“Cristal” Factory (ZAVOD KRISTAL) was built in 1930‘s nearby to Pernik city as a Bulgarian-Belgian company. The factory was producing mainly flat glass with different thickness. The process was done using specific Furco machines for vertical extrusion of the glass layer. During the years of its existence the factory also produced glass jars, tempered glass and performed different specialised orders. On April 27, 1998, Bulgargaz EAD suddenly stopped the supply of natural gas to the Factory. The official version is that the company has accumulated multiple debts. What does this mean for a 24-hour work process, where the glass ovens were filled with 700 tons of molten glass mass ready for continuous production?
The hardened glass from the broken ovens, which can never be used again, becomes a starting point for artistic interpretation. Deformed with the help of a scanner, the image extends into new forms. Its impossibility to be produced as a real object leads to the sealing of its silhouette into the glass surface, thus being transformed and charged with new meanings. Artifacts and memorabilia - collected from loved ones, acquaintances, strangers, bought, given and borrowed - are one of the recognizable things that can be said with certainty to have been produced at the Factory. A curious fact is that they were not part of the mass production. Former employees from which the objects were taken claim that they have been created for "internal use" and not for sale. Given as gifts to relatives and friends, to guests of the factory, to schoolchildren and students, to workers on the occasion of significant contributions to specific activities. These objects are unique. The glass spills, joins in a unique way in its various combinations of colors and cools as if forever. Until it's destroyed, or until someone makes something new out of it. The images of these objects have been transformed also with a scanner and included in an imaginary and never-existent catalog of the souvenirs produced in the factory.
Nowadays in the same area, which still bears the name “Crystal Factory”, operates a popular chocolate factory. Ironically, the Bulgarian-Belgian thread is again relevant through the chocolates produced there, which are associated with the popular Belgian chocolate sea figures. The glass artifacts from the factory are melted down and connected to a new unexpected form. In this way the souvenirs give rise to the creation of a new object – a candy box that fuses the past into the present.
The exhibition has taken place in:
Depoo Gallery, Sofia (02.11.-14.11.2023) and Krakra Gallery, Pernik (21.11.-11.12.2023)
Production team:
project manager and artist - Nevena Georgieva
technical glass producer - Nikola Grozdanov
assistent technical glass producer - Milen Katrankiovski
photographer - Radostin Sedevchev
coordinator - Victoria Mitreva
Special thanks to:
State Agency Archives - Pernik
Regional History Museum Pernik
Art Gallery - Pernik
Depoo Gallery
Also special thanks to everyone who provided objects and shared their memories related to "Crystal" Factory:
Milena Simova, Veska Nikolova, Valentin Zarkov, Rosica Boykova, Snejana Georgieva, Mariana Verdinova, Vita Dragomirova, Julia Vasileva, Elena Dimitrova, Snejana Velinova, Parvoleta Majarska, Elena Temelkova, Kitan Kitanov, Antoaneta Lekova, Silva Noteva, Nikolai Sheinov, Iavor Draganov, Kristian Rumenov, Blaga Georgieva, Tsvetelin Radkov, Georgi Petrov, Georgi Stoichkov.
The project has been carried out with the financial support of National Culture Fund, Debuts Program
