My work is raw, carried by emotion. My approach—often autobiographical, intimate yet open—explores this tension in order to question and experience what it means to be human.
I was born in Bulgaria in 1985. From the age of 13, I spent most of my teenage years on the street. For ten years, I pushed the limits of my body and emotions.
That breaking point marked the beginning of my return to myself.
Art has always been my language—long before I recognized it as a conscious practice. I draw and write constantly, leaving traces everywhere—in the street, on walls, on clothes, on my skin. Intuitively, my body becomes my tool—because it is all I have. And I know it better than anything.
Performance brings everything together: body, memory, urgency. It offers me a space where self-destruction transforms into self-reconstruction. I reach that fragile edge between vulnerability and strength—where I begin to rebuild, using failure as my foundation. The traces of my personal history become lines connecting my body to the collective human experience. I seek to explore more deeply the invisible threads that connect us—beyond origin, beyond belonging. Rejecting categorization, my aim is not to create boundaries, but to dissolve them.
BORYANA PETKOVA
b. 1985 Sofia, Bulgaria
1998-2008
deconstruction period – research in self destruction and transformation
2011 – 2018
reconstruction period
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selection):
2024
No Blood Relations, curated by Irina Batkova Arsenal – Museum of contemporary art, Sofia, Bulgaria
S.I.S. with Iskra Blagoeva, galerie S, Paris, France
Straight in the eyes, Nosbaum Reding gallery, Luxembourg
2023
S.I.S. more than collaboration with Iskra Blagoeva, curated by Snejana Krasteva, Doza Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
Burnt.Burn.Will Burn curated by Snejana Krasteva, Plus359 Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022
Hyperdrawing with Katrin Strobel, curated by Joana Neves FRAC PICARDIE, Amiens
Can you see the black cloud? with Olga Sabko, curated by Chloé Bonnie More, Ilian Rebei Gallery, Paris
2021
Pinned dreams Brigitte March Gallery, Stuttgart
Spit it out! curated by Chloé Bonnie More, Studio 10, Paris, France
2020
Craving Nothing with Michail Michailov, curated by Maria Vassileva Structura Gallery, Sofia
2019
Mutuus with Cedric Estrullio, Museum of Fines Arts, Mulhouse, France
2018
H220cm curated by Irina Batkova, Plus359 Gallery, Sofia
Written(not)said curated by Daniela Radeva, Contemporary Space, Varna
LIVE PERFORMANCE (selection)
2024
S.I.S. Journées du Matrimoine chez AWARE : Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, Paris
SPIT IT OUT! Arsenal- Museum of contemporary art, Sofia, Bulgaria
LINK with the participation of Marion Zilio, Drawing Lab, Paris
S.I.S. Gallery S and publique space, Paris
2023
SeeN, exhibition Image erasure, CulturFoundry, 100C, Paris, France
Burnt.Burn.Will Burn, Plus359 Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
Mother Tongue, Residency Unlimited, New York
HeadHeart, exhibition Contact Zone, Poush, Saint-Ouen sur Seine, France
Collection of voices, Rooms performance festival, Kappatos gallery, Athenes
2022
SeeN, exhibition Fluide Motor, curated by curatoral collective MITOSIS, Garage MU, Paris, France
Invivo, exhibition Believe in the living, Dauphine Gallery, Paris, France
Spit it out! curated by Marie Gayet and Plateau Urbain, exhibition VOCI UMANE, Paris, France
2021
Link, performance with Wura Natacha Ogunji, curated by Joan Neves, Drawing Now, Paris, France
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2024
Everything spoke so vividly curated by Jan Philipp Fruehsorge, Biennale Disegno, Rimini
The nature of relationships curated by Irina Batkova, BUNA festival, Varna
2023
Machine – made curated by Margherita Balzerani & Noelig LeRoux, Museum of Modest Art Sète, France
Needles in a Haystack curated by Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, National Gallery Sofia, Bulgaria
Silent spring curated by Pascal Neveux, FRAC PICARDIE, Amiens, France
Zone de Contact curator Yvannoé Kruger, Poush, Saint Ouen, France
Chevalleresses curated by Sidonie Gaychet, Gallery S, Paris, France
2022
Gulliver’s sketchbook curated by Ludwig Seyfarth, KAI10 Arthena Foundation, Dusseldorf, Germany
pARTage exhibition organised by ARTAIS, Paris, France
Dangereuse beauty curated by Stefan Ivanov, Burgas, Bulgaria
VOCI UMANE curated by Marie Gayet, Plateau urbain, Paris, France
HYPERDRAWING Drawing Now art fair, curated by Joana Neves, Paris, fRANCE
Emotions are facts curated by Chloé Bonnie More, Nosbaum Reding gallery, Luxembourg
2021
Relevateurs curated by Anael Pigeat & Yvannoé Kruger, christian berst art brut Gallery, Paris, France
Body of drawing curated by Ludwig Seyfarth, Maison de Heilderberg, Montpellier, France
Intersection curated by Yvannoé Kruger, Poush Manifesto, Clichy, France
Moving images, Moving bodies curator Ludwig Seyfarth, ICA, Sofia, Bulgaria
AVALANCHE curated by Andy Randkin, PAL Project, Paris, France
Worst Case Scenario curated by Chloé Bonnie More, Paris, France
Herbarium collection curated by Irina Batkova, Arsenal, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sofia, Bulgaria
White exhibition, project by Iskra Blagoeva, One Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2020
Long minutes, online projection, curated by Bronwyn Lace, Centre Less Good Idea
2019
Formes Vivants curated by Jean Charles Hameau, National Museum Adrien Debouché , Limoges, France
2018
L’arbre de Darwin, FRAC LIMOUSIN, Limoges, France
AWARDS/ NOMINATIONS
2025 Laureat Prix Carta Bianca
2024 Donation from AGADP for documentation of live performance
2024 Award for live performance, BUNA Festival, Varna
2020 Nomination Baza award for contemporary art, Sofia, Bulgaria
2015 Pierre David-Weill prize, Académie des Beaux-Arts, Institut de France
RESIDENCES (selection)
2023 Residency Unlimited, NYC
Since 2020 Residency Poush, Aubervilliers, France
2015 Cité international des arts, Paris, France
CATALOGUES (selection)
2023 Machine Made, Museum of Modest Arts, Sete, France
2023 Needles in Haystack, National Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022 Gulliver’s sketchbook, KAI10 Athena Foundation, Dusseldorf, Germany
2021 Les rélévateurs, gallery christian berst art brut, Paris, France
2020 Boryana Petkova, Between you and yourself, first publication, Museum of Fine Arts, Mulhouse, France
2020 Formes Vivantes, National Museum Adrien Debouché, Limoges, France
2019 NOTABENE – Contemporary Transformations of drawing in the work of Boryana Petkova, text by Nora Goleshevska
2015 Publication of the Institute of France, Séance Solennelle,
Académie des Beaux-Arts, Institut de France