Parallels

Retrospective photography exhibition

(2015)

Parallels is a retrospective created by Rosina Pencheva which is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Racho Stoyanov Drama Theater – Gabrovo in 2015. The installation contains black-and-white archival footage from the theater's repertoire during its first decades, visually corresponding to independently taken color photographs of their contemporary repertoire shot by Rosina. The exhibition is built on the basis of parallels that allow the viewer to see the archival footage through the eyes of the present and vice versa.

Part of the found archival photo copies in Gabrovo Drama Theater

Actors Liliya Dimitrova, Iliya Kostadinov & Silvia Boeva holding their own portraits

Rosina was researching the photo archive stored in the Theater as well as in the State Archive of Gabrovo. Among the black-and-white photographic copies found in a large format, she recognised the faces of famous actors Petar Slabakov, Nevena Kokanova, Anani Yavashev (brother of artist Christo), and many others who had played on the stage of Gabrovo theater.

An archival portrait of actor Petar Slabakov – one of the most famous Bulgarian actors

Actor Petko Petkov in front the board with his portrait parallel to the portrait of Petar Slabakov

A portrait of actor Petko Petkov, 2014

To her surprise, she began to find visual similarities with shots she had taken herself on that same stage and decided to show the parallels between the archival photographs dating from the first performance of the Gabrovo Drama Theater in 1945, and the new footage from its last three theatrical seasons (2013–2015).

The video above shows a parallel between a black-and-white photograph from the first performance of the Theater – "Hashove" (1945) by Ivan Vazov, and a color photograph from the contemporary repertoire of the same theater – "Romeo and Juliet" (2013) by William Shakespeare. There is a strong visual resemblance between the two shots – an actor in the role of a "hash" (а rebel in exile) holding a mug with a hand raised high, and an actress (Gergana Zmiicharova) in the role of Juliet holding a bottle of poison with the same gesture.

Opening of "Parallels" in the public space of Gabrovo, 2015

Exhibition board – view from the left. "Romeo & Juliet", 2013

Exhibition board – view from the center

Exhibition board – view from the right. "Rednitsi", 1985.

With the role of Camille in "No trifling with love", 1957 Nevena Kokanova receives the title of actress and later became very famous

Exhibition board – view from left

Exhibition board – view from the center

Exhibition board – view from right

An archive photograph of Katya Zahireva and Ruzha Nikolova in "Fedra", 1980 parallel to a contemporary photograph of Kristiana Tsenkova and Nadezhda Petkova in "Joan of Arc", 2014. A detail from an exhibition board viewed centrally.