The World After
05 November 17:00, Hale 3, Hristo Botev blvd. 3, Varna, Bulgaria
Result from the creative residency between Vassilia Drebova and Neno Belchev within the frame of the Moving Body festival
Today, one step ahead of each of us is our digital representation (our digital alter-ego). We often forget that it is the one that communicates with the digital reproductions of others in the illusory online world of social networks.
The performance explores the theme of the “post-man” as a hybrid being outside of linear time, seeking a poetic view of the subject. Mutated under the influence of external and internal collisions, it is still programmed to move from one place to another. The World After traces the trajectory of this body, torn between the attempt at functional and energy-saving movement and the chaotic rebellion of its constituent parts.
Vassilia Drebova discovered theater as a teenager in the studio of Boncho Urumov, one of the best Bulgarian teachers. Later, she graduated Acting at the New Bulgarian University, and for the past 8 years she has been working as a freelance actress. In 2014, he became part of the VOX POPULI Documentary Theater Studio, where he fell in love with the verbatim technique. Her interests and work are mainly in the field of documentary and movement theater, divisional theater and performance. She has worked with the choreographers Stefani Khandzhiyska (“Timestopper”; “Ion – a performance for adopted children” – nominated for the IKAR 2017 award for the best performance in the category “Contemporary dance and performance”), Marion Darova (“Corpus meum”), as well as in movement and multi-genre projects led by the playwright Yasen Vasilev (“Borgestriptych”, “Impossible Actions”). She’s participated in Neda Sokolovska’s documentary performances “Crime Scene Evidence”, “This is where Bulgaria begins” (with nomination for “Best Performance” of ASKEER 2016), “Underwater” – collaboration with the American company Built for collapse and co-directed by Sanaz Gajarahimi, presented at a residency in New York at the Laguardia Performing Arts Center in 2016, “Farewell, Johann Reis” and the most recent work of VOX POPULI – the outdoor theater installation “Exhibits”. She has also taken part in the documentary-sensory performance “LOW COST”, directed by Stefan Prokhorov. Vassilia has led workshops for verbatim theater within the projects “Streams of Memory” (directed by Neda Sokolovska and Miela Stanojevic) and “PRIDE” (directed by Konstanza Getsova). Her debut play as author and director “Ordinary People” (2021) combines documentary and movement theater and explores the theme of success based on the stories of artists who have retired from their careers.
Neno Belchev was born in 1971 in Varna. Lives and works in Varna. He graduated from the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ARTS in Sofia, majoring in mural painting. He works as an independent video artist and director, as well as in the fields of installation, sculpture, performance and new media. He has realized over 30 solo, and has participated in a large number of collective national and international exhibitions. To this date he has made one feature film (2016), four medium-length documentaries and numerous short narrative films and video art works that have won awards, prizes and nominations from international video and film festivals in Italy, USA, Russia, Malaysia, India, Spain, Romania, the Netherlands and Austria. Neno has also won grants for creative work in Spain, Russia, China, Japan, USA (2), France (2), Bulgaria and Portugal. Among the more important international participations of Mr. Belchev: ESMoA 2018 creative residency program, El Segundo, Los Angeles, California, USA / 2018; XXX Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques Festival, Marseille, France / November 2017; The 27th edition of the CEC ArtsLink Foundation AWARDS FOR FOREIGN ARTISTS (New York) at the KALA Art Institute (Berkeley, California, USA, 2014); IN-SONORA VIII: at National Center for Contemporary Art Museum REINA SOFIA (Madrid, SPAIN, 2014); City Gallery of Hong Kong / HONG KONG (2013); National Center for Contemporary Arts, St. Petersburg, RUSSIA (2011); White Box Gallery, New York, USA (2010); Apexart, New York, USA (2010); DEPO Tutun Deposi, Istanbul, TURKEY (2009); Wichita Falls Museum, Texas, USA (2009); No Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, CHINA (2009); Today Art Museum, Beijing, CHINA (2008); Moerenuma Koen Hidamari Museum, Sapporo, JAPAN (2007) and many others. Neno’s works are owned by the Overseas Contemporary Art Terminal at the Ne Xiangning Art Museum (Shenzhen, CHINA); SAMSI (Sofia Arsenal Museum of Contemporary Art, Sofia, BULGARIA); private collections in USA, UK, JAPAN, CANADA, SPAIN, UKRAINE, etc. Neno is one of the founders of the International Video Art Festival VIDEOHOLICA, Varna.