An international graffiti exhibition dedicated to the Cyrillic alphabet opened on May 24, the Day of Bulgarian Education, Culture and Slavonic Scripture, in Gifted Sofia Gallery. The event is organized for the second consecutive year and curator is famous graffiti artist from Varna, Aleksi Ivanov, who is the man behind the idea for such an exhibition.

"In 2017 the exhibition included only Bulgarian graffiti artists and caused great interest. This year Alexi Ivanov decided to expand the circle of artists and include graffiti writers from Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Greece and Lithuania,” urban artist Nikolay Petrov, who took part in the realization of the exhibition, told us. “Alexi Ivanov has spent time researching the use of Cyrillic alphabet in graffiti. The idea is to present the Cyrillic alphabet in a very contemporary way; to look at something we are very used to and think of as something old in a different way. I think Cyrillic is something valuable, so we have to find a way to continue to interpret it with the language of modern times."

One such language of today is that of graffiti. As a subculture, this kind of art emerged relatively late in Bulgaria - in the late 90's of the 20th century. Until 2002-2003, the development was quite rapid and the level was rising. Bulgaria came out on the European stage and it was noticed, while many urban artists started participating in international events. Today, there is a new wave of young artists who work alone (writers) or join a team under a joint name (crews).

The idea of the exhibition is presenting artists who create in the graffiti sphere and urban space and who have actively used Cyrillic alphabet in their work. Organizers decided to present graffiti variants of the 30 letters of the Bulgarian alphabet plus the letter "Э" from Russian. All of the 31 artists invited have sent works for the exhibition and one more also joined.

"They were invited to use and draw the first letter of their nickname or another letter,” Nikolay Petrov says. “Each letter is drawn by a different artist, but all of them were limited by the form that is A4 size. There are no limitations to colors, styles, technique, drawing surface. That is why we see mixed techniques like pencil work, lighting installations, the use of several layers of canvases, i.e. we have an absolute multilayer presentation and complete freedom of expression. This year, it's interesting to see the work of artists, most of whom I had not met before and it is interesting for me to get acquainted with them and their creativity. "

In fact, graffiti are not just colorful inscriptions or drawings that are part of urban landscape.

"Graffiti means freedom - freedom of speech, interpretation, freedom in every dimension of this art that lets you express yourself without any limitations. You do it the way you see it, the way you feel it. Graffiti are close to those feelings that urge you to express yourself in a creative way," Nikolay Petrov says.

It is this freedom and personal vision, this variety of means and ways of self-expression and eye-catching unexpected creative decisions of the artists that can be seen at the exhibition which continues until June5.

English: Alexander Markov