At the end of March 2021, a very interesting author's book appeared in the world, which even we don't know what to call - comic, picture book, children's, for adults, for artists... And in order not to rack our brains with the wrong answers, we decided to ask the right questions to its creator - Mila Yaneva-Tabakova.
Mila, congratulations on the book! Tell us what its journey was like before it arrived to us?
First came the idea, prompted on the one hand by the pure desire to draw for pleasure, on the other by the situation we all found ourselves in – not to move from our home, city, country. For some time now, I have been preoccupied with the thought of wordless books, their narrative possibilities and the special kind of co-authorship with the reader, conditions for which this type of publication creates. So I decided to dedicate a wordless book to the road and the conversations that can be born between young and old for him along it.
Do we miss the road these days?
Something I especially love about traveling is the feeling of time spent with freely floating thoughts, devoid of cares and obligations. Ever since I was a child, I remember the pleasure of returning from the village on Sunday afternoon, when no matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn’t sit down to do my homework. That’s probably why I’m not a driver. In this vein, we've certainly been missing carefreeness lately.
The publication has an extremely interesting narrative form. It looks like a comic, but there is no text, it is related to picture books, but it is not for children… How would you define it and how did this narrative develop?
If in general a comic is a story in a sequence of images, then this is a comic without words – a story in pictures. Although not insistently, through the comic panels, I have tried to recreate the windows through which, riding in one or another vehicle, we observe the different views that open up to us on the road.
This is your second such book. Tell me a little more about these personal projects of yours.
My first book, also created through the medium of comics, is called “Souvenirs” and last year I published it myself in a limited edition of 100 copies. I drew it as a student in Brussels a few years ago, but I only translated it into Bulgarian last year. All the people who supported the publication then motivated me to independently realize a second idea of my own. This is “On the Road”. Books of this nature are considered risky for publishers, so I decided that even if in a small edition, I still prefer the stories to come to light. The “Creative Initiatives” program at the National Culture Fund alleviated my personal risk by securing months of work.
And of course I can't help but ask the traditional two questions. How did 2020 affect your work and what are your future creative plans?
Fortunately, I am one of those people who had the opportunity to continue working. Creativity for me is associated with solitude, so even if it was imposed from the outside, it was not detrimental to my work. I think it is too early to say how 2020 affected me, but personally I have not stopped dreaming about the implementation of new ideas and book projects.
Thank you!
The exhibition accompanying Mila Yaneva-Tabakova's book "On the Road" can be viewed until April 24, 2021, at the Bookstore for One Book. The author will welcome you in the comfort of the bookstore every day from 3 to 6 p.m., and if you are unable to make it to the bookstore, you can take a look at it through our gallery.
"On the Road" is realized with the support of the National Fund for Culture, "Creative Initiatives" program 2020.
Opening: April 11, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
Location: Bookstore for One Book, 8 Varbitsa Street
Closing: April 24, 2021
Text: Milena Radeva
Photos: Mila Yaneva-Tabakova and Milena Radeva
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