10/08/2026
Looking back at the June residency, we would like to highlight Clovis Deschamps-Prince and his project “The birds will drink from it”, for which he produced small ceramic cups for the local cheshmas of Tsarino.
Cheshmas are traditional drinking fountains in public spaces. They can be found along roadsides or sometimes in unexpected places across the Balkans and Turkey, each connected to a unique source. Interestingly, they are often designed to enable both humans and animals to drink the water. They also function as meeting places, sometimes with an elaborate sitting area and a barbecue spot. According to tradition, cheshmas are created in dedication to a family member or loved one and serve as a monument or memorial to this person.
After hiking around Tsarino and encountering many cheshmas, Clovis was drawn to their symbolic and ecological poetry, which translates a deep relationship between communities and their landscape. Through time, he then grew interested in their architectural and sculptural qualities, especially the small niches designed to hold a drinking cup, which can work as tiny exhibition spaces. In the forest and around Tsarino, most cups had gone missing, as the vast majority of cheshmas are derelict and no longer function.
Clovis produced 13 new ceramic vessels, placed in the niche of each of the cheshmas located along a stretch of road from Tsarino towards the Razklon gallery. Noticeable is the journey of the clay: Clovis salvaged clay from the adobe walls of a collapsing house, processed it and used it to hand-build cups. The cups were bisque-fired in a primitive fire pit, as a performative act during the residency’s final presentation.
This clay, extracted from the soil around Tsarino to build a home, is then recycled to revive the cheshma’s status. On its own, the cheshma functions as a monument for someone who used to live in one of the homes. Now, passersby can drink water from a cup made with the same material that was once part of a home.
Clovis Deschamps-Prince
