Bulgarian cultural activity in France during the 1970s (original) (raw)

2021. Constructing Heritage, Negotiating Europeanness: Three Bulgarian Exhibitions of Thracian Legacy in Paris

Series Minor, XCII: Heteroeuropeanisations: (In)capacity to Stay Marginal. Ed. by Yordan Lyutskanov, Benedikts Kalnačs, and Gaga Shurgaia, 2021

The ‘invention’ of a Thracian heritage and the discovery of its representative potential constitutes one of the main cultural and ideological projects of modern Bulgaria. This paper outlines the main stages of the valorisation of the Thracian legacy as national cultural heritage. Further, it follows the transformation and problematises the performative capacity of heritage in diverse historical situations and different institutions, all of them in France (because of the Western country’s civilisational (auto-)stereotype). Based on three museum exhibitions in Paris—at Petit Palais (1974), Jacquemart-André Museum (2006), and the Louvre Museum (2015)—the text seeks to analyse shifts in the discursive transpositioning of the Thracian culture on the European past and present. It suggests that through such performative techniques, contemporary Bulgaria aims at renegotiating its place in Europe’s mental geography.

BULGARIAN 20 TH CENTURY IN ARTS AND CULTURE

Institute of Art Studies – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2019

The book in Bulgarian and English is a result from a joint interdisciplinary project supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund, which main objective is to present a general view on history of arts in Bulgaria during the 20th century. Specific, but also common, parallel intellectual and artistic processes observed in the field of literature, theatre, music, cinema, visual arts and architecture are highlighted. The emphasis is on phenomena related to the modernization of Bulgarian culture and its place in the context of the flexible, dynamic cultural dimensions of modern Europe. The texts are structured in three parts: Under the Sign of Modern Europe (1878–1944), Metamorphoses of Modernity (1945–1989), and Challenges in a Time of Transition (1989–2000). Splitting the period into thematic fields allows for a better empathic delineation of the various “aspects of change” in the development of a particular art and its specific reflections from the perspective of personal and social identity, analyzed synchronously or diachronically. The marking of such cross nodes (temporal, sociocultural, institutional, genre, etc.), by following mosaic-chronological principle, is conventional and provocative move in the face of the traditional notion of developmental trends in Bulgarian culture in the past century. The edition is richly illustrated and has an extensive bibliography. It is intended for a wide range of readers.

Cultural and Historical Sites in the North-Eastern Socio-Economic Region of Bulgaria

2013

Bulgaria, regarded as the eastern end of the European Union, coexists with other member countries in the European family. Bulgaria has explicitly and repeatedly stated and defended their belonging to this, which makes the tourist map of Europe "extends" to the East, while providing opportunities to our country for its future development. In this presentation we put the focus on cultural - cognitive dimension of Northeast Bulgaria. Being apparently a periphery, this region has features that ensure both its presence in the Bulgarian cultural space, as in Europe, particularly in historical, cultural and social terms. The cultural sites in Northeast Bulgaria, which arouse some interest to the tourist level, demonstrate the importance of the region nationally. The Northeast Bulgaria is certainly an appealing area to develop tourism. Is indistinguishable from local to national level (strongly marked by patriotism), does not enjoy priority in the media space as loaded, but has, h...

"The East in the West: Bulgarian Culture in the United States of America during the Global 1970s," Journal of Contemporary History, 2017 (2018 in print).

2018

This article explores the ambitious Bulgarian cultural program in the United States of America to interrogate the importance of culture in the Cold War dynamics of the 1970s. The case study is examined at two levels; first, in the framework of the expanding contacts between East and West, exploring the importance of cultural diplomacy in the context of détente, and second, at the level of the actual cultural interactions, analyzing the meaning of cultural contacts across national borders and ideological divides. This analysis integrates insights from diverse literatures: international history, transnational history, postcolonial studies, and anthropology. The goal is to showcase the role of a small state on the periphery during the Cold War, to engage the softer side of East– West interactions in a global context, and to emphasize how local communities and individuals creatively shaped the Cold War realities through their own actions. The article also engages contemporary debates about the meaning of these cultural encounters in the context of recent memory wars about the legacy of communism in Bulgaria. The end result is to depict the complex, multidirectional flow of ideas, people, and cultural products between East and West during the long 1970s and to trace their changing interpretations today.

Communism and Museums in Bulgaria

International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2009

Despite the growing interest in Eastern European countries since the fall of the communist regimes in the late 1980s, they still remain obscure to Western Europeans. Media information on Eastern Europe focuses mainly on politics or the attractions of holiday resorts and, consequently, the history and local customs of the countries, their cultural affairs and different cultural institutions are little known. This paper describes the way Bulgarian museums developed during the governance of the Bulgarian Communist Party (1946–1989). It is hoped that revealing information on their operations within a broad historical and social context will lead to a better understanding of the country’s cultural affairs at a time when Bulgaria has become the latest member of the European Union. The findings are a result of PhD research.

Culture or Fighter Planes? The Bulgarian Perspective

2018

Eighteen governments have changed in Bulgaria since the end of the socialist regime in November 1989. By any standards, this is significant. Eighteen governments in 28 years after a period of 45 years with a single party government during the socialist period is quite an ‘achievement.’ How did these governments approach Bulgarian culture in general and Bulgarian museums and heritage in particular? Fluctuation, instability and uncertainty surrounded Bulgarian culture since the fall of the socialist regime. What is the connection then between state administration and cultural development? Does the former affect the latter or inversely?

Socialist Legacy and Transformations of Cultural Heritage in the Contemporary Forms of Community Gatherings of the Bulgarian Diaspora in the USA

This paper explores the forms of urban festivity during socialism in Bulgaria and during post-socialism of the Bulgarian community in the USA. Empirical material (interviews, participant observation, visual materials and data from electronic and paper media) from the town of Rousse in Bulgaria and from the city of Chicago in the USA is used for the purposes of the study. The text outlines the most frequently discussed in the interviews celebrations during the socialist period in Bulgaria and in the post-socialism times in the USA. The goal of this research is to present the model of the socialist urban festivity, its cultural legacy and to compare this model with contemporary forms of community gatherings among the Bulgarian diaspora in Chicago. It addresses how the socialist legacy reflects the present-day forms of the Bulgarian celebrations in the USA. Additionally, the paper discusses how the cultural heritage of Bulgarian migrants to the USA is reshaped, transformed and even invented in the struggle for identity, meaning, power and economic benefits in the host country.