"This seems to be a very effective way of interpreting the traditional crafts – what better way than to see a skilled practitioner at work, seeing not only the finished product but also the process? The chance to see water powered machinery in operation and craftspeople in action can explain and engage more than the best static interpretation board or label."

Joanna Macrae, NMS

This report concerns the exchange hosted by the Stara Planina Regional Tourist Association in Bulgaria and organised by Arch Network under their Innovation in Cultural Heritage Interpretation (ICHI) project. The project is funded by the Leonardo da Vinci Programme, part of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme for organisations involved in vocational training and education, encouraging the exchange best practice and increasing staff expertise and skills. ICHI aims to provide those working in the Heritage and Tourism sectors in Scotland (and the north of England) with an opportunity to travel to other European countries to learn from and share ideas with their European partners.

                                                                                                                                    Sue, Jo and Karen

Our host organisation, the Stara Planina Regional Tourist Association (RTA), was established in 1996 and is a non-governmental non-for-profit organization, comprising of membership of seven local tourist associations in Tryavna, Gabrovo, Dryanovo, Sevlievo, Аpriltsi, Troyan, Теteven; Gabrovo Chamber of commerce and industry and the municipalities – Gabrovo, Tryavna, Dryanovo, Sevlievo, Lovech, Teteven, G.Oriahovitsa, Kazanlak and Pavel Bania. The RTA supports sustainable tourism development and represents the region in the country and abroad. The organisation consults entrepreneurs and coordinates and supports the activity of Local tourist associations in order to create, develop and promote an attractive tourist product. RTA Stara Planina works for improving quality of tourist services and establishing a new image of the region on tourist market through, amongst other means, seminars, training courses and exchange of experience to improve professional competence in tourism sector and offering consulting assistance and promotion. Our exchange along the Sun's Path would not have been possible without the hard work and organisational skills of Sylvia Hinkova, Executive Director, Stara Planina Regional Tourist Association and our guide, Velislava Chilingirova, without whose amazing language skills and wealth of knowledge our exchange would have been poorer.

                                  

Lazar's Day celebrations, Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex

There was a diverse range of participants in our group of six and this contributed to our learning experience from the off, learning as much from each other, I am sure, as we did from those we met along the way. The other participants were:

Alan Gardner, Chairman of Dunfermline Heritage Community Projects

Gordon Urquhart, cultural historian

Karen Storr, artist, film maker and photographer and freelance arts coordinator

Sue Sharp, potter

Sheila Roberts, Arch Network

My background is in collections management, primarily documentation, in a museum environment. I currently work for National Museums Scotland (NMS) and am Curatorial Advisor to The Museum of Fire. I also work for the Scottish Rugby Union to care for and document their collections on a voluntary basis and am participating in the Museums Association's AMA (Associateship of the Museums Association) continuing professional development (CPD) scheme. A growing part of my role at NMS is trying to help to facilitate the interpretation of our collections through the use of our collections information system (database), whether that is new exhibitions and galleries or virtual access to collections information. I hoped to gain from the exchange a deeper insight into cultural heritage interpretation to better be able to work with colleagues and advise those in the other institutions I support. I also saw in the exchange a great opportunity for CPD.

The Programme

Day 1, Friday 10 April 2009

Travel from Edinburgh to Sofia

Day 2, Saturday 11 April 2009

Travel to Gabrovo where we would be accommodated in the hotel at Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex for three nights

View celebrations for The Day of St. Lazar, specific rituals at the eve of next Day of Vrabnitsa / Tsvetnitsa (Palm Sunday) at Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex, followed by a guided tour of the museum from curator Svettimila

Visit to Sokolski Monastery

Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex

Day 3, Sunday 12 April 2009

Travel to Tryavna

Visit to Museum of Woodcarving, Tryavna, including guided tour and demonstration of woodcarving

Visit to Rose exhibition at Kazakov Gallery, Tryavna

Participation in the Holy service on Tsvetnitsa Day (Palm Sunday) at St Michael Church, Tryavna

Meeting with museum curators from Tryavna

Visit to Icon Painting Museum, Tryavna

Sight seeing visit to Bacho Kiro Cave and Dryanovo Monastery

Visit to Bozhentsi Village Archaeological and Historical Reserve

Day 4, Monday 13 April

Meeting with staff of Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex followed by demonstrations of traditional Bulgarian crafts

Visit to Dechkova Kashta Museum, Gabrovo, with demonstration of typical attractions and Easter home customs

Meeting with the museum curators of the Regional History Museum of Gabrovo together with the stuff of Stara Planina Regional Tourist Association

Visit to the Regional History Museum of Gabrovo

Visit to The House of Humour and Satire, World Humour Art Museum, Gabrovo

Day 5, Tuesday 14 April 2009

Travel to Kazanlak, via Shipka Pass

Visit to the Monument of Liberty on Shipka Peak, followed by meeting with manager Dancho Danchev and some of his staff at Shipka National Park-Museum

Visit to Golyama Kosmatka Thracian Tomb

Visit to Kazanlak Thracian Tomb, UNESCO World Heritage Site (we only visited the copy, not the real tomb)

Tour of Iskra History Museum, Kazanlak, followed by meeting with the director and staff

Visit to Lutherine (violin making) workshop of Ivan Stankov and Petko Stoinov, Kazanlak

                                            
                                                    Monument of Liberty, Shipka

Day 6, Wednesday 15 April 2009

Travel to Sofia, via Karlovo

Visit to Mummers' Masks Museum, Karlovo

Visit to craft co-operative shop and site, Karlovo

Travel to Sofia

Day 7, Thursday 15 April 2009

Guided tour of the National Polytechnic Museum, Sofia, including science demonstration, followed by meeting with director, Dr Ekaterina Tsekova and her staff

Visit to National History Museum, Boyana Quarter, Sofia

Day 8, Friday 17 April 2009

Sight seeing in Sofia

Travel from Sofia to Edinburgh

Thoughts and Reflections

My first and lasting impressions of Bulgaria all revolve around the warm welcome we received and the sense of national pride that the Bulgarians have. Similar to Scotland, if not more so, Bulgaria and Bulgarians have a strong identity, forged and maintained through their language and culture, their traditions and customs. We met on our travels Bulgarian colleagues with an obvious passion for the preservation and interpretation of Bulgaria's rich and varied culture and history, whom, despite some significant challenges, whether they be bureaucratic or financial (or both), strive for excellence in what they do. There were a number of visits which particularly struck me as interesting and it is on these that I will concentrate.

Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex, Gabrovo

Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex is an open air museum established in 1964 and is comprised of buildings from the Gabrovo region, dating from the National Revival Period (some original, others reconstructions). The museum demonstrates various water powered machinery from the region (in working order), and also houses artisans’ workshops with exhibits on the upper floors depicting room settings from the period. These master craftsmen and women work using the traditional methods and can be seen in action by visitors to the museum. They rent the premises and sell what they produce to the visiting public. This seems to be a very effective way of interpreting the traditional crafts – what better way than to see a skilled practitioner at work, seeing not only the finished product but also the process? The chance to see water powered machinery in operation and craftspeople in action can explain and engage more than the best static interpretation board or label. The model here where the craftspeople rent the premises from the museum seems to be an economically viable one, which also allows the museum to fund a small number of crafts, including goat hair weaving and cow bell making, which are on the brink of dying out.

                                                                
                                                                  Potter at work, Etara

With around 40,000 artefacts in store, it would have been nice to hear that the craftspeople working on site used them to inform and inspire their current work, but this did not seem to be the case. Despite what seemed like significant academic interest in the collections, with international conferences and an annual international fair of traditional crafts, there seems to be an immediate way the collections could be utilised and interpreted with the help of those who continue those traditions on the site. An exhibition of historic pieces alongside contemporary works with input from the craftspeople in terms of interpretation would be great to see.

Iskra History Museum, Kazanlak

The rich Thracian history of Bulgaria is displayed, amongst other things, in the Iskra History Museum in Kazanlak and after visiting Golyama Kosmatka Tomb and the replica of the Kazanlak Tomb we were take to see some of the treasures found within. Beautifully presented in a new gallery, the finds from the tombs were visually enthralling. I found it very interesting that the decision had been made to attempt to restore the golden wreath of oak leaves and acorns to something approaching its original splendour. This despite it having been found crushed (it is thought that it was crushed before being placed in the chamber, a symbolic part of the burial, itself being symbolic, no human remains having been found in this tomb). Some interpretation in the gallery regarding this would have been nice and also clearer labelling of the replicas which were on display. It struck me at several points during the exchange that interpretation is something I take for granted, until I find the piece of information I want is not there. It is a fine balancing act and affirms the value of personal interpretation from a knowledgeable guide, which we were lucky enough to experience on many of our visits.

                                                           

                                                    Replica of head of Seuthus III, Golyama Kosmatka Tomb

In discussion with the director and some of his staff after our tour, it became evident that there are problems with the numerous tumuli in the region being looted and artefacts being lost on the black market. This is obviously a very worrying trend and a great loss to the cultural heritage of Bulgaria and it’s study and interpretation. Looking towards the Scottish system of Treasure Trove http://www.treasuretrovescotland.co.uk/ may provide some inspiration to tackle the problem. This combined with continued work in displaying and interpreting the history found in the tombs in order that Bulgarians take ownership of their ancient heritage will hopefully start to reverse this worrying trend.

National Polytechnic Museum, Sofia

I found our visit to the National Polytechnic Museum in Sofia to be the most insightful and stimulating of the visit. Bulgaria’s only museum of science and technology has four sites: Museum of The Textile Industry in Sliven, the Palace of Physics in Kazanlak and Museum of Architecture in Veliko Tarnovo. At the main site in Sofia a donation from a Bulgarian subsidiary of Ford has been used to create a demonstration space where we were treated to a science lesson by the museum’s resident demonstrator, former physics teacher, Goya. This truly engaging session was great. Using simple equipment some of the basic principles of physics were demonstrated in an eminently understandable and engaging way. I can imagine a similar buzz when the room is full of school children as when the Edinburgh International Science Festival events are held in the National Museum of Scotland http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/ . There were also simple but very effective interactive displays in the galleries (the first I had seen, I think). The commitment and perseverance of the director and her staff to produce a quality produce was remarkable (especially when taken into consideration some of the challenges they face). Alongside the school parties who benefit from these science demonstrations, the museum seemed to be proactive in audience engagement with adult education programmes and digitisation programmes in the pipeline. Funding for this national institution seemed to be in stark contrast to that afforded the National History Museum, but I was truly inspired by Dr Tsekova and her staff, and by how much they made out of so little – proving that great collections and ingenuity are all you need as the basis for good interpretation.

                                                           

                                                    Science demonstration, National Polytechnic Museum, Sofia

Sustainability
Stara Planina RTA’s focus on developing a sustainable tourist industry in Bulgaria has an interesting parallel in Great Britain at the moment with the Museums Association’s Sustainability consultation http://www.museumsassociation.org/sustainability . This national consultation has focused on environmental, economic and social sustainability in the museum and gallery sector and I believe that some dialogue between the two countries could be fruitful in gaining fresh perspectives on both sides. There is a great example of economic sustainability in the Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex where in addition to the rental revenue from the craftspeople (mentioned above), the restaurant premises are rented and run by an outside company and the museum has its own hotel on the edge of the site. This would seem to be one of the most economically sustainable museums in the country, generating almost 80% of it’s funding independently of the support it receives from local government. In addition, in Sofia there is an interesting example of heritage and the corporate world working together. In the hotel Arena di Serdica where the plans for this new development were altered to accommodate the remains of a Roman amphitheatre discovered whilst digging the foundations.

                                                   
                                                       Roman amphitheatre remains, Arena di Serdica, Sofia

National Database Project and Significance

A number of the curators we met mentioned a project being proposed by the Ministry of Culture to create an electronic database of the nation’s collections. Although there seemed to be no intention (certainly initially) of putting this information on the World Wide Web, it brought to mind Scottish project called SCRAN (Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network) http://www.scran.ac.uk/ . SCRAN brought together collections from all across Scotland as an educational resource on the web and had much supporting material for teachers as well. There is a project currently underway in Glasgow Museums called Collections Navigator http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/ which will provide a way into Glasgow Museums’ collections using collection level descriptions and will go live in September 2009. Both of these would provide examples of how to go about getting collections information out there to an even wider audience. Alongside this proposed database, one curator mentioned that the value (or significance) of items and collections would be assessed. The Recognition scheme http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/the-programmes-2/recognition/

recently launched in Scotland may provide a model for this.

Conclusions and Dissemination

As stated above, interpretation is not the focus of my museum career, yet it is an integral part of the heritage industry and something I want and need to remain in touch with. There were many lessons for me to learn on this exchange, a chance to focus on interpretation when I would not normally do so. It is easy to take interpretation for granted, and being immersed in the heritage sector where the interpretation is not accessible in terms of language, highlights that. There was more interpretation available in English than I thought there would be, and I was impressed by that. It highlighted the need for good translations when material is provided in multiple languages – some were excellent, others not so good, which I find detracts from the information. Another thing I will take from the experience is the value of having a knowledgeable guide – the value of personal interpretation – and seeing craftspeople at work. A small amount of interpretation in some places would have made all the difference.

                                                    
                                                 Painted cartwheel, Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex

The experience will help me to understand the information needs of my colleagues who plan and execute new exhibitions and collections content for the web. In addition it will help to inform my support of the Museum of Fire where I am Curatorial Advisor and the Scottish Rugby Union where I work with the collections on a voluntary basis and hope soon to mount a small exhibition. As well as this I hope to share what I have gained from the exchange with colleagues at NMS and beyond, including those who are part of the Central Scotland AMA (Associateship of the Museums Association) Support Group.

I sincerely hope that our Bulgarian partners in this exchange are successful in securing funding to visit Scotland and make this a true exchange. It was a wonderful experience and I would hope that it could be reciprocated.