The traveling Exhibition “Bridge-Inter-Cultures” in several Bulgarian cities from March to May 2019 – Veliko Tarnovo
After the successful reception and wide-ranging echo of the Parliament “Bridge-Inter-Cultures” exhibition, the 22 panels are on the road to new challenges in several Bulgarian cities with the support of local government and religious communities. Starting with Stara Zagora and continuing with Veliko Tarnovo, Plovdiv, Belitsa and Rousse.
From 15 March to 3 April the exhibition was present in the Medieval Bulgarian capital -Veliko Tarnovo – at the State Gallery “Rafael Mihaylov”.
On 15th March Angelina Vladikova, chair of BRIDGES opened the exhibition with explaining the concept of the project, the idea of having together children from different religions and cultures together for a week. “Don’t build walls that separate you, is better to build bridges – they will unite you all”- was said by the great Kolyo Ficheto and resonates with the the message we want to address with these photos. She expressed the gratitude to the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo for the partnership and also to Mr. Milen Mihov, delegate at the Bulgarian Parliament from the city and a good friend and supporter of BRIDGES in their project.
Mr. Milen Mihov shared his personal appreciation to the idea and all involved in the interfaith youth exchange camp. He expressed his connectedness to the idea and to the way how young people become ambassadors of good will and bridge builders.
Two girls Lybov Ivanova and Maria Ivanova, daughters of Father Slavcho, together with their mother Svetla Ivanova were our hosts and reason why we presented the exhibition in Veliko Tarnovo. They shared personal stories of how were involved in the project, their relation to the camp and the mission of BRIDGES. Lybov conclude “This camp can’t take from you anything, but it can give you many things. We all are thirsty to be part of the next edition in 2019 and looking for the bridges we all can build together.”
At the end Ateya Stepanovish one of our new BRIDGES children shared with all guests parts of her very emotional essay “God is Love”.
Intercultural project for youth "Bridge-Inter-Cultures" - a summer camp for teenagers, implemented by BRIDGES with the help of the Municipality of Stara Zagora proves that the joint efforts of the non-governmental sector, the municipal institutions, and the companies from the region can create a good partnership to give good fruits.
The project was organized in two parts, with 18 children from Bulgaria and the Netherlands, with the participants spending four days together in each of the countries. The group met first in Stara Zagora from 16 to 20 July and continued with The Hague from 27 to 31 July 2018. Partners in the endeavour for the second part were Ethics Education for Children - Arigatou International and CERITA.
The exhibition presents distinctive moments, emotions, experiences of the days together, shows how 18 young people from Bulgaria and the Netherlands had the opportunity to get to know people of different religious and cultural identities, to look for ways to build bridges of trust contributing to positive transformation in the local communities. The story of co-living through the eyes of professional photographers Kalina and Boris Borisovi answers many questions and helps us to see the meaning of building bridges.
From Veliko Tarnovo the exhibition continues on its way to the European Capital of Culture 2019 – Plovdiv.
