Monika Petrova Popova

Personal Info:

Born on the 10th of December, 1968, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Married to Metodi Popov (painter-ceramist), mother of three daughters.

Academic Position:

Art Docent at NBU (Ceramics)

Doctor of Egyptology (within NBU’s Egyptology program; interdisciplinary topic “Sculpture during the times of Theban kings”)

Education:

Master’s Degree in Ceramics

Master’s Degree in Egyptology at NBU (full semester Master’s thesis defended)

Primary Research Interests in the Following Areas:

– Ceramics

– Painting

– Drawing

– Egyptology

– Image Symbolism

– Written Characters Symbolism

– Performance

Additional Research Interests in the Following Areas:

– Graphics

– Sculpture

– Performance

– Collage

– Installations

Expertise Capabilities in the Following Areas:

– Ceramics

– Drawing

– Painting

– Graphics

– Sculpture

– Performance

– Egyptology

– Image Symbolism

– Written Characters Symbolism

Teaching Interests in the Following Areas:

– Ceramics

– Painting

– Drawing

– Collage

– Graphics

– Performance

– Egyptology

– Image Symbolism

– Written Characters Symbolism

Community Service (scientific and community organizations membership, editorial boards, and others)

Union of Bulgarian Artists (UBA) Member since 1996;

Bulgarian Institute of Egyptology Member since 2009;

Bulgarian Egyptology Association Member since 2017;

Involvement in National and International Projects

I’ve taken part in over 40 individual exhibitions and over 100 collective projects in Bulgaria and abroad between 1992 and 2018.

Some of those include:

  • 2002 – Youth Exhibition to “Saints Cyril and Methodius” Foundation, Sofia
  • 2002/2003/2004 – “International symposium for exterior plastic arts – a Sea of Shapes”, Golden Sands
  • 2003 – “Nigredo” (a co-project between M. Popova and G.Penkova, Central Baths, Sofia; Ancient Baths, Plovdiv; Sofia Central Prison;
  • 2004 – “August and the Arts”, Varna
  • 2004 – “Mothers and Daughters” (international traveling project, curated by Claudia-Maria Luenig, Austria)
  • 2004 – “International Biennale for Contemporary Art”, Shumen
  • 2006/2008 – “M-Tel Awards for Contemporary Bulgarian Art”, Austria 2007, Bulgaria 2009
  • 2010 – Specialization in “Kunstlerhaus” Arts Center, Schwandorf, Germany
  • 2011/2012/2013 – International Autumn and Spring Arts Salons, Bourgas, Pomorie
  • 2012 – Two stages of the Contemporary Arts Competition hosted by “Allianz”, Bulgaria
  • 2012 – Exhibition celebrating 80 years of UBA, “Water and Light”, a project led by prof. Andrey Daniel
  • 2015 – Specialization in the “GEDOK” Arts Center, Munich, Germany
  • 2000-2019 – Organization and participation in all students’ exhibitions at the Ceramics department of NBU.
  • 2006 – Creator of academic disciplines “Ceramics” and “Porcelain” at NBU, Bulgaria

Notable Individual Exhibitions

  • 1996/1998 – Ceramics, “Dosev” Gallery, Sofia
  • 1999 – Painting, “Arhythmicity“, „Kaloyan” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2000 – Painting, “Wrong Address”, “Irida” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2001 – Painting, “A Beginning”, “Irida” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2001 – Painting, „The Eros of Impossibility”, Contemporary Arts Center, Sofia
  • 2004 – Painting, “Talveg”, “Irida” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2005 – Painting, “Paint Me a Soul”, “Irida” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2006 – “The Air of Air”, “Art-Alley” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2008 – Painting, “BES”, Contemporary Arts Center, Sofia
  • 2009 – Ceramics, “If Love Affects Me Like That”, “Sariev” Gallery, Plovdiv
  • 2009 – Painting, “BES”, City Gallery, Niš
  • 2009 – Painting, “A Conversation with the Heart”, “Circle+” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2010 – Painting and Stitch, „The Sewn”, “Sariev” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2011 – Painting, “The Swan Village”, “Art-Alley” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2012 – Painting, “20”, Contemporary Arts Center Gallery, Sofia
  • 2013 – Painting and Ceramics, “There’s Nothing Better than an Idiotic Time”, UPARK Gallery, Plovdiv
  • 2014 – Ceramics and Drawing, “To My Mother”, “Vitosha”/”ART-BOKS Gallery, Sofia
  • 2015 – “Maximum Amount of Pain”, “Industrial” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2016 – “SIEVE”, “Rayko Aleksiev” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2016 – “Torn and Sewn”, “Art-Alley” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2017 – “1+1=1+1”, Contemporary Arts Gallery (UBA), 6 Shipka Street, Sofia
  • 2019 – “Drawings Before Bedtime”, drawings exhibition, “Art-Alley” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2019 – Painting, “Upper-Layer Dots” (large-scale) – “Red Dot” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2019 – Ceramics and Embroidery, “The Black Sewn”, “Arosita” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2019 – Paintings, Drawings, Ceramics, “The Swimmer”, “Intro” Gallery, Sofia
  • 2021 – Paintings, Drawings, Ceramics, “Vacuum”, “Raiko Aleksiev” Gallery, Sofia

Awards

  • 1996 – Competition and Specialization at “Des Art Studio”, Paris, France
  • 1998 – Young Author Award from the French International Arts Academy, Paris, France
  • 2000 – Young Author Award from “Irida” Gallery
  • 2002 – 1st Place Award for Young Author from “Saints Cyril and Methodius” Foundation
  • 2002 – 1st Place for Exterior Plastics “Hands of Verses“ at the “Sea of Shapes” Open Air, Golden Sands
  • 2011 – Competition and Specialization at the “Kunstlerhaus” Art Center, Schwandorf, Germany
  • 2013 – “Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora” 2012 Award Nominee for Painting
  • 2015 – Competition and Specialization at the GEDOK Arts Center, Munich, Germany
  • 2018 – Participation and Award Nomination in four editions of Contemporary Arts Competition by “Allianz”, Bulgaria