The Entropa exhibit, installed at the European Council building in Brussels, has angered many within the EU with its form of a giant jigsaw map representing the " stereotypes" of each of the EU countries. Photo by BGNES
The Mayor of the Bulgarian Black Sea town of Balchik Nikolay Angelov, has invited Czech artist David Cerny to visit the town, the local municipality press center reports.
In a letter, addressed to Czech Culture Center in Sofia, the Mayor states that a work of art must not be construed literally.
"Balchik hosts many art happenings and David Cerny is welcome to participate in one of them or to have his own exhibit," the letter says.
"If Cerny would accept my invitation, he would certainly see that Bulgaria can be associated with much more pleasant things than what he saw when depicting Bulgaria in his Entropa piece," the Mayor commented.
The exhibit, installed at the European Council building in Brussels, has angered many within the EU with its form of a giant jigsaw map representing the " stereotypes" of each of the EU countries.
"Entropa" portrays Bulgaria as a squad toilet, Romania as a Dracula theme-park, France is covered with the inscription "Strike!," Sweden looks like an IKEA box, the Netherlands is shown as series of minarets submerged by a flood, Germany is a network of motorways vaguely resembling a swastika, Spain is depicted entirely covered with concrete, Italy looks like a giant football stadium while the UK is absent from Europe altogether.
The piece stirred controversial and angry reactions in Bulgaria. The country's permanent Representation at the European Institutions has issued an official objection to the work being displayed at the European Council building in Brussels. The Bulgarian Culture Ministry declared that they had nothing to do with the display and have not selected the artist to participate in it while the Czech ambassador to Sofia has been summoned at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to explain the gaffe.