site.btaExhibition Showing 22 Authentic Traditional Bulgarian Costumes Opens in Paris

The exhibition Threads of Time / Au fil du temps, featuring 22 authentic Bulgarian festive folk costumes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, opens on September 11 at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Paris to mark the start of the institution’s new season, Desislava Bineva, director of the institute, told the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

More than a century after Bulgarian national costumes were showcased at the World Expo 1900 Paris, original traditional costumes will once again be on display in Paris, Bineva noted.

The exhibits belong to three private collections. The garments belonged to women from various ethnographic regions of Bulgaria and from Bulgarian communities outside the country’s current borders, from Banat in present-day Romania, Aegean Thrace in present-day Greece and Eastern Thrace in present-day Turkiye, Bineva said.

According to her, the costumes are among the preserved original examples from the period following the Liberation in 1878. At that time, European fashion was gradually making its way into Bulgarian towns, whilst in the villages traditional garments continued to be worn for several more decades.

Festive costumes were worn at weddings, religious festivals and family celebrations. Entirely handmade, they have been preserved and passed down as family treasures, which has contributed to their survival to this day, Bineva said.

The first exhibition of traditional Bulgarian costumes in Paris took place in 1900. At that time, costumes from the National Museum in Sofia, jewellery and textiles were displayed in the Bulgarian pavilion at the World Expo in the French capital.

The garments in Au fil du temps / Costumes traditionnels bulgares have been loaned by collectors Liliya Getova, Daniela Dimitrova and Anton Gudov, who seek out, collect and preserve examples of Bulgaria’s cultural heritage.

The exhibition, organized at the initiative of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Paris, will be open to visitors until November 20.