Семейството в житейските разкази на бесарабските българи

Author(s): Zhenja Pimpireva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

The article is devoted to the role of life stories in the study of the family of theBessarabian Bulgarians. The eyewitnesses’ stories (or the stories of their loved ones)contain various appreciations, experiences, feelings, values, and meanings whichallow the reconstruction of their world. The study is based on the life stories collectedduring field ethnographic expeditions conducted in 2009-2010 in villages witha predominant or significant Bulgarian population in the Republic of Moldova andUkraine.The life stories are an invaluable source for the study of the Bessarabian familyin traditional and contemporary perspective. Sharing them requires a climate of trustbetween the respondents and the researcher. The life stories represent a collection ofselected facts and episodes, in which many hidden, suppressed and forgotten thingsremain beyond the narrative. Because of their subjective character, the family is representedin an estimative and emotional way enabling the identification of the trendsin its development and the judgement of its values and morals.

Гръцко-български сдружения за приятелство в България след 1989 г. и ефектите на пандемията от COVID-19

Author(s): Daniel Fokas / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2021

The article offers a survey of the activities of the associations for friendship between Bulgarians and Greeks in Bulgaria in the last decades. These associations are viewed as a contemporary form of mutual cultural communication between the two peoples and the meaning of the two communities as a “bridge” between Bulgaria and Greece is highlighted. The study focuses on the present condition of these processes and on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on them. It examines concrete examples of changes in the activities of the associations in Sofia, which are indicative for the life of the communities with Greek self-identification in Bulgaria in the pandemic situation.

Национална научна кръгла маса „Динамика на социалното пространство“

Author(s): Irina Argirova,Mirella Kafkova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2021

Scientific life, conference report

Proclaiming the Eucharist on Communist Stadiums? The Multiple Meanings of the Phoenix Concept-Album Cantafabule (An Experiment in Cultural History)

Author(s): Vladimir Agrigoroaei / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2021

Philologists and medievalists rarely deal with the subject of contemporary Pop-Rock or Folk music. When they do it, they usually fall prey to a certain form of medievalism. The current section of Museikon follows a completely different approach. The pairing of interviews with memoirs and the introduction shaped in the form of an actual scientific study have the sole purpose of launching an experiment in the history of culture. The case study is a 1976 album of the Romanian Rock group Phoenix. The state owned record company Electrecord made a mistake, releasing it as Cantofabule, even though its correct title was Cantafabule or Bestiar. It had traditional- and medieval inspired lyrics, but most of all, it was the result of artistic synergy. A collective work of sorts, much in the manner of the medieval manuscripts of old.

Cantafabule, Drawings Made Flesh. A Tale in Search of a Lost Cover

Author(s): Elisabeth Lili Ochsenfeld / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2021

Born in 1951 in Timișoara, Elisabeth Ochsenfeld lives today between Heidelberg (de), Frankfurt am Main (de) and Wolfsberg / Gărâna (ro). She graduated the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Timișoara, in the class of Professor Leon Vreme (1973); she directed the Art Group—Studio 35 in Timișoara(1974-1980) and has had, from 1973 to date, several exhibitions of painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, and illustrations, being also the curator of a large number of exhibitions and artistic events. In 1975 she finalized the drawings for the cover of the double LP Phoenix Cantafabule based on an idea of Valeriu Sepi. She immigrated to Germany in 1986 and soon thereafter became a graphic artist for the project Rock Carvings and Inscriptions along the Karakorum Highway at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1987-2012). Her works are displayed in galleries, museums and private collections across Germany, Romania, England, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, Ukraine, Hungary, Belgium, Israel, Greece, Sweden, Pakistan, Finland, South Korea, the USA, and Canada. She is the founder of Arthouse Wolfsberg / Gărâna and a member of the Association of Professional Artists in Germany, the International Women’s Cultural Federation, Freeinterartists, and Contemporanii.

‘The Arbitrary Distribution of Emphasis’. (Conclusions)

Author(s): Vladimir Agrigoroaei,Ovidiu Olar / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2021

Exhibitions. Conferences. Projects. Databases. Latest publications.

Author(s): Piotr Kruk Mirosław,Ana Dumitran,Francesca Tasca,Vlad Bedros,Alice Isabella Sullivan,Julia Gearhart,Jacob Wheeler,Anita Paolicchi,Vladimir Agrigoroaei / Language(s): English,French Issue: 5/2021

Exhibitions. Conferences. Projects. Databases. Latest publications.

UKRAINIAN FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD RUSSIA BETWEEN 1991 AND 2004: THE START OF THE CONFLICT

Author(s): Stephen Adi‬ Odey,Samuel Akpan Bassey / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Akpan BasseyAfter the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine's foreign policy evolved in the geopolitical sphere of Central and Eastern Europe. As a result, the new Ukrainian interests were built on a sense of national identity. They looked to Russia and Europe to find a sense of national identity. However, Ukraine's Eurasian and Central-European ancestry caused a distinct rift in society about national identity, which influenced the formulation of foreign policy. Those trying to co-exist with Russia find it difficult to develop a Ukrainian identity completely different from Russia, justifying the togetherness through the Pereyaslav agreement. On the contrary, the nationalist-minded Ukrainians, those who want to cultivate an identity distinct from the Russians and, more specifically, look for a Central-European identity, try to influence the course of the foreign policy formation of Ukraine by citing their historicity of Europeanness with the medieval princedom of Kiev and viewing the Pereyaslav memory as disastrous for Ukraine’s independent existence. Thus, national identity is one of the main causes of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. This study aims to uncover significant events in Ukrainian foreign policy toward Russia that led to modern-day conflict.

По следите на благодарствената памет, или още веднъж за „българските“ чехи

Author(s): Vladimir Penchev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2021

The article deals with the role of Czechs in Bulgaria in the decades after its Liberation in 1878. The author argues that the Czech presence in the country was substantial and clearly visible, so it had a significant imprint on the development of Bulgarian society at the time. This might be the explanation for the tens of “places of memory” and objectified “grateful memory” for the “Bulgarian” Czechs, expressed in the names of settlements, streets, schools, mountain peaks, etc. Other examples include monuments and memorial plaques, as well as works of art dedicated to outstanding Czech people such as Konstantin Jireček, the Škorpil brothers, the Prošek brothers, Antonin Kolář, Antonin Novak, Josef Schnitter, Libor Bayer, and many others.

Гергьовден в Поморие – разделящ и споделян

Author(s): Lina Gergova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The genesis of St. George’s Day as the day of Pomorie displays the mutual development of its modern historical political myth and the last three decades’ festivity. After the democratic changes in 1989, the patron holiday of the Anhialo monastery that continued to be observed even during socialism and the fair that accompanies it were developed and transformed into an official holiday, but invented rituals brought about a myth shift: from the established in the course of a century narrative about the fight for and the restoration of justice to a story of the offered fraternal hand and forgiveness. Based on the research of the myth–ritual interaction, the author searches for answers to the questions about the significance of St. George’s Day for the local community and about this holiday’s ability to serve both national and pluralistic tasks.

Градска празничност в епидемична обстановка

Author(s): Iskren Velikov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The holiday is an essential element in the ideological regulation of public life; it plays an important role in shaping and stabilizing the group celebrating it, in all cases by actualizing the most important unifying values, and very often – by distinguishing examples of exemplary behaviour. The spread of the COVID-19 epidemic at the very beginning of 2020 leads to a number of radical changes in social life. The speed with which processes develop, as well as the search for new forms to continue established practices, leads to experimentation with the possibilities of new technologies, as well as of new conditions – education in an online environment, online shopping, outsourced commercial cash registers for outdoor service, limiting the capacity for public access, reducing programs, etc. Limiting physical access to official celebrations provoked an attempt to compensate for it by broadcasting the festive ceremonies live. However, the transfer of an event to an online environment places local communities in the passive role of spectators of a performance, without the opportunity of participation, and the social function of the celebration is reduced to the possibilities of the social network to communicate through texts and chat with other representatives of the community who observe the broadcast. These restrictions seem to compromise the very idea of a celebration and make visible the fact that its fundamental feature is the possibility of physical presence and participation of citizens.

Products of Russian Visual Culture in the Treasury of Rakovica Monastery in Belgrade (17th – 20th Centuries).

Author(s): Ivana Ženarju Rajović / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2022

L’article présente une série d’icônes et d’objets liturgiques provenant du trésor du monastère Rakovica à Belgrade, en Serbie. Plusieurs exemples, datant de différentes périodes, témoignent de l’influence culturelle russe sur le milieu local serbe. Le monastère possède six icônes peintes dans le Palais des Armures du Kremlin à Moscou vers la fin du xviie siècle. Ces icônes, qui comptent parmi les témoins conservés les plus anciens, nous renseignent sur les relations serbo-russes au sein de la vie religieuse de Belgrade. D’innombrables guerres ont jalonné l’existence du monastère Rakovica, ce qui explique que le trésor soit aujourd’hui relativement modeste. Il comprend, par exemple, quelques icônes russes des xixe et xxe siècles, principalement des artefacts produits en série, sans valeur artistique significative. Toutefois, les revêtements en argent de trois de ces icônes nécessitent une analyse approfondie. Aussi, le trésor comprend-il plusieurs livres liturgiques imprimés à Moscou ou dans la Laure des Grottes de Kyïv, de même que deux objets liturgiques.

Brief Scholarly Reflections on Ukraine.

Author(s): Kohut Halyna,Taisiya Leber,Waldemar Deluga,Svitlana Valeriyivna Olianina / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2022

Традиция и иновация (Как фолклорната култура на Чехия и България намира нов живот в медийната среда през време и след пандемията от 2020 година)

Author(s): Nevena Dimitrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2023

Diverse influences of folklore tradition in contemporary media are presented in this article. The pandemic “closure” and encapsulation of the normal rhythm of life in 2020 unleashed a wave of creative TV, radio, social media manifestations, focused not only on covering the unusual situation, but also on the particular “return” to traditional practices and ways of adapting to the daily life routine. Self-introspection became a journey towards primordial rituals where tragic and comic coexist in the resistance and affirmation of life. The observed and analysed examples are from the Czech and Bulgarian media environment.

Фестивали, позоваващи се на традицията (Някои наблюдения на медийното им отразяване)

Author(s): Vladimir Penchev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2023

Fieldwork notes

Политическият виц през втората половина на XX век и днес

Author(s): Jaroslav Otčenášek / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2023

Book review

Относно прилагането на Конвенцията за опазване на нематериалното културно наследство от 2003 г. (Конвенция 2003)

Author(s): Mila Santova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 2/2023

The 2003 Convention and Its Implementation in Bulgaria

За Конвенцията

Author(s): Dina Koleva / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 2/2023

The 2003 Convention and Its Implementation in Bulgaria

Contemporary Representations of Ktetors in Romanian Churches. A Debate (Part 1)

Author(s): Ana Dumitran,Laura Jiga Iliescu,Vladimir Agrigoroaei,Luiza Zamora / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2023

The Histories and Film Festival in Râşnov (FFIR—Festiva-lul de Film și Istorii la Râşnov) held its fifteenth edition from 18 to 27 August 2023. ‘Radicalisation’ was the main theme of the festival, namely the fact that “our society seems less and less open to balanced dialogue; everyone defends and imposes their own truth and nuances dis-appear.” Museikon organised a debate on the topic ‘Con-temporary votive depictions—from Stephen the Great to the ktetors of our days’ (Tablouri votive contemporane – de la Ștefan cel Mare la ctitorii de azi) in the Old Church of Râşnov (dedicated to Saint Nicholas), on Wednesday 23 August 2023.

„Твое е само това, което си раздал“. Погребална и поменална обредност при българи мюсюлмани (По примери от село Брезница, Гоцеделчевско)

Author(s): Behrin Shopova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2023

The article examines the funeral and memorial rites in the village of Breznitsa, Gocedelchev region. The specific local manifestations of the practices studied are presented in comparison with those of the other Muslim communities. Various elements of this rite are described both as prescriptions in the Koran and the Hadiths, and as the narrative tradition of the Bulgarian Muslims. The analysis of the connections between written and oral traditions shows the presence of an untransformed, ancient layer which continues to exist in parallel with the precepts of traditional Sunni Islam, characteristic of Ottoman culture. The field data used is gathered by the author in the period 2021–2023.