Elitsa Ganeva
  • Video Installations
    • Elitsa's dream and the riverbed of memories 2024
    • Dream and Redeem 2023
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    • The Double life of a House
    • Places of faith and memory
    • Found objects
    • non-basic instincts
    • Temporary Collection
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    • Shima's Forgotten places
    • Worst TV program
    • Pursuing the True path
    • d e b r i s
    • Leopold
    • The Desert I chose
    • 30
    • Winters
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    • The poetry of Disappearing
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    • rhodium
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    • FREEZE THE SUMMER AND CATCHING IT ON A SHOT
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  • Video Installations
    • Elitsa's dream and the riverbed of memories 2024
    • Dream and Redeem 2023
    • Calyptra 2017
    • Calyptra 2016
  • Text
    • TEXTS IN ENGLISH
    • Накратко
    • Река
    • Над водата
    • Chronicles
      • Bulgarian Chronicles
      • Czech Chronicles
      • Germany Chronicles
      • Spain Chronicles
    • Момичета
    • Подземие
    • Кино
    • От мен до теб
    • Поход
    • 2013-2017
    • Сънища
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
    • The Double life of a House
    • Places of faith and memory
    • Found objects
    • non-basic instincts
    • Temporary Collection
    • Japan
    • Shima's Forgotten places
    • Worst TV program
    • Pursuing the True path
    • d e b r i s
    • Leopold
    • The Desert I chose
    • 30
    • Winters
    • Home
    • Liverpool
    • The poetry of Disappearing
    • Street Etudes
    • miles away
    • Back Home
    • blues
    • rhodium
  • Paintings
    • Squares 2019-2020
    • Paintings 2009-2019
    • Refugees
  • Videos
  • Workshops
    • Dear moss, what are you Workshop
    • FREEZE THE SUMMER AND CATCHING IT ON A SHOT
    • Visual Response
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Привързани към съня

ゆめうつつをぬかす
Art installation at Nakanojo Biennale 2023
by  DamaDamTal (Akira Otsuka + MIKITAMAKI) and Elitsa Ganeva
​(Technical consultant Todor V. Todorov)


海は私たちを隔てているが夢は波の中で発芽し、
その根は夢で見たものをあなたに届ける道となる。
ある物語はいつも別の物語が終わる前に始まっていて、
再び眠りにつくずっと前から一つの夢が続いている。同じように終演後はいつも次の開演前となり、
起きている観客が劇場を歩き回っている間は夢も演奏も止む事はない。
ビデオに再現された夢。日本から届いた箱の中の手紙そして写真が私たちの会話と交流を誘発する。
​繋がりの神話から届けられた海の生き物が飛行する放物線の先へ、夢はその見えない根源で共鳴する方法を伝えてくれる。


​I had a dream. I was at the rooftop of a building, 
where I received a package from Akira. 
Strangely, but I knew it’s from him and I felt excited 
as I realized it came all the way from Japan.
​
It was a box in the most captivating shade of blue inside –
like the color of the ocean. 
I opened it and on top was a photograph -
​it looked like an ocean landscape.
In front of the water there was a wide object,
which looked like a giant pink jellyfish or a squid.
​I was not exactly sure. There was a note for me:

‘Hello, Elitsa! Feel free to experiment with this photograph -
to change and recreate it or even destroy it, it’s up to you!’


Underneath there was a giant seaweed and a couple of big fishes.
I was so excited to find these things and started
​to think about what to make of them. 

Was it a wooden box? What’s the colour of the ocean?
 
What was this dream trying to tell me?

Picture

Photo by Ken Okada

'A giant pink squid floats above a stage. Nearby, a video montage of vague shapes and colors contrasts with haunting portraits that frame a live performance of interpretive dance, droning, singing and spoken word — sometimes in Japanese, sometimes in an indecipherable language. A cluster of performers weave in and out of the audience, their movements partially improvised as they interact with guests and launch into impromptu duets with one another. This mixed-media production, titled “Dream and Redeem,” is a collaboration between Bulgarian artist Elitsa Ganeva and DamaDamTal, a Japanese performing arts troupe led by Miki Tamaki and Akira Otsuka. The piece is an ongoing part of the ninth edition of the Nakanojo Biennale, which began in September and runs through Oct. 9.'

​The Japan Times (read the full article)

Photo by Ken Okada
Photo by Ken Okada
Photo by Ken Okada
Photo by Ken Okada
Photo by Ken Okada
Photo by Ken Okada

Oceans separate us, but dreams germinate in the waves -
their new invisible roots make paths where what I saw when dreaming travels to your eyes.
I feel attached to the act of stepping  into the dream and learning again:
how to see, how to read and how to connect with those I vaguely know. 
One story always begins before another one is even finished.
One dream had already begun long before I fell asleep once again.

Our conversation in the lounge at Nakanojo’s school saloon marked the beginning,
and many dreams are still separating us from the finale of the performance,
in which we do not want to stop dreaming and playing while the audience walk and gaze
at the mirages of the places we have been to, the words we have written,
the sea creatures that have come to us as ambassadors of the myth
of connectedness and the inevitability of seeking
direction for the parabolas made in flight, in dream.

The video installation recreates an actual dream of someone
who receives a box with a letter, coming all the way from Japan.
The photograph in the box is the start of a conversation.
The letter from the dream provoked an artistic exchange
between artists separated by hours, lands and oceans.

Yet the dream drew a bridge with its invisible roots.
What follows is the visual language of a dream
hat is learning how to walk and resonate among us.

​The project consists a few different elements - video installations, sculptural objects,
​fabric prints and performance.

Picture

                                                                                                                             Sketch of the scenery by MIKITAMAKI


Океаните ни разделят, но сънищата покълват във вълните -
новите им невидими корени правят пътеки,
по които видяното от мен пътува към твоите очи.
Привързани към това да се събудя в съня и да се науча отново:
да виждам, да прочитам, да се свързвам с онези, които бегло познавам. 
Нещо винаги започва, преди друго все още да е привършило. 
Една история от съня вече беше започнала много преди да заспя през онази нощ.

Разговорът ни в салонът в Наканоджо сложи начало,
а много сънища още ни делят от финала на представлението,
в което ние не искаме да спрем да сънуваме и играем,
докато будните се разхождат и се вглеждат в миражите на местата,
на които сме били, на думите, които сме написали, на морските създания,
които са дошли като пратеници на посланието за свързаност
и неизбежност на това да търсим отговор на параболите, направели в полет, насън.

Picture

                                                                                                                                                     Photo by Ken Okada

Арт инсталацията пресъздава действително сънуван сън на някой, който получава кутия с писмо,
пристигаща от далечна Япония. Фотографията в кутията е начало на разговор.
Писмото от съня е повод за артистична кореспонденция между артисти,
разделени от часове, страни и океани. И въпреки това, сънят рисува мост с невидимите си коренища.
Това, което следва е картинният език на съня, който се учи да върви и резонира сред нас.
​Проектът е съставен от няколко части - видео инсталации, скулптурни обекти, пърформанс. 
​

The sculptural objects
​

Picture

架空の劇場に広がる苔は、中之条ビエンナーレの過去のチラシで作られている。
上演されることのないオペラのポスターとそのチラシもいつかは苔に。

The moss spread over the imaginary theater is made from past flyers of the Nakanojo Biennale.

The recycled paper is used for the creation of moss-looking substance that covers the floor and the furniture. 

Picture
Picture

The so called 'squid' - a sculptural object created from wool and silk threads, to honor both the Japanese and the Bulgarian traditions. To produce it in this shape and volume would not be possible without the help of my collaborator and partner Todor V. Todorov. This is our second time working on a sculptural project together and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to him for his enormous help and support. 

Picture

Three-dimensional object
Size: 2200 mm
Material: Wire, Foam, Wool, Silk

Picture

    Photo by Ken Okada

Picture
Picture

The videos

The 'creature' was first created by wire and wool back home in Veliko Tarnovo. My dear friend, the videographer Angel Tóth-Shterev, helped me capture this first version of it. The shots were used during my video installation at Nakanojo Biennale. I am utterly grateful! The video was shot at Cherry Hinton Hall Park, Cambridge, again with the help of Todor V. Todorov. 

DamaDamTal video installation

Picture

What the viewers saw at Isama studio was a blue box in a plastic bag. What was inside was not the 'sea', but a scene from Damadamatal's hometown, Shibuya. Akira puts the blue box in a plastic bag and looks for a phone boot. The imaginary phone call connects the Japanese city with the Bulgarian town of Veliko Tarnovo

​椅子に置かれたプラスチックバッグの中の青い箱。その中には“海”ではなくて、DamaDamTalの故郷、シブヤの景色。青い箱をぶら下げて、電話ボックスを探す。

Picture

The Prints

Picture
Picture

Series of 4 fabric prints 
Size: 140x140cm
Material: Canvas


Nakanojo Biennale's theme this year was 'Cosmography - Crossing the Unseen Lands' That's why our video installations and prints were an imaginary walk through each other's land, unknown and not yet explored. For Akira and Tamaki - that was their hometown of Shibuya, which was shown on a small screen, for me, the idea was to show my places. The prints are stills from important geographical points - the town of Veliko Tarnovo and the region around it, the neighborhood where I've spent my youth, the shore of the Black Sea with one imaginary shark floating above the subject of my photograph. All of these places were important as I grew up, and certainly are places I would love to personally show to Akira and Miki Tamaki one day.


The Performances

Picture

'A short short show' was the name of the performance by DamaDamTal containing dance, sound, spoken word, improvisation, involving the audience. 

NAKANOJO BIENNIAL 2023
ダマダムタルの「ショートショートショー」
DamaDamTal 'Short Short Show'

ゆめうつつをぬかす

壊れそうなブーツが 目眩く時間に導いてくれ
る
歩いてると思ったけど
泳いでるの間違いだった
遠い国の音楽にのせて
夥しい天使がやってくる
「空から降るものは雪で
も太陽でも素敵ね」

ゆめはうつつをぬかす
溶けて無くなりヒーロー
が現れる
電話ボックスを探す
寄り道は迷い道とは違う
それは宇宙(そら)からの
手紙で
「地上は終わった後と始

まる前で溢れてる」

ゆめはうつつをぬかす
わたしたちは自由に漂い
彷徨いながら
たとえどんな世界が訪れ
たとしても
掃除をすることも夢を見
ることもできる

屋上で受け取った
それは美しい青い箱
なぜかあなたからだと分
かった

その箱には海が広がって
つながりの神話の大使
ピンク色の大きなクリー

A boot that's about to break
Leading us to a dazzling time
I thought I was walking
But I was swimming
To the music of distant lands
A multitude of angels are coming this land
'What falls from the sky is lovely, whether it's snow or sun.'

Dreams overtake reality
We shall be free to change our shape
No matter what kind of day comes my way
I can clean and I can dream

A candy drop like rain drops
It melts away and heroes appear
Finding the phone box
A detour is not the same as getting lost
It's a letter from the universe
Kind of fun that scoops me off my feet.
'On the earth ground is full of after and before'.

Dreams overtake reality
We shall be free to drift and wander
No matter what kind of world comes my way
I can clean and I can dream

Received on the rooftop
It was a beautiful blue box
Somehow I knew it was from you
In that box was an ocean
Ambassadors of connection
Big, big pink creatures

作詞:みきたまき


Lyrics:MIKITAMAKI
Translated by the Japanese text


Nakanojo Biennale
DamaDamTal
[email protected] ​                                     Copyright © 2025 Elitsa Ganeva All Rights Reserved
  • Video Installations
    • Elitsa's dream and the riverbed of memories 2024
    • Dream and Redeem 2023
    • Calyptra 2017
    • Calyptra 2016
  • Text
    • TEXTS IN ENGLISH
    • Накратко
    • Река
    • Над водата
    • Chronicles
      • Bulgarian Chronicles
      • Czech Chronicles
      • Germany Chronicles
      • Spain Chronicles
    • Момичета
    • Подземие
    • Кино
    • От мен до теб
    • Поход
    • 2013-2017
    • Сънища
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
    • The Double life of a House
    • Places of faith and memory
    • Found objects
    • non-basic instincts
    • Temporary Collection
    • Japan
    • Shima's Forgotten places
    • Worst TV program
    • Pursuing the True path
    • d e b r i s
    • Leopold
    • The Desert I chose
    • 30
    • Winters
    • Home
    • Liverpool
    • The poetry of Disappearing
    • Street Etudes
    • miles away
    • Back Home
    • blues
    • rhodium
  • Paintings
    • Squares 2019-2020
    • Paintings 2009-2019
    • Refugees
  • Videos
  • Workshops
    • Dear moss, what are you Workshop
    • FREEZE THE SUMMER AND CATCHING IT ON A SHOT
    • Visual Response
  • Bio
    • Press
  • Talk to me
  • Blog