The Future is Stupid 1 Future: I saw a field full of sunflowers. They were all looking the wrong way.

Pessimism no more 3 exoticism is everywhere

Back to reality, or Micro-approaches for handling institutional matrices in the local art context
Dimitrina Sevova In a post-colonial situation and growing economy of services and reality broadened by new technologies, the essence and structure of artistic life is changed, and with it the discourse about the museum. Theoreticians like Nicolas Bourriaud write manifestos about saying goodbye to the era of the isolated geniuses, and embracing a time of relational aesthetics. The newly emerged artistic practices render the collective wishes of the society. If in 1989, the East declared No more ideology! and went about rediscovering its reality, the West announced No more reality! 4 From a local perspective, as a starting point for looking at the (as yet non-existent) Museum for Contemporary Art in Bulgaria I would like to take a discussion that "almost" took place an arena for desires and decisions. Today we are in a unique situation in which there is an increasing opportunity for parity, because the collective desire is in itself rather a promising beginning, let us call it the politics of desire 5 a politics of shared responsibilities. The desired discussion itself would constitute a step forward a display of the processes of a social, political and cultural shift. Another discussion would then come to the surface, concentrated around the design and nature of the future museum of contemporary art. An imaginary Museum of Contemporary Art in Sofia, a future democratic, dutiful artistic institution about to meet its presumed public. he emerging question is: how can democratic art intuitions that resist current political shifts be formed and established? 6 In this concrete Bulgarian case we are faced on the one hand with the collective troubles and desires of the community of curators and artists dealing with contemporary art, to establish themselves, to constitute themselves in the social and cultural sphere in contemporary Bulgarian society. It must be noted that the art community is truly struggling with as yet dominating conservative and outdated prejudices in order to prove the value of their work as an important social and cultural commodity in an environment dominated by the neoliberal market and the new political conditions. On the other hand, in this process a forceful power is at work, imposed as official politics on the public institutions for integrating the Bulgarian cultural sphere in intercultural exchange and in the new
Multiple. Glass sphere with engraving. (2000) CHF 2000, Jenny Holzer. Art Forum Ute Barth, Zurich. Kunst Zrich 06. 12th International Contemporary Art Fair. ABB Hall 550. Zrich-Oerlikon. 2 Dan Perjovschi, Key Words in the New Europe, in: The New Europe. Culture of Mixing and Politics of Representation, 2005, p. 139.
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Pessimism No More! is a work by Pravdoljub Ivanov, Bulgaria, 2002. Parreno, short video, 1991: fake demonstration, children marching with said slogan on banners. As used by Deleuze and Guattari.

Nina Mntmann, Art and its institutions, in: Art and its institutions. Current conflicts, critique and collaborations, 2005, p. 8.