Vanina Tsvetkova (1986, BG)

We, Ourselves, and Us is an ongoing project that combines ritual elements with technological tools in order to enact contemporary embodiments of the Bulgarian Kukeri ritual. It interweaves methods of making and playing in order to explore new forms of expression, creation, and content. Based on the tradition of rituals, from ancient to daily and contemporary, the performance relies on experimentation and distortion. As the performers step into their roles, space is created for freedom of expression, uniting all the participants into a single, whole vibration. The collective appears in the inner realm of the individual, and the individual is in the collective. Time and stereotypes are broken and crafted into a new sense of belonging.

Vanina Tsvetkova received a Master in Fine Art and Design & MADtech from Frank Mohr Institute, Groningen in 2020, the BA Fine Arts from Minerva, Groningen in 2014. In 2005 she studied icon painting at the National College of Applied Arts “Dimitar Dobrovich” in Bulgaria.