The exhibition marks the 120th anniversary of Vesselin Staykov’s birth. More than a retrospective survey, it is a research-driven attempt to unfold the creative process of one of the great masters of Bulgarian graphic art. Although Staykov trained as a painter in the studio of Prof. Tseno Todorov, he remained captivated by the graphic arts for the rest of his life. A particularly strong influence was exerted by Prof. Vasil Zahariev, whose classes at the Academy provided Staykov with his first encounter with printmaking techniques. Having chosen the graphic arts as his primary medium, yet always seeking in painting the richness of color and brushstroke, he continued to paint throughout his entire life.

The exhibition presents a fragment of Bulgarian art history in the form of a visual essay. It is an interpretation of the spirit and the broader aesthetic and cultural background of the post-war twentieth century in Bulgaria — a collaborative work by specialists from different professional fields. As Milla Mineva writes in the publication accompanying the project: “Opening a space for utopia and for a collective project at a moment when time itself has renounced collective projects.”