After completing her bachelor's at HKU Utrecht, Natalija Gucheva found her way to KASK's Fine Arts program, where her practice evolved from material experimentation to deeply considering the social aspects of art. Now pursuing Curatorial Studies, she's helping reshape Ghent's artistic landscape through various initiatives, including the promising Verffabriek collective.
Your path to KASK wasn't exactly straightforward …
I started with printmaking at the Fine Arts Academy in Skopje, Macedonia, but it wasn't challenging enough. I wanted something more multidisciplinary, which led me to HKU in Utrecht. There, I had all mediums at my disposal – performance, sculpture, installation, video. When I got accepted to KASK's installation department, I was already developing a practice that couldn't really be contained within one medium.
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fc9f2003481ebb37b38a_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-03.avif"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fca1667427a1e553d70d_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-04.avif"/>
How did your focus shift during your time at KASK?
Coming from HKU, which gave me a strong technical foundation, I was yearning to deepen my research within a more theoretical framework... I wanted to explore questions like: What is the social aspect of my work? How does it integrate into society? This led to investigating how humans relate to non-humans, especially through geomancy, always with an underlying feminist narrative. Working with my mentors, Benny Nemer and Sébastien Hendrickx, I began exploring how connections transform into kinship.
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fca41bd8490c49ba9651_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-07.avif"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fca329707f3487333530_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-05.avif"/>
This interest in kinship seems central to your practice now.
Absolutely. The kinship project at KASK investigated different forms of relations we have and how we as humans desire connectivity beyond the binary. It presents possibilities for finding new ways of being together and reflecting collectively. Friendship is the most important durational practice within my work, especially within feminist and queer contexts. The knowledge situated within friendship circles around us and influences everything.
The kinship project at KASK investigated different forms of relations we have and how we as humans desire connectivity beyond the binary
You're now part of the Verffabriek collective. What are you developing there?
At the moment the Verffabriek collective is undergoing a transformation – a renewal of energy fuelled by new members and ideas which hope to soon provide a new development trajectory to artists based in Ghent. It provides a vehicle for experimentation and a space to explore transdisciplinary practices in concrete ways. Our desire is to work with cultural workers to create meaningful encounters that engage with and respond to the locality in which we are situated – and through this create new narratives within the arts scene in Ghent.
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fca31b8cf184416064b4_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-10.avif"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fca0a11917e68c00c86d_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-11.avif"/>
How does this relate to your current curatorial studies?
The course challenges dominant ideologies through feminist perspectives and decolonial thinking. It's about seeing possibilities for repair, not just analytically but in tangible ways we can act on as cultural workers. As someone who's been both the exhibiting artist and the curator, I understand the importance of creating ethical working conditions, including fair pay. The curator's role has shifted from caring for objects to caring for artists.
Our desire is to create meaningful encounters that engage with and respond to the locality in which we are situated – to create new narratives within the arts scene in Ghent
<img class="editorial-image" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fc9fd9054b1a05eef670_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-16.avif"/>
There seems to be a generational shift happening in how institutions operate.
Yes, there's what I might call a 'new sincerity movement' among young artists and curators. We're not just talking about care and community because they're trendy – we're actually meaning to change the institutions, the economies we work in, and how we relate to each other. Look at Kunsthal Ghent, for example. Despite people always asking, 'Who's the director?', it maintains a horizontal structure. It's about walking the talk.
<img class="editorial-image-50-left" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fca0b6ab629f179124c5_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-17.avif"/>
<img class="editorial-image-50-right" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61eebcc683107b99137f4423/67b5fc9f27f62118045c9fc6_DifferentClassNatalija-28-01-2025-20.avif"/>
What's your wish for the future of cultural work?
I hope we can maintain our curiosity – it's what drives us as cultural workers. But beyond that, we need solidarity, not only within cultural contexts but within society at large. These connections help us understand where we come from, how we work, and what we're working towards. In curatorial studies specifically, there's this desire to unlearn certain things and question how things could be done otherwise. It's about reforming the relationships we practice in the field.
With Verffabriek's development program on the horizon and her ongoing curatorial practice, Gucheva is actively working to create the supportive structures she envisions for Ghent's artistic community. Her approach exemplifies a new generation of cultural workers who are reshaping institutional models through genuine engagement and care.
<div class="editorial-banner"> <div class=“editorial-credits”> @natalija.gucheva<br/>Different Class and KASK & Conservatorium are teaming up for a series of artist portraits, featuring some of the interesting alumni and student profiles.<br/>On 27.04.2025 the school is organising an Open Day for future students.<br/> schoolofartsgent.be</div></div>
Different Class works with the interest of their community at heart.
Our work’s purpose is to foster a solid network for independent artists, those who love them, and those who want to support them. Become a member to contribute to the local Belgian art scene.
Our membership
