Abrazos (Hugs) was born as a tribute to those who make the emotion of theater possible. A multitude of hands emerges from the wall, seeking each other out, drawing near, intertwining. They are hands that seem to want to reach out to one another, to hold each other, to celebrate, to give thanks. Together they construct a great collective gesture: an embrace.

With this installation, Dora Stefanova pays homage to the great artists and to art's extraordinary ability to transport us, for a few hours, from our everyday reality. To those who, from a stage, manage to make us dream again, to laugh, to feel moved, to question, and to see the world in a different way.

The hands reach out into space, their shadows amplifying the gesture, just as an emotion multiplies when it passes from the stage to the audience. Because a play ends, but what it has made us feel remains. Hugs is, ultimately, a congratulation and a thank you.

Noela Nikolova