Following secondary data analysis on current topics in craft-related social innovation and the history and contemporaneity of traditional Bulgarian crafts, we organized a research trip to the chosen region to explore ethnographic collections and material culture, connect with active craftsmen and designers, collect impressions about their way of life and everyday struggles, and identify potential vulnerable groups, partners, and collaborators. A fieldwork trip took place in November 2015 and included walking tours, observation, informal and semi-structured interviews, photography, and audio-visual documentation. An important aspect was the involvement of local guides (key community experts) knowledgeable about the context and project-related issues. Interviews were conducted with craftsmen working with local resources, researchers and cultural workers, and young people active in preserving local traditions. Foundations for future cooperation were laid with three non-governmental organizations engaged in craft-related projects: Fabrikata (Gabrovo) – a cultural resource center, Ideas Factory (Sofia) – a youth arts and culture organization, and Meshtra (Sofia) – a group of young architects working with natural building materials.

Traditional crafts in Bulgaria, like elsewhere, have struggled to remain competitive in the global market. Starting from the belief that modernizing crafts solely for marketing purposes and increasing consumerist demands for exclusive and luxurious products are unsustainable approaches, this project emphasized co-creation and collaborative making over-commercialization.

The aim was to promote symbiotic partnerships between the local industry, craftsmen, and designers.

Our proposed strategy included encouraging non-competitive collaboration between craftsmen and designers by separating the process of creative innovation from survival-driven daily targets, and finding common ground between industrial producers and artisans through recycling and upcycling waste.

Taking a step back from their immediate daily concerns, craftsmen could rethink their roles within the broader social, economic, and material ecosystem. Much like the process of repairing broken ceramics by integrating bonding materials, the metaphor of fusion and collaboration for a more cohesive, stronger outcome underpinned the project’s concept. We proposed a circular model that would involve people with different expertise concerning materials and processes, as well as diverse aesthetic visions and design approaches, to collaborate in collecting, repairing, and recycling ceramic production waste and rejects. Creating a space for craftsmen, designers, and the local community to engage in workshops that transform waste into new, imperfect objects would promote interdependency and interconnectedness within the community.

The preliminary research was documented here →