2022

 

ZEITNOT
I’d take the head off my shoulders,
I would close it for a week
in the darkness of the empty cupboard,
I’d plant a plane tree on my shoulders
and in its shade
I’d sleep for a week.

N. Hikmet

(translation from Turkish: Fatme Ismailova)

 

The Zeitnot* project examines 11 meeting minutes from 1982 sessions of the Club of Cultural Figures, Veliko Tarnovo. The minutes reveal the structure and way of work of the Club. Radostin Sedevchev presents them in the form of a calendar that clearly shows the richness of the cultural program. The framework of the cultural life in the city is outlined, but also the difficulties and trivial activities of CCF.

 

The cultural program of the year includes events such as: 60 years since the founding of the USSR, 80 years since Angel Karaliychev’s birth, 120 years since Charles Dickens’ birth, 100 years since Georgi Dimitrov’s birth, exhibitions of artists, photographers and craftsmen.

 

Each calendar entry adds a new layer on the vertical structure of CCD history. Uncovering even a few layers requires archaeological precision and attention. However, some of the events cannot be overwhelmed by cultural sediments. Others, long forgotten, come to life only when we open the archive.

 

Like the game of chess limited by time, engaging with the archival material is like working with two clocks connected to each other.

 

* Zeitnot (from German: Zeit – ‘time’, Not – ‘necessity’) is a chess term, which means a situation where the player has little and not enough time to complete their moves.