Art Office

Transnational monuments is a research project by artist Cédric Van Parys with the aim of questioning the significance of a monument as a historical consensus. His research proposal was selected for an artist-in-residency at Plus 359 Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria.  

From the summer of 2021, Van Parys stayed in Sofia and undertook several trips along the Turkish-Bulgarian border. There he discovered several water sources, places that invite communal gathering, “like sanctuaries of peace.” These springs, called Cheshma or Çesme, stem from an age-old cultural tradition around water, symbol of the beginning of life. They are architectural creations that do not impose political power, but group the collective power of the people around it. So it became a project about water, a liquid matter that ignores all national borders and creates a direct link with the atmosphere and the cosmos of which we are all part. These water sources are therefore very suitable as inspiration for inclusive and transnational monuments.

In his interpretation of this and the translation into a series of works of art, he goes beyond the polarized discussion about problematic historical monuments, and wants to investigate what a future monument could be. The result will be exhibited at the end of April 2022 in an old water tower in the center of Sofia, which is also the exhibition space of Plus 359 Gallery.

Click here for more information about Transnational monuments.

This project was made possible in part thanks to a contribution from the scheme Development and Research Grants (R&D)† With this contribution, CBK Rotterdam gives Rotterdam visual artists the opportunity to further develop their practice and increase their visibility.

Image: Cheshma #61, along the road from Tatlıpınar to Beyci, Turkey