On 9 June 2026, the exhibition “Discovery. Bulgarian Cluster” was officially opened at the Panayot Volov House Museum, part of the Regional Historical Museum in Shumen. The exhibition is organized within the framework of the international project “Crimean Tatar Studies. Among the highlights of the opening events was a presentation by Polina Trifonova, a PhD student at the Balkan Ethnology Department at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In her talk, “Living Memory: The Cultural Heritage of the Crimean Tatars in the Shumen Region,” she explored the history, cultural heritage, and contemporary presence of the Crimean Tatar community in the Shumen region. The presentation attracted considerable interest from the audience and underscored the importance of preserving the memory and cultural legacy of this local community.
The exhibition is on view until 9 July 2026. It is dedicated to the 82nd anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars – a tragic event that marked their history and cultural memory. The project is led by Valeria Levkivska and organized by the “Ritual Culture of Ukraine” Foundation. Its partners include the Crimean Tatar community of Tsarev Brod, headed by Bahtishen Kaya; the German-Ukrainian association KOLOS e.V. (Bremen, Germany); the creative group Author’s Motanka Doll; the Yulia Krasovska Art School (Burgas, Bulgaria); and the Crimean Tatar cultural art salon SandIQ-Skrynia (Kyiv, Ukraine).
The exhibition features 30 doll compositions created by 25 artisans from Ukraine and the Crimean Tatar diaspora across seven countries, depicting aspects of Crimean Tatar life and culture in Crimea and Bulgaria at the beginning of the twentieth century. Visitors can also view the painting series “Crimean Tatar Architectural Monuments” by students of the Yulia Krasovska Art School, examples of traditional Crimean Tatar gold embroidery, and unique artefacts from the Crimean Tatar community of Tsarev Brod, Shumen Municipality.
The opening concluded with a tasting of homemade Crimean Tatar specialties, offering visitors an opportunity to experience another important aspect of the community’s cultural heritage.