with trans women.
Mihail Vuchkov's art provocation was financed by the National Culture Fund with BGN 10,000. The amount originally requested was 20,000, but the fund stated the following as one of the reasons for the reduction in funding:
“The project is recommended for funding with a budget of BGN 10,000 (EUR 5113) and with conditions: To revise the budget accordingly, recommending to reduce the seemingly increased production costs and rent an exhibition hall, and without catering costs; the budget matrix to be signed column 2 (type of cost) to be filled in whether the cost is an invoice or a fee. To provide a plan in case of more severe restrictions due to COVID-19. Among its strengths are: marginal theme; innovative means of expression; strong media coverage for the exhibition on television, radio, online and in print media” - Mihail Vuchkov is a professional with many years of experience in the field of public relations and media strategy in the field of art.
The project also has its own visual clip.
From its content, it is clear that Danita Mason, Ivanova Emily, Juliet Intergalactica, Layla Agrado, Maggie Papadopolova, Natasha Rich, Rebecca Tiger Cash, Melissa Rangelova take part in the reconstructions of the Master's paintings.
“The exhibition ‘The Other Bulgarian Women’ is inspired by the personal stories of a group of transgender girls in Bulgaria. The paintings show that despite the extreme marginalization of this community in our country, it exists and enriches our society The photographic reconstructions draw a parallel with the paintings of the Master, who sealed the last Bulgarian women under the patriarchal order, whose marginalization was then similar to that of the trans-Bulgarian today” - with this short summary “The Other Bulgarians” won state funding.
/OFFNews
