Albena Mihaylova
Biography
Albena Mihaylova-Bendji was born on 9 June 1959 in Plovdiv. In 1984 she graduated (MA) from the National Academy of Arts, Sofia, in a Original graphics class. 1984-1994 she was an active artist with a number of solo exhibitions, participations in international biennials and a winner of awards. In 1989 she was one of the founders of the legendary art group “RUB” (EDGE). During that time, the artist inspired and lead the organization of one of the first private galleries in Bulgaria – the Akrabov Gallery, which functioned as a resident center for contemporary art, and also she was Associate Professor at the School of Performing Arts in Plovdiv.
In 1994 Albena left for Zurich at the invitation of BINZ 39 Foundation as a resident artist. As consequence of this exchange, she has promoted the Akrabov gallery under the International Resartist Program and organized the exchange of artists, projects and festivals between Bulgaria and Switzerland.
In the period 1995-1998 Albena Mihaylova-Bendji specialized in a Master class in Video Art at the Higher Art School of Basel, Switzerland.
In 2008, she was nominated for the M-Tel Award for Bulgarian Contemporary Art.
Since 2008 Albena Mihaylova-Bendji works as a documentary filmmaker, director and cinematographer.
In 2009, she found a platform for cultural exchange, exhibitions and film festivals at Basel - Culturinstitut AM contemporary. Currently the artist works and lives in Basel. Her creative biography includes her membership in the artistic group “VIA Audio Video Art”. She is a member of “Balimage”, an association of filmmakers and video artists; PANCH a.o.
Albena im Archiv
