Interview 4/5:The power of visuals (Bulgaria)
Our fourth interview is with Bogdana Dencheva, museum pedagogue at MHS. Bogdana and her team are gearing up for an inspiring pilot all about the sense of sight. Want to know what they’re experimenting with, who’s getting involved, and what they mean by the power of visuals? Read on to find out!
Ivana: Your pilot is called The power of visuals. Can you tell us more what it will be about?
Bogdana: The Museum of Humor and Satire is going to launch an artistic contest for the creation of billboard designs aiming to nudge citizens into reconsidering the way we all reuse and recycle materials such as fabrics. The contest will be held in two age categories: adults and teenagers. After signing up, the candidates will be exposed to a couple of interventions. First, they are going to play Climate Fresk at the Museum – a thought-provoking guided international card game (workshop) with visuals and questions on the various faces of climate change. Second, participants will be taken to a guided tour of the Regional System for Waste Management – to see what and where waste actually is, and third, prior to creating their designs, participants will draw inspiration from a workshop with ecology experts, local artists and curators with experience in projects on the topics of climate and anti-pollution. For more information about the Climate Fresk and the Depo, you can visit: https://climatefresk.org/world/ and https://chisto.gabrovo.bg/.
Ivana: Who will you collaborate with?
Bogdana: There will be two groups of contest participants, one group of stakeholders (Associate Partner + fourteen more external experts from across the country) and people from at least one neighbourhood in Gabrovo involved serving as a control group. Our Associated Partner – the Regional Association of Municipalities “Central Stara Planina” – is very proactive and they are going to help us organize and disseminate the news and results of the project. Gabrovo is the Bulgarian capital of humour but what we also take a lot of pride in is that the local and regional institutions here have always stood by each other no matter what. That is why we are looking forward to many happy (and funny!) moments of collaboration.
Ivana: How do you plan to include local community in the experiment?
Bogdana: The concept for this project stems from our expert observation (and concern) that the already-existing artworks on the topic of ecology are not necessarily funny and/or serve the purpose of inspiring people to take actions and make a change in their daily lives. Since The Museum of Humor and Satire is participating in the NUDGES project as the EYES, by creating opportunities to SHOW / FACE the real challenges (the Climate Fresk game + the landfill visit + the expert workshop) we will metaphorically open the eyes of designers which will then open the eyes of citizens for the existing climate challenges through experience-based artworks. Together with this, we are expecting to plant the seed in the young generation by inviting teenagers (highly influenced by fast fashion and the waste it creates) to also participate with their ideas for designs. It’s just hard NOT to SEE a billboard in a small urban space but together with that the Museum can also always make room for an exhibition with contest process and results which will expose even more people (regular visitors) to the topic.
What is the current state of the pilot action? What is the next step?
We are currently building the plane while we are flying or in other words – our pilot will take off after Christmas. The nearest next step is to see all our project partners face to face in beautiful Zagreb and get even more inspired and empowered for the power of visuals!
Photos: MHS Cartoon Fund, various artists
