The Nine Elephants Collection at Swimming Pool

Artists: Iskra Blagoeva and Boyan Ganev, Vitto Valentinov, Ina Valentinova, Nevena Georgieva, Nevena Ekimova, Natalia Yordanova, Billi Mateeva, Maria Minkova, Alina Papazova, Radostin Sedevchev, Nia Tsenkova

Exhibition title: The Nine Elephants Collection

Curated by: Viktoria Draganova

Venues: Swimming Pool, Sofia, Bulgaria

Date: July 11 – 21, 2024

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy by the artist and Swimming Pool

NINE ELEPHANTS (Devet slona) is a summer program for art around the city of Sofia, which takes place  for the first time between July 11th and 21st, 2024. Together with artists, authors, researchers, facilitators, experts as well as residents, we will tell and share the city in a new and unexpected way, using the calm of the summer weeks and exploring different neighbourhoods in the city.

Earlier in this year,, we also asked befriended artists to participate in a collection that brings together the imagination of artists for potential artistic interventions in Sofia.The purpose of the Nine Elephants Collection is to inspire us and others for possible and desired art in our city. To our great happiness, we are launching the collection with eleven positions by artists:  Iskra Blagoeva and Boyan Ganev, Vitto Valentinov, Ina Valentinova, Nevena Georgieva, Nevena Ekimova, Natalia Yordanova, Billi Mateeva, Maria Minkova, Alina Papazova, Radostin Sedevchev, Nia Tsenkova.

You can now find the collection also online at www.devetslona.art

Initiator and curator: Viktoria Draganova

All images credit: The Blue Cube Foundation and the artist.

All images photo: Rosina Pencheva

Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Left: Maria Minkova, The People of Druzhba, 2024. Right: Niya Tsenkova, Watch your step, 2024
Maria Minkova, The People of Druzhba, 2024
Niya Tsenkova, Watch your step, 2024
Stefan Ikoga, Nine Poems for Nine Elephants, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Alina Papazova, Island In The Sun, 2024
Bili Mateeva, Monument to COVID-19 Victims, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Iskra Blagoeva and Boyan Ganev, Project Lyulin 7, 2024
Vitto Valentinov, The Mission, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Vito Valentinov, Terminals, 2024
Ina Valentinova, In River Water, 2024
Nevena Ekimova, A Suggestion for The Largo, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024
Left: Natalia Yordanova, Digital Gaze, 2024. Right: Stefan Ikoga, Nine Poems for Nine Elephants
Natalia Yordanova, Digital Gaze, 2024
Nevena Georgieva, Project for a temporary installation on the site of the burned Sofia State Circus, 2024
Left: Ina Valentinova, In River Water, 2024. Right: Radostin Sedevchev, Gridlock, 2024
Radostin Sedevchev, Gridlock, 2024
Stefan Ikoga, Nine Poems for Nine Elephants, 2024
Maria Ilieva and Martin Tomov, Beyond ‘Istoriya Slavyanobalgarska’, 2024
Maria Ilieva and Martin Tomov, Beyond ‘Istoriya Slavyanobalgarska’, 2024
Installation view “The Nine Elephants Collection”, at Swimming Pool, 2024