A pigeon with spread wings is the largest sand drawing in the world and it can be seen from bird's eye view on a beach of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, located between Kamchia River and the village of Shkorpilovtsi (about 50 km south of Varna). The image of the bird, a symbol of peace, occupies an area of 25,000 square meters, which makes it larger than the one that won the Guinness Record in 2022. The author of the Bulgarian drawing is a young participant in the "Art with a Cause" project, who works under the stage name Vivia Niki. She created the drawing with the sole desire that the message of peace carried by this dove reaches thousands of people. In a special interview with Radio Bulgaria, she pointed out that we often forget the huge role of peace and that only in times of peace can there be prosperity and well-being for people.

The date September 21, when the International Day of Peace is celebrated, also reminds us of this.

Vivia Niki herself graduated from architecture and direction, finding art to be the intersection between the two. But there is also another link and that is protection of nature. The artist wants people to become more responsible and sensitive to the damage that humanity causes to the surrounding world. That is why she is also interested in Land Art – an art movement that dates back to the 1960s and has been rapidly developing around the world, but for many years remained unknown in Bulgaria.

The role of the drawing on a huge area of sand in Kamchia also has a purely practical aim, Vivia Niki says. Signs were immediately put up on the beach where she worked that campers were not allowed to pass through. This effectively protects the dunes where many rare bird species nest. This way, the artist is not looking for fame, but through art seeks to change the careless actions of tourists.

"The first idea that came to my mind was like a vision of this dove as a symbol of peace and freedom,” she says. “After that, the first place I saw in my mind was the bank of the Kamchia river; I don't even have an explanation why. Later, I came up with the idea to beat the already set record in order to draw attention to the idea of peace. When so many conflicts are brewing in the world, it is very good that we keep the peace in Bulgaria and the Balkans. This is also our mission, as we have so many spiritual teachers in our history and around us. The Bulgarian people, being very ancient, deserve to be an example in preserving peace. So, I decided to make an even bigger work and when I checked, I found out that the place that allows this to be done is exactly the beach of Kamchia, with the largest width in Bulgaria. The area of Kamchia is a very wild place; there is a nature reserve there, a river and rare species of animals."

Vivia Niki graduation project as a student in architecture is aimed at creating an environment-friendly village. She firmly believes that we are now living in the last years of negative phenomena such as exposure to strong radiation and vibrations coming from new technologies. According to her, in the future, people in this country would be living in eco-villages, where they would find abundance and happiness.

"Speaking about technique, I used rain water," Vivia Niki says. “I also used a garden rake because the contour had to be large. But in order to be able to beat the record, I had to work alone, as the previous record was achieved by just one person. I was in a hurry to do it before the International Day of Peace, in order to get people's attention. I believe that peace is a matter of the spiritual maturation of humanity. Such wisdom can always be reached along the life path of each one of us. I want more people to believe that we aspire to live better and peace has been the cradle of every flourishing in human history.”

Photos: Radio Varna, Exhibitions with Cause, Facebook/ Vivia Niki