ABOUT PROJECT

According to statistics, Strandzha is the least populated mountain in Bulgaria, with only 10 people
per sq. km. Depopulation has began in the 1960s and already in the 1980s
takes on dangerous dimentions. The deeped migration to the big cities opens a deep
hurt in the villages of Strandja, leaving behind many deserted homes overgrown with weeds
courtyards and piles of lost memories… Strandzha – the most mystical of the Bulgarian mountains.

Gathering in itself the beauty of nature and the secrets of ancient peoples, it is still there – to the south of
our reality. And although the sun shines on it all year round, life here
continues to be under the shadow of the same unwanted hermitage – original, raw, different.

“As a child, I used to spent my vacations in the village of my grandmother – in one of the pretty ones
Strandzha villages – named Kosti. We used to gather a bunch of kids with whom we played freely and hicked around the forest, we bathed in the river, gathered herbs and did countless crazy things.
Now as soon as you enter the village of Kosti, you will first be greeted by the abandoned dormitory, the local people are fewer and fewer, the backery, where I ate the most deleishious bread has not worked for years, the local pub, where we used to celebrate weddings now
is a ruin, the center of the village is deserted, the local school – abandoned….”

The project aims to focus citizens’ attention on the problem of depopulation in Strandzha villages.
The project included walking and photographing several depopulating villages in Strandzha mountain in three different directions based on statistical data on living population at present. The villages that will be investigated are in the direction of Tsarevo – Bulgari, Kondolovo, Kosti, in the direction of M. Tarnovo – Mladezhko, Kalovo, Brashlyan, Byala voda, Evrenozovo and Vizitsa and in direction Sredets – Kirovo, Varovnik, Belevren, Golyamo Bukovo.

The ultimate goal is creation of digital collages, where silhouettes of people will appear against the background of deserted houses. In this way, the author will “bring” life into them. The project is aimed at Strandja depopulating villages and is realized with financial support of NFK under the Socially Engaged Arts Program.