First Impressions of the Bulgarian ECC

First and foremost, welcome to my blog. This is my first time writing in this type of format, and I'm as curious to find out where this will take me as you are reading this most likely. I'm writing you from Plovdiv, the 2019 European Capital of Culture, Bulgaria. Well, one of the two ECC's this year, the other city being Italy's Madera. There are many first impressions to address, but I feel that first you must get a sense of my background to grasp the perspective I’m experiencing this from. There are several peculiar things about being here, the most obvious one being the question of what a youth from the Caribbean is doing in a European capital of culture? As different as the language, way of interacting, Bulgarian traditional clothing and music is to that of Suriname, there are a couple of aspects of the Plovdivian environment that make me feel very comfortable. Starting with the sunny weather and temperatures above 30 degrees, a relatively high humidity, mosquitoes out and about from 7 pm onward, and even the rowdy cars and maze like infrastructure, there are some aspects of the city are quite close to home. Perhaps it is also that a laid back attitude comes as result of a tropical climate, but there is a certain tranquility that I feel and have not experienced on European soil prior to being here. Not to mention all the socio-economic similarities that come as result of poverty and multiple ethnicities having to figure it out in one place. The dried paint slowly peeling off of decaying or abandoned buildings, the mixing of various architectural styles that give a mismatched vibe throughout the city, as well as the uneven cobblestoned roads and sidewalks that can be troublesome to maneuver by foot. There is something real and honest about a place like this, where you can see a city that has gone through drastic changes, and is still undergoing change now. 
Of course there are also some major differences. First one being that so far I’ve been able to count all the people of colour I’ve come across here on my two hands (including the few that in the group I’m travelling with) and those of Afro-diaspora descent on one. That’s not to say that I’m necessarily surprised though, I mean, I am in eastern Europe after-all, and this is not known for its predominantly black population. But I will say that the amount of swastika graffiti does not help. Though one of our guides, who hails from the city, explained that for some reason swastika’s are associated with football hooligan culture, and that due to the sheer quantity and the perpetual clean up/removal costs, they tend to go unremoved by the municipality (Bulgaria is the poorest nation in the EU). I also noticed that some of the swastikas were either painted over, or covered up in some way, and then in some cases another swastika was resprayed over its initial cover up. Though I was initially shocked by the quantity of swastika’s around, after some thought I figured that this might not necessarily mean that there are more Neo-Nazis present here than there are in Amsterdam for example. The only difference is that in Amsterdam this type of graffiti is either removed by the municipality, or there are more proactive measures in place against graffiti being sprayed in general. Perhaps Plovdiv in a sense even a more ‘honest’ representation of true sentiments that still brew in Europe, in so far as we can take Plovdiv as an accurate representation of what Europe is like. The point is, these sentiments are present, and stand as a reminder to take the necessary precautions. 
Before we left to Bulgaria, we had heard that Bulgarians are somewhat notorious for complaining, and another thing that stood out to me that the same guide mentioned was that he gave an explanation as to why the “freedom to complain” is seen as integral Bulgarian culture. He explained, considering that Bulgaria is recovering from the former soviet regime, and from a history of cultural production used for propaganda as result of that regime. While at the same time dealing with poverty, and the abrupt stop of state funding for cultural projects as Neoliberal capitalists practices were slowly and are still becoming more mainstream, not to mention the so-called brain-drain that most poor nations suffer from, there is without a doubt a lot to complain about. Especially considering that there is heavy segregation between the various ethnic groups in the city, particularly between the largest Roma ghetto (Stolipinovo) and the rest of the city I guess that the idea of “together” is not only a goal, and a utopian one at best, but also a statement about the current state of affairs. People from various walks of life are simply together in this city, and the only ones who have to deal with it and are able to do anything about it are those exact same people, together. I simultaneously cannot help but hope that in this sense Plovdiv can not only solve its socio-cultural and socio-economic issues, and not to forget the corruption that plagues its post soviet government, but also that this city set an example and perhaps even provide a template for how different people, with all the differences that set them apart and define their different identities can still live together in the same spaces and places with each life being valued and treated equally. Especially regarding the ECC program, and Plovdiv serving as this year’s capital, culture and art are always political, and perhaps what becomes clear from this case is that is is impossible to have politics without culture and arts as well. In the same way that we need art that is critical and intellectually stimulating, we need to be critical and take agency of the culture we live and participate in everyday, as the latter literally makes up the fabric of human interaction in society. 

Either way, this Caribbean boy is having a lovely time and learning as much as he can about a part of European culture that is new to him, and perhaps even new to mainstream Europe’s conception of European identity as well.


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