School no 7
“Identity is the ever-conflicting relationship between ideal and reality, what one believes the world should be as opposed to what the world is. We test our identity when we engage in relationships with others. Identity is not a primordial label but a process of negotiation and assertion of hopes and beliefs.
This is a project about boys and girls who are in their final year at school nr. 7. I’ve chosen school nr 7 because it is perceived as an elite school and we may assume that these children will grow up to be among the leaders that will shape a new Bulgaria. This story is only one aspect of the turbulent history of Bulgaria after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It is a document of both the political and geographical metamorphosis of a young society.”
Vesselina Nikolaeva was born in Sofia (Bulgaria) in 1976. After graduating form high school she enrolled at the Art Academy in Utrecht ( Netherlands) where she majored in Photography and graduated in 2001. Between 2002 and 2004 she receives The Beginners Grant awarded by the Fund for Fine Arts, Amsterdam ( Netherlands) twice. In 2005 she received The Canon Award (in the framework of ‘De Zilveren Camera 2004( Netherlands) followed by the Grand Prix of the 4th International Festival of Photography 2005 in Poland and the ‘Descubrimientos’ at ‘Photoespana 2005’, Spain. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums in Bulgaria and The Netherlands and she has participated in many international festivals in Poland, Spain, Slovakia, Finland and the USA. Vesselina Nikolaeva has three individual book publications; Baba (2004), School nr.7 (2006), and Simply a Line (2009).
Facing youth
September 14 – October 28, 2012
Mosteiro de Tibães
Rua do Mosteiro – Mire de Tibães
Braga, Portugal
