17/07/2023
The second resident of the program for this year is already working on his project in Plovdiv.
Emil Urumov is an independent curator and author, born in Plovdiv, who has been living in Paris for 25 years. He is the author of projects such as "Palace Potemkin" (Ricard Foundation/National Gallery, Sofia, 2017), "Tension Economy" (Center Parc Saint Leger, France, 2016), "Theatre of Operations" [ Théâtre de l'Eusin, Geneva, Switzerland, 2015), "The Galapagos Principle" (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2013). In 2018-19, he was the director of the BBB Contemporary Art Center (Toulouse, France). One of his latest projects, "Group Show (by Koyaniskatsi)" (Sales Principal gallery, Paris, 2023) is related to the resonance of environmental issues in the field of art. His research and interests include the political nature of exhibition spaces, contextual and "situated" exhibition formats, the concept of "utility value" in art, the possible transitions between the roles of curator and creator. He also works on projects connecting a curatorial approach with the practice of documentary-conceptual photography. Emil Urumov's project Learning from Plovdiv is inspired by the book Learning from Las Vegas, a study of an architectural case considered a hallmark of post-modernism. The project aims to produce a visual analysis of the interconnection between the extremely diverse architectural and urban planning layers of Plovdiv, from antiquity to modern malls. Emil Urumov's approach combines curatorial, theoretical, artistic and photographic skills. The end result is a planned exhibition, which is to be shown in Plovdiv, Sofia, and then in France. The author has set out to produce a significant series of images with architectural and socio-economic overtones, at the crossroads between the documentary artifact and the work of art. A meeting with Emil Urumov in Plovdiv, at which he will present his work on this and his other projects, is due at the beginning of September.
