Stefan Krastev

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Stefan Krastev (Стефан Кръстев in Bulgaria) (b. September 23, 1979) is a Bulgarian artist and experimental film director. He was born in Haskovo, Bulgaria. He is the nephew of Julia Kristeva, a feminist author and the brother of Ivan Krastev, a prominent political scientist.

Krastev is the author of the first Bulgarian fake documentary Per aspera ad astra. The life and work of Yassen Bossev – the great Bulgarian ballet dancer (1995), an early film, now a rarity, which many believe to have had major influence on the artistic development of a whole new generation of young directors in the new Bulgarian experimental cinema.

More recently his name is associated with the plastic arts, where Krastev continues to take an experimental and provocative stand. His latest work Natural art II was exhibited in Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain. It has caused controversy with both critics and the public. It includes the artist’s own excrements, arranged in 30 toilets. Krastev claims these represent the spontaneous and unprovoked creative work of his body over the course of one month.