VESSELINA ZAGRALOVA

2/10

Contemporary “Saints” IX
Heidi Levine

2017, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

Heidi Levine is an American freelance photojournalist based in Jerusalem. Over the course of her photo journalism career, Levine has covered the most critical moments in the Middle East including the revolutions in Egypt and Libya, the crisis in Syria, the IsraelLebanon war, and the numerous conflicts in the Gaza Strip. She has brought frontline action and behind-the-scenes human stories to the world’s major press outlets.

Her photographs have appeared, often as cover stories, in numerous international publications including Time, Stern, Paris Match, L’Express, Newsweek, Time and The New York Times Magazine. She has won a myriad of awards for her photographs and an Emmy nomination in 2012.

https://heidilevine.photoshelter.com/about/index

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

3/10

Contemporary “Saints” VIII
Maryam Mirzakhani

2017, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

Maryam Mirzakhani, 1977 – 2017, was an Iranian mathematician and mother of a one daughter whose main field of research was the theory of modular spaces (parameter spaces) of Riemann surfaces. In 2014, she became the first and so far the only woman and Iranian citizen to receive the Fields Medal, one of the highest mathematician honors. Since 2008 she has been a professor at Stanford University.

In 2013, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died on 14 July 2017 at the age of 40. On the occasion of her death, some of the Iranian daily newspapers broke the rule not to depict women without headscarves.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

4/10

Contemporary “Saints” VII
Raif Badawi

2016, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

In 2008, Saudi-Arabian Blogger Raif Badawi started the online forum „The Saudi liberals“, a website about politics and religion in Saudi Arabia. In 2012, he was arrested and accused of apostasy („abatement from Islam“). In 2014 he was sentenced to ten years of custody and 1000 lashes as well as a fine of about 194,000 euros because of „insulting Islam“. After the first 50 lashes in January 2015, the further enforcement of the sentence was paused “for health reasons” and not resumed because of the growing international pressure. March 2022 he was released. He is not allowed to leave the country.

The European Parliament, which had demanded Badawi’s immediate release in February 2015, awarded him the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in December, which was received by his wife Ensaf Haidar on behalf. In February 2015, he was suggested for the Nobel Peace Prize by two Norwegian members of parliament.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

5/10

Contemporary “Saints” VI
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera

2016, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera is a co-founder of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), an organisation existing since 2003 which dedicates itself to improve the situation of lesbian and bisexual women, transgender and intersex people (LBTI) in Uganda and whose conduct she held from the foundation till June, 2013.

In 2011 homosexual activities were illegal in 37 African countries, among them Uganda. Homophobia is a phenomenon deeply rooted in all African societies and kindled especially by Christian and Muslim preachers. Its effects reach up to murder calls and actual murder.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

6/10

Contemporary “Saints” V
Aba Hawi

2016, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

Mocked as the “Bodyguard of trees”, Aba Hawi, what means “Man of Fire”, fought against deforestation in Ethiopia during the 1980s, which was considered a major cause of drought and famine, but for many families the only source of income. When his opponents denounced him as alleged rebel, he was arrested and tortured.

After the fall of the communist regime In 1987 he became village chief and sought help from agricultural experts. On their advice, he started terracing the slopes together with other Ethiopian peasants to reduce soil erosion.

For efficient natural regeneration tree seedlings were protected, which spread through animal feces – almost without human intervention. In a valley where nothing grew once, today one finds cornfields, barley, tomato beds and lush green meadows for cattle – an oasis in the middle of the northern ethiopian highlands, where rain is rare.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

7/10

Contemporary “Saints” IV
Esther Mujawayo

2016, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

As a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, where her entire family was killed, Esther Mujawayo (born 1958) chose to help the victims of the genocide in Rwanda and traumatized refugees from all around the world.

She works as therapist, sociologist and author and is involved in various Rwandan women‘s organizations and is also co-founder of the human rights organization AVEGA in Rwanda. She lives in Germany since 1999 and works in Dusseldorf at the Psychosocial Centre for Refugees.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

8/10

Contemporary “Saints” III
Fartuun Adan

2016, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

For decades, Fartuun Adan is fighting for women’s rights in Somalia. In 1991, she founded a women’s rights organization together with her husband. When her husband was killed during the civil war in 1996, she fled to Canada with her daughters, in 2007 she returned.

As director of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center she helps women who are suffering from sexual violence in the predominantly Muslim Somali society to find self-determination and self-confidence. Her dream for the country is justice and a well-performing government.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

9/10

Contemporary “Saints” II
Benki Piyãko

2015, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

As the leader of Asháninka Indians group in the state of Acre in Brazil, Benki Piyãko (Born 1974) is committed to a peaceful coexistence of Ashaninka-Indians and their non-Indian neighbors and to a sustainable economy that does not destroy the ecosystem of the rainforest. For that purpose, he founded the training center for young people Yoreke Ãtame (“knowledge of the jungle”). Because of their dedication to fight illegal deforestation Benki Piyãko and his colleagues are exposed to murder threats and attacks.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.

10/10

Contemporary “Saints” I
JosÉ Mujica

2015, egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso, basswood, ø 15 cm

José Mujica, born May 20th, 1935, spent 13 years in prison, more of them in a solitary confinement, during the military dictatorship in Uruguay. As President (2010 to 2015), he increased the percentage of energy generated from renewable sources enormously. There’s no country in the region in which that many households are connected to fiber networks. Uruguay‘s agriculture is able to feed 28 million people. Known as the “world‘s poorest president” he kept only 10 percent of his salary for himself and kept driving his old blue VW Beetle.

The series “Contemporary ‘Saints’” documents personalities from different nationalities and milieus. The portraits show them as saints by using the typical stylistic devices of icon painting. So the meaning of the term “saint” and the legitimacy of “faith” as a requirement for becoming “saint” is questioned.