Crafts and tourism in Bulgaria

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TRADITIONAL CRAFTS AND TOURISM IN BULGARIA

Ilinka TERZIYSKA*

The paper is focused on the opportunities that traditional crafts provide for tourism development in

rural areas. Following a discussion of the possible forms of using crafts in tourism, an overview of thecurrent situation in Bulgaria has been made, outlining the major problems and looking for theirsolution.

KEY WORDS: traditional crafts, creative tourism, rural areas

Traditional crafts and tourism

The last decades we have witnessed a gradual and steady change towards more

sustainable practices in tourism development and the recognition that alternative forms of

tourism can contribute to local development. Cultural tourism (and rural tourism in particular)

is one of the opportunities for rural communities to generate incomes and improve their well- being. This is supported by the trend in tourism demand towards local, unique, authentic

products. Another well-expressed trend of the last decade is the shift from tangible to

intangible elements of culture, which can be seen in both demand and supply of cultural

tourism products. People are increasingly interested in the spirit of a destination, in the

lifestyle of local population, in their specific culture, manifested through traditions, customs,

music and dance, narratives, crafts and everyday life. Organizations and governments are also

getting aware of the value of intangible heritage and have made steps to safeguard it. At the

international level, UNESCO has launched several initiatives in this regard, including the

Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), which has

already been ratified by 155 countries, among which is Bulgaria. The convention is rooted in

the understanding of the importance of intangible cultural heritage for maintaining culturaldiversity and ensuring sustainable development, while recognizing its interdependence with

tangible cultural and natural heritage, and emphasizing the role of local communities. The

basic objectives of the Convention are directed towards the safeguarding of intangible

heritage, raising awareness of its value and ensuring respect among the parties concerned1.

The five domains of intangible heritage as identified by UNESCO are:

oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible

cultural heritage;

performing arts;

social practices, rituals and festive events;

knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; traditional craftsmanship2.

Traditional crafts have long been part of the tourist offer. They are the element of

intangible heritage, which initially formed the basis of the so called creative tourism. Creative

tourism is one of the relatively new forms of tourism, which is considered very beneficial to

both the host community and tourist, as it is believed to offer a transforming experience to the

latter, at the same time preserving the self-respect and the authentic character of local

* Tourism Department at SWU “Neofit Rilski” – Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

1

Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003),http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00022, retrieved on 7.09.20132 Ibid.

http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00022





population. Greg Richards and Crispin Raymond, who coined the term, defined it as:

“Tourism which offers visitors the opportunity to develop their creat ive potential through

active participation in courses and learning experiences that are characteristic of the holiday

destination where they are undertaken.”3 In its earliest form, creative tourism was associated

with crafts workshops. Later it developed to include design, cookery, gastronomy and wine-

making, health and healing, language, spirituality, nature and landscape, sports and pastimes.

Referring to Pine and Gilmore’s idea of Experience Economy, traditional crafts may be

used in various ways in the tourism industry and have the potential to create different types of

experiences. First of all, if we look at the famous evolution of economy from extracting

commodities through making goods, delivering services, and staging experiences to guiding

transformations and the customization of this model to the creative tourism phenomena4 (fig.

1), we can find at least three possible stages (at times co-existent states) of using crafts for

tourism purposes.

Figure 1. The evolution of tourism through the prism of the experience economy

Source: Richards, G. (2010) Creative tourism: Development, trends and opportunities,

Barcelona

First of all, products of craftsmanship are sometimes used as souvenirs. In its most

common form, this corresponds to the “making goods” stage, due to the fact that most

souvenirs are standardized, because they need to possess certain characteristics – small size,

simplified design, representativeness of a place or phenomenon etc. Of course, there are ways

to turn the purchase of a souvenir into an experience or transformation, but such practices are

still not widespread. There are also some authors who place a clear demarcation between

crafts and souvenirs, arguing that “an item was generally considered to be a craft rather than a

souvenir if it was authentic, where authentic was defined in terms of the item’s uniqueness,

workmanship, historical/cultural integrity, and tradition”. Surely, there is a great danger of

depriving craft of its authenticity by commoditizing it to serve the souvenir industry, whichcould be avoided by carefully choosing what products are suitable for souvenirs and educating

tourists to understand and appreciate them.

Another way of using the tourism potential of traditional crafts is museums, ethnographic

museums in particular. In this case, crafts products are not goods; they are turned into service

by offering and selling information and knowledge to tourists. Modern museums can also

offer experiences by customized and engaging ways of presenting their exhibitions to visitors.

Some museum go even further by offering visitors the chance to become part in the in the

making of a product familiarize them with the process of manufacturing.

3 Richards, G. and Raymond, C. (2000) Creative Tourism. ATLAS News, 23, 16 – 20.

4 Richards, G. (2010) Creative tourism: Development, trends and opportunities, Barcelona

commodities goods services

•mass

tourism

experience

•cultural

tourism

transformation

• creative

tourism





documents acknowledged with no exception by all EU countries and worldwide. At present,

there are 26 regional Chambers of Crafts and 9 National Trade Associations of Crafts6.

Crafts and Tourism in Bulgaria

There are two basic ways in which crafts and tourism can co-exist – events (fairs andfestivals) and on-site facilities (workshops, shops). This paragraph is focused these two major

dimensions of the link between crafts and tourism, trying to shed light on the current situation

in Bulgaria and outline major trends and problems.

Festivals and Fairs

Currently, there are seven annual craft festivals/fairs in Bulgaria, two of which are

international7. Of course, crafts are often included in folklore festivals and events dedicated to

local cuisine, but since in these cases they are supplementary to the programme and are

usually limited to exhibiting the produce of local craftsmen only, they will be excluded from

the present study. The description which follows refers to events with a specific focus oncrafts and its aim is to show their scope and the type of activities/products on offer.

The organizers of the International Fair of Crafts and Arts “Bulgarika” claim it is the

biggest event of this kind in Bulgaria. It takes place in August in Varna and lasts for almost

three weeks. Apart from the exhibitions of handicrafts, which are also sold, it offers

demonstrations. There are, however, no workshops or ateliers.

The other international fair is the one in the Ethnographic complex of Etar (the first

ethnographic complex in Bulgaria). The event includes a wide array of different crafts,

traditional cuisine (degustation also offered) and is attended by a great number of

international participants. Demonstrations are part of the programme.

One of the newest events focused on traditional crafts if the festival in Malko Tarnovo,

whose first edition was in the end of July 2013. Apart from stalls where the artis ans’ work is

exhibited and offered for sale, its programme also includes demonstrations and workshops.

There are special workshops for children.

2013 saw the appearance of a new arts and crafts festival – the one in Kiten. It is held

in the last week of July and lasts for a week. The range of presented traditional and modern

crafts includes production of crystal glass jewelry, accessories and jewelry made of leather

and semi-precious stones, jewelry from natural materials, handmade fabrics, old weapons,

metalwork, yarn dolls, designer jewelry, painted silk, art knitting, pottery, plasti (a specialkind of textile), national dolls, stained glass. Visitors are given the possibility to learn and

engage themselves in the process of production. The festival was initiated by Milen Minkov –

jewelry artisan, and supported by the Regional Craft Guild in Plovdiv.

The Autumn Fair of Crafts takes place in Plovdiv in the end of September. The city

has a long-lasting tradition in craftsmanship and one of the most active craft guilds in

Bulgaria. Apart from the fair is there’s another event, which has been so far unique to

Bulgaria – the Master’s Day, celebrated on 12 December each year, which is the day of St.

6

Crafts in Bulgaria, retrieved from http://www.regiocrafts.eu/index.php/crafts-industry/craft-in-bulgaria on17.09.20137 Source: author’s online search

http://www.regiocrafts.eu/index.php/crafts-industry/craft-in-bulgaria






Spiridon, the patron day of artisans and craftsmen. On that day the ritual of introducing an

apprentice into the master guild is re-enacted. The two events are organized by the Regional

Craft Guild in Plovdiv.

The ethnographic museum in Plovdiv organizes a Week of the crafts in the last week

of June, where visitors can see demonstrations of iconography, engraving and fine carving onknives and rifle butts, copper, making musical instruments, woodwork, pottery and basketry.

The Fair of Yoghurt and Festival of Folk Traditions and Artisan Crafts is held

annually in Razgrad. Although the focus is on traditional cuisine an exhibition of traditional

crafts is also included.

On the 29 June, this is the Day of St. Peter (Petrovden in Bulgarian), there are a lot of

small-scale fairs and feasts, dedicated to traditional crafts (e.g. in Sandanski, Smolyan, Vratsa

etc.).

It is evident that (with few exceptions) crafts festivals in Bulgaria still need to catch up

with the world trends, which are directed towards more engaging experiences for the visitor.

A good practice in this respect is the “newcomer” – the festival in Malko Tarnovo. Not only

are workshops where visitors can learn how to make their own piece of handicraft a

significant part of its offering, but it also caters for children. Another drawback is the number

of international events – only two. It is widely accepted that festivals have a huge contribution

to increasing the popularity of a destination and achieving a favourable image.

As far as the place where these events take place is concerned, we can see that larger

cities predominate. Smaller towns and villages should take advantage of the opportunitiesthese events offer for raising awareness, cultural exchange and generation of revenues.

Moreover, crafts festivals and fairs would be more attractive if held in an authentic

environment – the craft centres of the Revival Period were mainly mountainous settlements.

Ethnographic complexes, crafts streets, workshops

Apart from presenting centuries-long skills of artisan at festivals and fairs, every

destination can enrich its tourist offer by opening craft workshops. In Bulgaria, instances of

including crafts in the tourist offer exists in four main forms – created ethnographic

complexes (open-air museums), preserved crafts streets (charshia), producers of traditional

products, and workshops within hotel complexes.

The first ethnographic museum in Bulgaria – Etara, was established in 1964 and

features 15 workshops in operations, two static ones (tannery and walnut-oil workshop) and

an impressive collection of operating water-powered machinery. In addition there are two

museums – the House of Peter Saka and the Church with a school, and a hotel which provides

the opportunity for overnight accommodation. Seven hobby courses are offered, lasting from

3 to 10 days. The cultural calendar is rich ranging from visiting exhibitions to re-enactment of

rituals, bazaars, contests and scientific conferences8.

8 http://www.etar.org/kalendar/kalendaren.htm

http://www.etar.org/kalendar/kalendaren.htm






The other ethnographic complex of this scope is the Ethnographic Areal Complex

“Zlatograd”. It is the first and still the only private one and was opened with the cooperation

of the Municipality of Zlatograd on May 24, 2001. The nine operating handicraft workshops

and the waterworks coupled with the unique ambience created by the vernacular architecture

(most buildings in the complex are monuments of culture and are inhabited throughout the

year make it a tourist destination of growing attractiveness. Its success is also owed to the

innovative and engaging way of presenting the crafts – visitors are given the opportunity not

only to buy souvenirs but to take short lessons and watch demonstrations. Accommodation is

provided in several hotels and guesthouses of excellent quality.

The third complex which is worth mentioning is Fanagoria, though its focus is more

on history than crafts. The complex is a copy of Proto-Bulgarian war camp from 6-8 century

and includes wood firewalls with towers, furnished yurts, acting crafts workshops, restored

antique costumes, weapons, household items and furniture.

There are a couple of hotel complexes who have included crafts in their offering – the

Barite complex, the Genger complex. They do not, however, offer demonstrations or lessons.

A good practice of a producer who uses tourism as a supplementary source of

revenues is Damascena, whose main field of activity is rose oil production. They created the

ethnographic complex of Damascena, featuring an old distillery called "gyulapana" which

was used for extracting rose oil in the Rose Valley more than 340 years ago. The complex

visitors can watch a demonstration of the rose oil distillation throughout the season and feel

the spirit of the old tradition. The distillery is very popular with tour operators and is included

in most cultural tours for foreigners.

The two relatively well-preserved craft streets in Bulgaria are the one in Tryavna and

the Samovodska charshia in Veliko Tarnovo. They both feature some active workshops. The

major problem in both places is the presence of too many industrially produced souvenirs,

which are sold at lowest prices, lower quality and damage the authentic feeling, at the same

time hindering the offering of handicraft products.

To sum up, the existing ethnographic complexes/open air museums in Bulgaria can be

considered good practices. There is still unutilized potential in this respect, which should be

exploited by traditional handicraft centres, especially the ones with preserved vernacular

architecture. Special attention should be paid to the craft streets to preserve their authenticity

and prevent commoditization. Local authorities have a crucial role in solving this problem,

but should be assisted by craft associations and scientific organizations.

Conclusion

Although Bulgaria has a long-lasting tradition in handicrafts, they are gradually

diminishing and special efforts should be put in their preservation. Tourism offers great

opportunities for reviving them – mainly through events and on-site workshops. More

attention should be paid to creating an engaging experience for the visitor by offering

demonstrations, crash lessons and courses. One of the greatest problems is the total lack of



marketing policy for craft tourism in Bulgaria. There is almost no information on the

opportunities the country offers, which could be easily surpassed by creating a database of all

existing workshops, artisans and events. Traditional crafts are part of the intangible heritage

of the world – governmental and local policies should be aimed at preserving and stimulating

them through the national, European and international programmes.

REFERENCES:

1. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003),

http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00022, retrieved on7.09.2013

2. Crafts in Bulgaria, retrieved from http://www.regiocrafts.eu/index.php/crafts-

industry/craft-in-bulgaria on 17.09.2013

3. Richards, G. (2010) Creative tourism: Development, trends and opportunities,

Barcelona

4. Richards, G. and Raymond, C. (2000) Creative Tourism. ATLAS News, 23, 16 – 20.

5. Сантова, M., M. Иванова, В. Матеева (n.d.) Традиционни занаяти, домашни

дейности и поминъци, retrieved from

http://www.treasuresbulgaria.com/main.php?act=html&file=analiz.html on 04.09.2013

6. http://www.etar.org/kalendar/kalendaren.htm







http://www.treasuresbulgaria.com/main.php?act=html&file=analiz.html









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Crafts and tourism in Bulgaria