Art in Bulgaria is not in its best shape in the last 25 years or so. Before that it was censored, but today, only a chosen few manage to succeed and become famous among the not so open artistic circle in Bulgaria and the lack of economic stimulus in the sector.
On the other side, there are many talents – like any other country maybe – potential artists, sculptors and so on who even decide to pursue such a career and study in the elite National Academy of Arts. The bad thing is that most often these people are very disappointed. They spent several years in hard work – studying and exercising, and if the luck doesn’t smile to them in some way, they never get the chance to prove how wonderful, skilled and professional they are.
In rare cases there are such benefactors like the gallery owner Svetlyo Kantardzhiev, who supports young talents from the NHA (National art academy), who just need a little push, to become more famous so that their paintings start selling. Kantardzhiev is something of a talent-hunter and when he spots the talent into someone, he tries to help him to gain more attention to his work. Very often “VIP Gallery” that he owns, is used for exhibitions of young talents, whose debut Svetlyo Kantardzhiev wants to support.
It is a pretty stupid situation, because many talented artists, who had studied in the most elite art academy in the country, do not get the chance to make an according career. Most of them actually jump to other professions that require artistic skills – like interior and exterior designers for instance.
