an online exhibition by Duvarkolektiv’s Yanka Simova and special guest artist Maria Asensova. Selected and photographed by Hannah Rose

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At once familiar and yet distant, handmade items recall in us feelings of nostalgia. Sometimes these relics of material heritage are called ‘home-made’ to distinguish them from ‘factory made’ or, the even more impersonal: ‘made in … ’. Something we remember perhaps from our own, earliest memories, alongside old phrases, how to pickle cucumbers or that specific stuffed pepper recipe your grandmother made to herald in the winter months. Did we forget them or were they never actually learnt? For this reason it is not a critique to comment here “oh but I could do that” – it is praise. If these crafted objects have recalled themselves in your memories, feel tangible and accessible, then there is a connection

The artist Yanka Simova learnt knitting and sewing from exactly her older family members, she observed, helped, copied and most of all persevered. Repeating the twists and turns of the yarn, the ins and the outs, the unfurling and re-tying.

In her words:

“The grandmothers are all knitting in the neighbourhood, aren’t they? So I was all the time looking at them and saying to myself – I want to learn to knit too. Yes, it was a big yearning for me. And so, one or two times, then again, one or two times, I was watching the grandmothers – and it is very difficult! Now, whatever I think of, I can make it. And whatever other people would like too.”

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Duvarпuzei is made possible with the financial assistance of the National Cultural Fund of Bulgaria, program “Socially Engaged Arts”.