On Friday, May 19 we are unveiling the Open Letter by Maria Ilieva in our storefront window!

Open Letters is a public space project initiated by Page Not Found in 2021. Based on an open call it gives artists and writers from The Hague room to publicly reflect on the current turbulent times.This project was inspired by Paul Maheke’s short essay ‘The year I stopped making art. Why the art world should assist artists beyond representation; in solidarity.’ , which was the first letter published in our storefront and was followed by five selected proposals by the local artists in 2021 and five winning proposals in 2022.

This year’s open call came to and end the jury consisting of Page Not Found’s team members selected four winning letters from the total of 35 submissions. As the first in this year’s series, Maria Ilieva’s  letter “Consensus Fiction – extract” will be on view until June 25, 2023 and be accessible any time from the Boekhorststraat.

Maria Ilieva’s letter addresses the recent earthquakes that occurred in Türkiye and Syria. As the artist writes: “I watched and mourned from the position of the neighbor —  I am originally Bulgarian, and have multiple close connections to Türkiye. I believe however, that we are all neighbors, but not all sufferers —  we cannot fully experience the pain and troubles of the other. This comes contrary to a position I have often encountered – the one of claiming the full understanding of one’s grief, and trying to carry and embody it. From the intimate position of the neighbor, I gave into intimacy, guilt, and empathy. I refer to the traditional Bulgarian mourning rituals and herbal healing, in an attempt to reconnect and grieve, care and heal.”

Image : a photo of neighbouring families having a picnic ( from the archive of the artist’s grandmother.)