Bulgarian artist reimagines fiber art in Hangzhou

Assadour Markarov's Fiber Media Lab is filled with vibrant woven chairs, fiber paintings, and experimental textile pieces. [Photo/Tide News]

At the Xiangshan Art Commune in Hangzhou, Bulgarian-born artist and China Academy of Art professor Assadour Markarov works in his Fiber Media Lab, a studio filled with vibrant woven chairs, fiber paintings, and experimental textile pieces.

Markarov, who speaks fluent Chinese, has been connected to China for nearly 40 years. He first came to Hangzhou in 1987 to study at the then Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts under Bulgarian master Marin Varbanov, founder of China's first contemporary fiber-art institute. Deeply influenced by Chinese calligraphy, he later earned a bachelor's degree in the discipline and integrated its lines and spatial aesthetics into his fiber works.

After returning to Bulgaria to teach, Markarov continued to revisit Hangzhou over the years. In 2009, he and Professor Shi Hui launched the idea of the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art — now a major international platform showcasing contemporary fiber art. The first edition opened in 2013, bringing together artists from 16 countries.

The fifth edition, Re-constellations, concluded in November, highlighting the blend of fiber art with modern technology and global perspectives. For Markarov, whose unfinished works still await his touch in the afternoon sun, the story he began in 1987 is far from over.

Professor Markarov works at the fifth Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, which concluded in November. [Photo/Tide News]