Products made of wool inspire the feeling of inner comfort and warmth in the visitors of the Plovdiv Regional Ethnographic Museum. The exhibition "Bulgarian felts - a message from antiquity" presents an ancient craft, which is believed to have been brought to our lands by the ancient Bulgarians.

"Felt - this is a non-woven textile that is made by layering and compressing wool,” Grozdelina Georgieva, curator at the museum, says. “Many layers are applied and the product can be both monochrome or with many colours and patterns. Felts from Koprivshtitsa, for example, are extremely colourful and contain basic symbols such as the star - the guardian of the family, the rosette, figures symbolizing the continuation of the family and depicting the river of life. All these wishes are not expressed in words, but through the means of expression of the fabric.”

Clothes, belts, shoes, mats, wall panels are made with this technique. In general, anything that can be created from ordinary fabric can be made from felt. "You don't need a device here, just your hands, water and soap," Grozdelina Georgieva adds.

"When working with colours, each pattern means something, especially since the felt products were often made as a gift at a wedding,” the curator says. “For the first wedding night, the newly-weds received a blessed carpet from which the creation of the new family would start. Very often the sun is placed as a central symbol on the felt carpet."

Smaller items for domestic use such as slippers, cloaks, clothes used to be made by women. However, the most skilful craftsmen were considered to be the so-called drundar - men who travelled from village to village and were hired for the most labor-intensive tasks.

"Large items such as carpets were made by men, as it was known in advance which village and which house they would visit,” Grozdelina Georgieva says. “The farmers had to prepare all the raw materials so that the craftsmen could make the large carpet over several days. The carpet was later given as a gift or as dowry to the young girl who was about to marry. It is a really laborious job."

According to Hungarian researcher and felter Istvan Vidak, who has travelled all over the world and absorbed knowledge from different peoples, the felts in Bulgarian lands are characterised by a lot of colour, symbols and beauty. The felt products are mainly the work of the two most prominent centers of the craft in Vidin and in Koprivshtitsa. Products from the beginning and middle of the 18th century have been found in Bulgaria, but after that the tradition was lost for a long time.

Since 2007, the Regional Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv has gradually begun to revive the craft, gathering masters of the craft in its yard.

"Currently, we have six masters of felt products, who are also children's favorites. No child refuses to work with wool and water and make figurines or necklaces. Children are the favourite participants in our felt workshops, as many of them become students of the craftsmen and continue to visit them for years. The individuality of a person is also reflected in the skills and no two products are the same, which is the magic of hand-crafting."

Although it is an ancient craft, felting is still used today in making beautiful scarves in combination with silk, as well as jackets, slippers, boots.

Grozdelina Georgieva hopes that the craft will not go extinct with the last craftsmen."We give them a forum, we support their work, we show their craft, because it is important to see a living human being who puts their soul into the product," she says.

The variety of shapes, colors and coded messages presented in the two floors of the museum, will be available to visitors until October 15. "Come in, because the exhibits, in addition to protective symbols, also carry auspicious symbols," Grozdelina Georgieva says in conclusion.

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: Regional Ethnographic Museum - Plovdiv