Borjana VENTZISLAVOVA

Profile

Born in Sofia. Lives and works in Vienna. Graduated with an MA in Visual media / digital arts University of Applied Arts Vienna in 2005. Borjana is an artist and filmmaker. Her prize-winning works have been exhibited internationally in solo and group shows as well as at media art and film festivals, e.g., National Gallery Sofia, Kunstforum Vienna, Belvedere21, MAK Vienna, MAK Los Angeles, Lentos Linz, Museum of Modern Art Salzburg, Carinthia, Linz, Sofia, etc. She was AiR in London (ACF), Rom, Newcastle, Berkeley, Los Angeles (MAK Schindler), Chicago, Athens, Banff (Banff Center), NYC (ISCP), Andratx a.o. Her works are part of private and public collections.

Recent exhibitions and activities
2023 “I love my aunt Hope,“ BCI “Wittgenstein House,” Vienna
2022 “Water walk with us,” RadiatorArts Gallery, New York
2022 “We/re nature,” National Gallery Sofia
2021 “We/re nature,” Kunstforum Wien, Vienna

About works

The art of Ventzislavova is based on a “magical“ complexity. In her works she analyzes playful stereotypical roles and models of representations and the impact of political and social power structures and control mechanisms on our existence. Her video/film, photography, installation works and projects in public space addresses issues such as democracy, migration, the role of capitalism, the climate crisis, forms of resistance, representation and social alternatives. She is interested in the processes of mobility and crossing of socio-geographical, cultural and psychological borders and how to deal with the complexity of communication and translation. In her works she often blurs the boundaries between documentary and fiction in order to question the status quo and to test the line between personal and social in the context of current events and history.