Sofia | Venice – Fragments of Belonging | Olimpia Simopulu | 15.01 – 15.02.2026 Sofia – my hometown, where I grew up. Venice – my chosen home, where life has brought me. This exhibition brings together the two cities I call home and explores themes of identity and belonging through fragments, textures, and layers of time. Seen through my dual perspective as an architect and a resident, the works reflect on the ways cities shape us—and how we, in turn, carry them within us. Drawing on my architectural education, I explore the urban environment through purposeful wandering, inspired by the Situationists and the practice of dérive. As I walk, lose myself, and observe, I collect overlooked details: façades, surfaces, architectural peculiarities, and traces found in forgotten corners and passageways. These fragments become raw material for my works, where, through layering and superimposition, different viewpoints coexist within a single image. Venice and Sofia speak through different traces of time. Venice reveals its beauty through the patina of time—erosion, decay, and continuity—while Sofia expresses constant transformation through contrast, where Byzantine, neoclassical, secular, and modernist architecture coexist simultaneously and often collide. Between these two cities, I invite you to embark on this journey with me and discover the fragments and layered identities that shape the two cities I call home. — Olimpia
