Plamen Dejanoff – Heritage Project | Private view

«The communist party in Bulgaria began building highly specialized high schools in the 1970s in order to better promote the talents of the youth.

There were high schools with a focus on mathematics… with a focus on languages… those with a focus on music… fine arts… and sports.

When I was 12 years old I was chosen (without being asked) for the sports high school in Tarnovo.
My dream was actually to become an artist but someone decided that I definitely belong in the sports high school. In the sports high school in Tarnovo we had at least six-seven hours of sport every day (six days a week), plus a bit of a few other subjects.

After a lot of effort on the part of my parents, I was able to leave the sports high school a year later and went to an art boarding school where I received six or seven hours of lessons in art architecture & design every day (six days a week for five years).

However, my friends from the sports high school in Tarnovo (including my “idol” Trifon Ivanov) developed well and inthe 1990s, 7 out of 11 Bulgarian national football players were from this high school. 6 of the players who won bronze medals for Bulgaria at this world championship 1994 in USA were from my high school in Tarnovo!»

This episode marks the beginning of the Trifon Ivanov collection by Plamen Dejanoff, through which the artist gradually constructed an extensive body of works—almost a museum in itself—comprising photographs, stickers, and publications. The porcelain artworks, produced by the artist in collaboration with Augarten Wien, founded in 1718, are hybrid sculptures positioned halfway between soup tureens and football trophies.

«At the end of the 1990s, the education system in Bulgaria totally collapsed and one specialized high school after another was closed.The legendary sports high school in Tarnovo was also closed and brutally converted into a tourism school 5 years ago. As part of the Heritage Project, I was able to save part of the building (which was not needed) from destruction. With a lot of effort I dismantled part of the sports high school in Tarnovo with the idea of including this part of the building to Heritage Project».

Plamen Dejanoff began an in-depth research into craftsmanship to investigate European cultural heritage, focusing on both a sense of responsibility and national identity. Drawing on architectural, artistic, and craft knowledge, his artworks function as sculptural and architectural quotations that tell stories about their origins and the aesthetic qualities of traditional craftsmanship.

In collaboration with the BDA (Bundesdenkmalamt) Vienna, a conservation authority in which artisans and restorers supported the artist, Dejanoff produced a series of small sculptures referring to historical architectural elements. These works are made in iron and finished using medieval techniques, including oil painting with malachite and azurite pigments crushed and mixed with linseed oil.

The glass paintings are handmade and were produced in collaboration with Lamberts, the only company in Europe that still manufactures hand-blown glass, in operation since 1934. The chandelier is a reproduction composed of approximately 150 pieces and is based on an original chandelier from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Plamen Dejanoff’s private view in collaboration with Stephan Stoyanov will be on view on appointment from February 10th, 2026 and throughout the entire exhibition at Art Agency Ltd (Blvd. Bulgaria 58, Entrance C, Suite 16, 1680, Sofia, Bulgaria).