Mysterious sounds and mysterious silence

by Julian Popov

Now Bulgaria is exposed. Entering the EU is a kind of unwrapping, walking out of the twilight zone between Europe and, what we consider, dark Asia. We were wrapped there and through one little peephole in our box for many centuries we have been observing and absorbing and singing to ourselves. And nobody knows what we have seen and what we can tell the world, once we are out of the box.

To define culture is a pretty tough job. To define Bulgarian culture, is almost impossible, which makes the task more enticing. One source of wisdom in solving the mystery of Bulgarian culture is, naturally, the BBC. Last year BBC Radio 3 voted The London Bulgarian Choir best choir of the year in its open category. The choir is an impressive international group performing authentic Bulgarian folk songs. Most of the choristers are not Bulgarian.

In 2005 Bulgarian clarinettist Ivo Papazov took the BBC's World Music Audience Award. He is a wedding musician, well known to peasant and sophisticated music lover alike. One problem with Papazov is that nobody knows whether he is Bulgarian, Turk or Gipsy in origin. In about two minutes of music he can squeeze sounds from the three traditions. And if a Serb, Macedonian or a Greek hears him they will certainly claim that their unique national musical traditions influence his syncopated off-beat and wild melodies. People are not even sure what Papazov's real name is. He used to be known as Ibriama (Ибряма), but then during a late version of the Bulgarian National Cultural Revolution in which the Communist government in Bulgaria decided to bulgarize all the names of the substantial ethnic minorities in the country, he turned into Ivo Papazov.

Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, another Bulgarian choir, gained a cult following around world. In 1994 I was stunned to see the Royal Festival Hall in London packed with discerning music lovers entranced by songs which Bulgarians see as just village folklore. It happens quite often that Bulgarian art is recognised and appreciated and even flourishes abroad first.

Mysteriously, with Boris Christoff, Nikolai Ghiaurov, probably the greatest bass of all times, Ghena Dimitrova, Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Raina Kabayvanska, Bulgaria has given the world some of its finest opera singers, an art form far removed from Bulgarian traditions. And to reaffirm its leading position in the world of opera, the concertmaster and creative producer of the Royal Opera House, the young violinist Vasko Vasilev is also Bulgarian.

Another art form foreign to us is the visual avant-guard. However, one of the greatest names in modern art, Christo, is a Bulgarian who received all his formal art schooling in depressing socialist realism at Sofia's art academy. Then he ran away and wrapped up the world.

Wrapping is probably the key to understanding Bulgarian culture and Bulgarian behaviour in general. We hide, rather than show off, we are shy and if we come across something exceptional, we do not confront it, or endorse it, we do not get enthusiastic about it, but cover it. We wrap it.

One curious Bulgarian contribution to European cultural diversity is the Cyrillic alphabet (кирилица) - now one of the three official EU alphabets. It is still giving headaches to computer experts who are struggling to find ways to invent a reliable Cyrillic keyboard and encoding programmes. But despite their troubles we are proud of it. The Cyrillic alphabet, which was designed in Bulgaria and later spread to a large part of the Slav world, was one of the instruments for the early cultural consolidation of the European continent. It helped to spread Christianity among a large part of the Eastern Slavic world. And the day of St Cyril and Methodius, who created the Bulgarian alphabet in 855, is probably the most celebrated and most non-controversial holiday in Bulgaria. In Bulgarian Europe would be Европа and Brussels - Брюксел. We still have a disagreement with Брюксел about the spelling of the Euro. In Bulgarian it is Евро, or Evro. It is almost impossible for a Bulgarian to say Euro. As it is impossible to understand how on earth Брюксел is trying to impose tax on home made brandy(ракия) that probably 50% of Bulgarians make at home in vast quantities. And drink it with their neighbours and relatives.

Of course culture is not just about art. Culture is about environment, habits, manners and confidence in repeating one and the same thing. Bulgarians however do not have the confidence to like and cherish the things they repeat. That is why we do not always appreciate our unique culture. We are rather embarrassed that we shake our heads in a "no" direction when we want to say "yes".

The Bulgarian language has always been open to foreign influences and probably that is why it developed a grammatical system distinctly different from any other Slav language. We have a rich variety of Turkish, Greek, French and now English words which make Bulgarian an exceptionally rich language (if you bother to learn a few dialects). I know at least three Bulgarian words for potato and at least two for thank you (one of them being "Merci").

There is however something in the Bulgarian culture, which is not appreciated by foreigners. This is the nature of the Bulgarians' attitude towards other nations. We are rude to them. One would expect that this would breed hostility and aggression towards others. It has certainly brought some of the sadness one can hear in Bulgarian songs. But not hate. Not even hostility.

The leading Bulgarian 19th century revolutionary and organiser of an uprising against the Ottoman rule preached that when the Sultan's authority was abolished Turks and Bulgarians would live together in peace. When Bulgaria became part of the Axis in the Second World War it refused to deport its Jews. The protest against the demands of the Nazis was led by ordinary citizens and the Orthodox Church. In this way Bulgaria became one of the only two European countries allied to or occupied by Germany which saved their Jews. And as we know, the Danes hid the Jews from the Germans while the Bulgarians openly protested and forced their government to confront Germany. Yet we do not talk about that. We are mysteriously silent about this episode of our history. This is because we do not consider it exactly a chapter of our history. It is more a natural part of our culture of neighbourhood. You might be very different from your neighbour or even dislike him but you would protect him and fight for his right to have his own garden and his own territory behind his own high walls where he can be himself and where he can be silent and hidden from the rest of the world in his own way. Safely wrapped like a little local installation by Christo.

Now Bulgaria is exposed. Entering the EU is a kind of unwrapping, walking out of the twilight zone between Europe and, what we consider, dark Asia. We were wrapped there and through one little peephole in our box for many centuries we have been observing and absorbing and singing to ourselves. Nobody knows what we have seen and what we can tell the world, once we are out of the box. Not even we ourselves. And, who knows, we may yet try to become BBC storytellers of the century.

I recommend...

FOOD I would recommend lukanka, pasturma and shopska salad. BOOKS It is very difficult to recommend books as there is nothing translated into English - if you don't count Nobel laureate Elias Canetti, who left Bulgaria aged 7. MUSIC Bulgaria has really unique folklore (dance: Horo - and music) and church music (specially performances by Boris Christoff). PLACES fantastic mountains (with bears) lots of mineral water springs, lovely beaches that are being completely destroyed by recent development. MORE UNIQUE FEATURES Thracian gold, world champions in chess (men and women), bear dancing, beautiful naive icons, world class weight-lifters and ice skaters, unique yoghurt, European complexes, and in the early 90s we were by far the most prolific producers of computer viruses in the world.

© Julian Popov. All views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to the European Commission.

Julian Popov is a writer and management and communications consultant. Since moving to the UK in 1994, Julian has worked as an international development adviser specialising in organisational design, strategic communications, training and education. In 1990 he was appointed as the first Executive Director of the New Bulgarian University. He has served on the Board of Trustees since 1995. From 1985-1990 Julian was an editor of the literature magazine Fakel, specialising in the publication of previously unknown dissident texts by Russian and Soviet authors. He was the director of the Angel Karalijtchev museum of literature. He is also the author of the novel 'Island of Mists' (a journey through the English class system), chairman of the Bulgarian School of Politics, treasurer and honorary secretary of Friends of Bulgaria