January 2020
Project "Image and text"
Graphics and Poster Design
I have been going to art lessons since I was three years old. The same teacher that taught me how to draw when I was 3 prepared me for the admission exams 15 years later when I decided to study Graphic Design abroad. She has many students around the world, and in 2019, she gathered us for a collaborative project which we presented in multiple cities in our country and was sponsored by our municipality. The exhibition was about text and image and how they overlap and complement each other. We had perspectives from students from all kinds of degrees – photography, fashion, architecture, etc.
In 2020 we went further with the project and focused on the traditional Bulgarian embroidery and ornaments, which carry a deep meaning to our culture and are part of our traditional costumes. They are something unique, so simple yet – so complex. They are the part where words and meanings meet images and objects in our traditions.
Based on my research, I chose to use the traditional Bulgarian dance as the main subject, which I have practiced for more than 12
years. “Horo” is a Bulgarian dance usually performed in circles, and people hold hands while dancing – it’s a way of celebrating and connecting with each other. Dancing horo involves learning a sequence of steps and combining them with hand movements while traditional folk music is playing.
The four final posters represent four different Bulgarian ‘horo’ dances. For each of them, I chose to use a specific fragment of a traditional Bulgarian ornament, which I used as a representation of the dancing steps. The two colors – red and green – are the primary colors used in traditional ornaments and symbolize fire, life, and fertility in red and nature, health, and youth in green. I believe traditional dances are a sacred part of our traditions and should be preserved in time because that’s what makes us unique and creates a community.