Integrated

Tina Zlatina is a Bulgarian painter, draughtsman and sculptor. Through her art, she seeks to shed light on "extra dimensions. Moreover, she is fascinated by the exploration of mind and consciousness from an artist's perspective. She first came to the Netherlands in 2012 for a residency at the EKWC. For BK Information she talks about her experiences and we experience the Netherlands through the eyes of this Bulgarian artist. 

In 2012, when I received a scholarship for the Artist-in-Residence program at the EKWC in Oisterwijk, I first came into contact with the Netherlands. The scholarship was provided by an EU culture program and was supported by Pépinières Européennes pour Jeunes Artistes, EKWC and Transartists. For me, this was the first residency abroad. At that time I knew very little or nothing about contemporary art and culture in the Netherlands. I am part of a generation of visual artists in Bulgaria that got a bit lost among the geopolitical, social and economic changes of the time. 

I felt like Alice in Wonderland there

When I studied at the National Academy of Art in Sofia, I had very limited access to art developments in Europe and the rest of the world. Because I lived and worked in a country with a very small art scene, which - unfortunately - is still far behind and catching up with trends abroad, the residency at the EKWC was a real turning point for me. It greatly changed not only my career as an artist, but also my understanding of contemporary art. 

I had worked with ceramics before, but never had I seen such a huge variety of materials and equipment as were available at the EKWC. I felt like Alice in Wonderland there, and I was heavily impressed to see that you can make practically anything with clay and glaze. I spent the time of my residency exploring, and playing with a variety of clays and forms. I ended up filling one of the working spaces of the (old) EKWC with it. 

Apart from being a place of discovery and experimentation, the EKWC is also a lively meeting place for artists. I met a lot of international and Dutch artists while working there. I got to know the Dutch artist Mels Dees there, and his equally brilliant partner Mariëlle van den Bergh. Together they became my "Dutch family. At their invitation, I then spent several residencies at 'Ateliers Patagonia' in Eindhoven. There I learned new techniques, such as etching, and produced a lot of work. As a result, I visited Holland, and Eindhoven in particular, regularly after that. And gradually I became so influenced by Holland that my work became Dutch rather than Bulgarian. 

While staying in Eindhoven again, this time coincidentally after a residency in Poland, I had an interesting experience. I was walking around the city when I came across a Polish store selling original products and items from Poland. When I walked in, I heard a Polish radio playing, there were people walking around speaking Polish, and I saw Polish food, the same thing I had eaten when I was in Poland. On the one hand, I had a déjà vu experience - on the other hand, I had the extremely strange feeling that I was in a different place and time. I felt that reality had been twisted and distorted. 

Together they became my "Dutch family

This experience inspired my latest project: In my crunchy opinion to start (previously it had the title Cucumber). The project started in Ateliers Patagonia and was continued the following year with a residency in the Albert van Abbehuis in Eindhoven. Through the contacts with my 'Dutch family' I got to know Rob Verhaar and other people from the organization of the Albert van Abbehuis. They showed interest in my portfolio and in my project, so I was invited as artist-in-residence in the van Abbehuis. 

The Albert van Abbehuis is located in the center of Eindhoven, and from there the city's best museums and galleries are within easy reach. It is an excellent place for both discussions and collaborative projects. While working on the project there, I shared the residency with two young South Korean designers who were living in the Netherlands at the time - Seok Park and Bom Noh. Coming from vastly different cultures and belonging to different generations, the South Korean artists and I had the opportunity to learn an important life lesson in which we had to master tolerance, inclusion and integration. My project In my crunchy opinion is precisely about tolerance and integration - so it was exactly the right place and time to work on that. 

In my crunchy opinion questions what should actually be integrated and whether or not objects retain their properties when taken out of context. In this project, I tracked food imported from different countries in Eindhoven. I sourced products from more than twenty food stores, based on the country of origin, their shape and popularity, and most importantly, on the fact that they had all (with a few exceptions) been produced abroad and imported into the Netherlands. 

My project In my crunchy opinion is precisely about tolerance and integration

I first cast exact copies of the selected food samples in porcelain and terracotta, so they looked like archaeological objects. Then I baked my favorite Dutch kruidnoten, which were made in rubber molds. However, those rubber molds (food grade) I had poured off of the same imported foreign foods. Okra, pierogi, soletti, samosa - which thus did not have the taste of the original, but all tasted like kruidnoten, the taste of the place where I was, the taste of Holland. 

From a very personal standpoint, I thus show what this exotic food means to me, as a stranger in a double sense - both in relation to the food and the country where I am a guest. 

When I Polish pierogi eating in Eindhoven does not arouse in me any memories of Poland. On the contrary, I find them tasteless, out of context and out of place. But for a Polish immigrant, this food means "Home" and will trigger sweet memories of familiar things in a strange, hostile environment. 

Although they loved eating something from their homeland, it didn't taste like home

Transporting food products long distances is not particularly environmentally friendly and goes against the local food movement. Nevertheless, every immigrant will want to pay that price to have the familiar taste of home. While I was working on this project, I interviewed a few immigrants of different nationalities and received interesting responses from them. Indeed, although they loved eating something from their homeland, it did not taste like home. For me that proves, that the environment plays an important role in our perception and things lose their power when taken out of context. To preserve their properties, integration is vital. 

To me, being integrated does not necessarily mean that we have to be physically present in a particular place, in a group or community. To be integrated we must have the same values, culture and beliefs, and have integrated them into your thinking. This can take place here and now, but also from very far away. Distance is not a barrier to integration. I myself am living proof of that - although I live and work in another country, my art and my thinking are integrated with Dutch art and culture.