Starting from her base in the Hunzikerareal, Desislava Pancheva tours Zurich’s neighbourhoods, flats, streets, clubs and art spaces as a Balkan tourist. In a short space of time, the founder of the Hip Hip Library has collected a large number of encounters, made new friends and enriched Zurich with her infectious energy. Desislava Pancheva has become involved in Zurich’s off-scene, expanded her network and turned the message salon embassy studio into a temporary meeting place with ‘Hip Hip Library’.
In the publication ‘Балканту Balkantourist’, Desislava Pancheva condenses the photographic souvenirs of her forays and encounters into a poetic essay. The trained photographer processes the selected images, whether analogue or from a smartphone, into surrealistic collages and narrative montages.
‘Балкантурист Balkantourist’ describes the filtered perception of a stranger in a strange city. Observations, inner images and daydreams alternate with flashed portraits of people who cross the traveller’s path.
With slight irony, the title of the zine plays with the promise of great adventure and freedom. ‘Балкантурист’ is also the label of the travel agency Balkantourist, which was founded in communist Bulgaria and was well-known in countries of the Eastern Bloc, as the Bulgarian beaches on the Black Sea were popular and authorised travel destinations.
For once, the zine’s vernissage will not take place at the message salon embassy in Zurich North, but at Material, the space for book culture with whose collective Desislava Pancheva became friends during her stay.
message salon embassy Zine No.12
Desislava Pancheva
Балкантурист
40 pages, b/w
Edition of 150 exp.
©2018 Desislava Pancheva, Hip Hip Library, Sofia & message salon embassy