© Photo: personal archive

This year, the Regional Historical Museum in the town of Pazardjik, one of the oldest museums in the country, has marked its centenary. Among the highlights of the celebrations was the opening in mid-December of an exhibition entitled The Glagolitic Alphabet and the Runes of Proto-Bulgarians of Bulgarian painter Pavlin Petrov. The co-organizer of the event is the Association for the Advancement of Arts and Crafts 7. The exhibition features 25 works created in 2008 and displayed for the first time in the main hall of the Sofia Ecclesiastical Seminary on November 1 - Enlightenment Leaders’ Day that honors all Bulgarian educators, writers, revolutionaries, and champions of the Bulgarian national identity. The Glagolitic alphabet, also known as Glagolitsa, was the first Slavic alphabet created in the 9th century by the missionaries St Cyril and St Methodius in order to translate the Bible and other religious works into the language of the Great Moravia region. They probably modelled Glagolitic on a cursive form of the Greek alphabet, and based their translations on a Slavic dialect of the Thessalonika area, which formed the basis of the literary standard known as Old Church Slavonic.
Painter Pavlin Petrov told Radio Bulgaria more: "The aim of the exhibition is to arouse public interest in our history and to make us proud of our heritage. Bulgarians need to raise their self-esteem and I believe that with the rediscovery and knowledge of Bulgarian history through such exhibition Bulgarians will feel prouder and worthier to stand with confidence among all European peoples."
The exhibition The Glagolitic Alphabet and Proto-Bulgarian Runic Symbols has accompanied part of the activities of the Association for the Development of Arts and Crafts 7, where Pavlin Petrov is co-chairman.

© Photo: ВТА

The preservation and promotion of Bulgarian crafts, traditions and history, the inclusion of children and adolescents to old Bulgarian values and the perpetuation of Bulgarian national pride and identity are among the main objectives of the association, Pavlin Petrov said.
"Most Bulgarians do not know much about the Glagolitic alphabet (which is the earliest Slavic alphabet), about the emblematic symbols of the Bulgarian people before it even had an alphabet. I am one of those people who have a good visual memory and I decided that this was an interesting way to offer the audience part of Bulgarian history - through pictures accompanied by information. The paintings depict letters from the Glagolitic alphabet as well as the runic symbols of Proto-Bulgarians (which was actually the ancient script of the Bulgars), as well as monograms of the Bulgarian khans such as Kubrat and Asparukh who ruled in th 7th century. These monograms were once used just as we are now using company logos. The materials I work with are wood, ceramics, leather, textiles ... I paint almost exclusively on sackcloth."
The curiosity and desire to lift the veil of history, to touch the glorious past of Bulgaria and share a piece of it with all Bulgarians inspire Pavlin Petrov in the creation of each of his works displayed in the exhibition. 

"Unfortunately, information is often missing or fragmented. However, these are events that took place more than a millennium back. I found materials at the National Historical Museum in the capital Sofia and several regional museums. I have been asked rather academic questions because people feel curious about the topic. I myself have turned to specialists and it appears that very few people exist who can decipher the meaning of the ancient runes of Proto-Bulgarians or to reveal the symbolism of the Glagolitic alphabet. I keep searching, despite the difficulties and the lack of information”, Pavlin Petrov told Radio Bulgaria.

Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova