Bulgaria Archive | malenki.net

In Belief Is Power

Robert Schlotter — Fri, 03 May 2019 12:05:05 +0000

Being a Bulgarian immigrant in Western Europe, I know how important the welcoming and friendly attitude of the local people is for the newcomers. How great my indignation was when Bulgaria, my home country, the place of origin for two million emigrants, tolerated nationalist groups to hunt down Muslim refugees who were illegally crossing E.U.’s external border with Turkey.

The articles in the Western media informing about the activities of the Bulgarian nationalists raised a lot of questions for me. I am trying to express these with the present project: what provokes one’s fear of foreigners; what is the life and history of the local population who live near the border, where different political interests intersect; what is the “Bulgarian” identity exactly made up of; how does the border region reflect what is happening across Europe; is there a “beautiful” nationalism that would help a vanishing nation preserve itself (Bulgaria is said to be the fastest disappearing nation in the world); and, finally, what connects us as people?

The title of the book is borrowed from an inscription from a small chapel in the border area, built in honor of St. Marina: “In faith is power”. I have changed it to “In belief is power” in order to address the relationship of belief not only with religion, but also with different political and economic systems, as well as the consequences of these relationships.

Der Beitrag In Belief Is Power erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

The Queen of the Animals and the Most Beautiful Gardens

Robert Schlotter — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 13:12:58 +0000

When shown in West European news, Bulgaria (my homeland) is described as the poorest EU Member State, where about 1,6 million young people have left the country for lack of opportunities. The parents and grandparents who remain in the country are hoping their children will return someday.

Fifteen years ago, my sister and I immigrated to the Netherlands to be able to survive. Last summer our dear mother became ill. Our father, who shares his life with another woman, concluded: “Now you really have to come back home.” A friend of mine reacted with the words: “Maybe that’s why your mother is ill, because you left her alone.” To make up for the gap that opened in her life, my mother surrounded herself with animals rescued from the street. For her, they are my brothers and sisters. She says: “When you live with animals, you become one”, or, “I am half-animal and they – half-human.” Plants are also her passion, when no one else is around.

This project is a portrait of my homeland, Bulgaria, and my mother, at the same time. I am also asking from the position of a migrant what the moral relationship between me and my parents and homeland is; what it means to come back home; and where is home.

Der Beitrag The Queen of the Animals and the Most Beautiful Gardens erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

Beyond Cold War – Collectors Edition

Robert Schlotter — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 17:03:43 +0000

Beyond Cold War is based on the examination of confrontation areas of the Cold War in Europe. Border regions on which the NATO states and those of the Warsaw Pact stood face to face to each other.
During the Cold War the observers were always observed, too. The feeling of observing and simultaneously being observed, the assumed harassment through the antagonist, the alertness and awaiting (action and reaction) are the central starting points of my work. For both sides there was the question about the world behind the border, because both were stamped by massive cultural and political differences, laboured by analogous propaganda.

Jürgen Kühner on Beyond Cold War

“[…] Schlotter’s photographs only take effect at second glance. It is only through the context that they change from generic landscape photographs to a socio-political analysis with the conclusion that borders can run anywhere and at any time, that no structures are needed to separate countries and people.”

https://framesandfascination.com/2019/09/02/robert-schlotter-beyond-cold-war/

Der Beitrag Beyond Cold War – Collectors Edition erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.

Beyond Cold War

Robert Schlotter — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 10:16:31 +0000

https://framesandfascination.com/2022/01/22/robert-schlotter-beyond-cold-war/

Der Beitrag Beyond Cold War erschien zuerst auf malenki.net.