ARID – Dimitar Solakov

Credo Bonum Foundation and Gallery presents:

ARID
An exhibition by Dimitar Solakov

Opening: April 8, 6:00 PM
Exhibition dates: April 8 – May 8, 2026
Credo Bonum Gallery, 2 Slavyanska St., entrance from Benkovski St.

ARID is a multidisciplinary installation that examines the fate of humanity in a future following a civilizational and ecological collapse. It is a world in which humankind has been erased, leaving behind only the continuation of its own technological achievements. At the center of the exhibition stands the image of the “last human” — a recurring anthropomorphic motif representing the final being still capable of guilt, prayer, suffering, and hope. It is precisely this residual humanity that distinguishes it from the surrounding world, yet it does not grant the power to alter the inevitable outcome. It remains only as a witness. The Earth is a barren landscape. The human figure embraces a dead tree or stretches its arms toward the sky — a gesture of mourning for nature and an appeal to something beyond it.

The exhibition space also presents a series of spherical autonomous robots, embodying artificial intelligence as a possible successor to humanity. They move in response to a sequence of specific tones embedded in the third element of the installation: a multichannel audio composition of wind, low-frequency sounds, and distant, unstable vocal fragments that evoke a sense of emptiness and long-lost human presence.

In this possible future, relationships between humans and technology no longer exist. Technology no longer needs humanity. It lives an autonomous life, possesses its own will, and pursues its own interests. From this point on, technology initiates a form of existence beyond human control and logic.

Dimitar Solakov (b. 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist who graduated from the Department of Photography at New Bulgarian University in Sofia. Solakov explores various connections in his work by employing a diverse array of media, including photography, video, drawings, paintings, 3D printed objects, and augmented reality. His art delves into the relationship between nature, urbanisation, and humanity’s role as the central force; the interplay between the past and its interpretations in contemporary society; and our self-appointed position as caretakers of the planet and the resulting consequences of our actions and inactions. Dimitar’s projects often address the future of humankind as seen through the lens of the present, offering perspectives that can be either deeply personal or detached as if from a distant observer. His works have been shown in numerous international exhibitions and biennials, some of which are: “SUPERPOSITION: Art of Equilibrium and Engagement”, 21st Biennale of Sydney, Australia; “Cosmopolis #2”, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; “My Rhino is Not a Myth”, Art Encounters Biennial, Timișoara, Romania; “Contact”, Radiator Gallery, New York, USA; “Chronicles of the Future Superheroes”, Kunsthalle Bega, Timișoara, Romania; ”The Artist-Collector’s Dream (a nice thing)” Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy; “What is Left”, Vienna, Austria; “The Pleasures of Love”, Belgrade, Serbia; “The Power of Doubt”, Times Museum Guangzhou, China; Bienal de Cuenca XI, Cuenca, Ecuador; PHotoEspaña, Madrid, Spain; GRID Photographie Biennal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has presented solo shows in Structura gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria; ICA-Sofia; Vivacom ArtHall, Sofia, Bulgaria; Incubate, Tilburg, The Netherlands; Heerz Tooya gallery, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria; Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria; Sariev Contemporary, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; 0gms, Sofia, Bulgaria; Vaska Emanuilova Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria.