A museum of silicone figures in Veliko Tarnovo recreates life in the Second Bulgarian ‎Kingdom

published on 7/2/23 4:35 PM

Photo: BGNES

Although through the eyes of a modern person - anticipating the past through the perceptions and ‎imagination of our time, we can get immersed in a period of Bulgarian history, in which Bulgaria was ‎situated on three seas and its culture was flourishing. The Museum of Silicone Figures in the town ‎of Veliko Tarnovo offers us a journey in the Middle Ages with the help of original sculptures ‎and murals.‎

Located at the foot of the Tsarevets fortress in the medieval capital of Bulgaria, the Tsarevgrad ‎Tarnov multimedia visitor centre presents historical events and personalities from the Second ‎Bulgarian Kingdom. The greatness of the rulers and their military power, the spiritual uplift thanks ‎to the scribes who restored the books destroyed during the Byzantine rule, the development of ‎painting and craftsmanship - all this is told by the picturesque scenes recreated with the help of 65 ‎silicone figures.‎

‎"The exhibits refer to the period from the 12th to the 14th century when Tarnovgrad - that's what ‎the town was called then, was the capital of Bulgaria," says tour guide Svetla Yordanova. “Tourists ‎can see the wooden bed, the small chairs, the home-made bread made by the hostess from not so ‎good quality flour. Here are also the reconstructions of the altar or the most holy part of a church ‎and of part of a boyar dwelling."‎

Among the most remarkable scenes are the end of the Battle of Adrianople in 1205, when Tsar ‎Kaloyan captured the Latin Emperor Baldwin of Flanders, as well as the coronation of the Bulgarian ‎ruler by Cardinal Leo III sent by Pope Innocent. The throne room of Tsar Ivan Asen II, presented ‎together with his wife Irina Komnina and the Bulgarian Patriarch, also draws visitors’ amazement.‎

‎"You can also see a boyar family who were church donors”, adds tour guide Iva Robova. “The scene depicts the ‎donation for the construction of many churches and monasteries. Next comes a reconstruction of ‎the scriptorium - the place where books were written in the Middle Ages."‎

The museum also takes us to a street of medieval craftsmen where a potter sculpts a ceramic ‎vessel, a blacksmith sharpens a sword, and masons build a stone edifice.‎

The idea to visualize the life of representatives of the different layers of the medieval Bulgarian ‎society was the work of the sculptor Boris Borisov. In the only museum of its kind in the Balkans, ‎the life-size figures are created from a special silicone material that is used in the cinema and ‎resembles the appearance of human skin.

Eye prostheses were used for the eyes, eyebrows, ‎eyelashes, beards and hair were woven in hair by hair, and the clothes and equipment were ‎handmade by the author and his 20-member team.‎

A few months ago, 37 new exhibits were added to the museum's collection of 28 exhibits. The first ‎scene of the museum's expansion recreates the Battle of Klokotnitsa, in which the Bulgarian troops ‎defeated the Epirus ruler Theodore Komnenos, capturing him and his family.‎

The composition "Farewell to Patriarch Euthymius" with the image of an old man leaning on ‎crutches, who came with his granddaughter to say goodbye to the clergyman, is heartbreaking.‎

‎"This is a tragic scene depicting how Tarnovo residents were bidding farewell to their Patriarch whom the ‎Turks took into exile after the fall of Tarnovo”, says Boris Borisov. “The moment in which people ‎ask him: "To whom are you leaving us, Bishop?" is recreated, and he answers: "I leave you in the ‎hands of the Holy Trinity now and forever." Many artists have worked on this theme, but what we ‎have tried to do is to convey the dramatic power, the hopelessness of the event, of the condition ‎of the people. However, it is very important that one does not overdo the gesticulation - not to ‎become too theatrical, but to feel this subtle nuance of the emotional states."‎

And since lately we are teetering in extreme states and tend to turn events and personalities of the ‎past into kitsch, the sculptor sends a message: "The goal here is not some over-patriotic things. ‎However, we should not forget the glorious history of this town.”‎

Read also:

Photos: BGNES, Zdravka Maslyankova

Written by Diana Tsankova (based on an interview of Zdravka Maslyankova, BNR correspondent in Veliko Tarnovo)

Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!

Share

A museum of silicone figures in Veliko Tarnovo recreates life in the Second Bulgarian ‎Kingdom

More from category

104 years since the annexation of the Western Outlands

Bakadzhik monastery has preserved relics from the National Liberation of Bulgaria

On Archangel All Souls' Day believers honour the dead and give alms