Photo Project Tells Stories of 'Foreigners who Made Bulgaria Their Home

Society » CULTURE | August 4, 2015, Tuesday // 12:38
Bulgaria: Photo Project Tells Stories of 'Foreigners who Made Bulgaria Their Home Photo: www.multikulti.bg

What do an American entrepreneur, a Russian artist and a Muslim refugee from the Middle East have in common?

The answer is quite simple: they stand an equal chance to be part of the UnBulgarians project, which brings together the stories of people from New Zealand to Washington, from Pakistan to the UK, people of different social backgrounds who live in Bulgaria.

For instance, there is a 28-year-old musician from Mali who arrived in Bulgaria in 2012 and can be seen in the photo above (C) standing in front of the National Assembly building in Sofia, with a sweatshirt bearing the image of Vasil Levski, one of Bulgaria's most popular national heroes.

"When you live in a foreign country, you need to integrate well. To be a good example. True, sometimes you might stumble upon mediocre people. But when you are well integrated, you can avoid problems. I personally haven’t experienced special treatment, because I am a foreigner," he is quoted as saying.

There are, however, people from other millieus such as translators or businessmen.

The project is aimed at tackling the rise of hate speech which the organizers believe was prompted recently by the influx of asylum seekers and the political and economic situation in Bulgaria.

Another goal is "to address these issues [stereotypes, xenophobia and populism] through the images and life stories of ordinary non-Bulgarians who live here."

UnBulgarians contains 30 photos and interviews which are to be officially presented on August 4 in the downtown area of the Black Sea city of Burgas (more details on the project's Facebook page).

But both the pictures and interviews are also available on UnBulgaria's own page within the Multi Kulti Collective's website.

As many as 42 000 foreign nationals lived in Bulgaria in 2013 - a number that makes up about 0.6% of a population of roughly 7.2 million.

Of them, just about 11 000 came from the EU, according to Eurostat data quoted by the UnBulgarians website.

About 11 000 requested in 2014 asylum in Bulgaria, and more then half have been granted either refugee or humanitarian status.

Some of the non-Bulgarians "have partaken of the recent property boom and have bought second homes for themselves and their families," an introduction on the website reads.

"What does it mean to be Bulgarian? What does it take to become one if your mother and father were born elsewhere – and if the colour of your skin and the shape of your eyes are different? Are understanding and appreciation of Bulgarian music, art, mountains and the Black Sea coast enough to qualify? Is not the ability to speak Bulgarian with only a light accent a well-passed benchmark? What is the difference between a variegated headscarf and one that is just plain grey?," the photographer, Anthony Georgieff, is wondering in the introduction.

The project is conducted by the Free Speech International Foundation.

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Tags: Bulgarians, UnBulgarians, Bulgaria, foreign, Multi Kulti Collective, eurostat, Burgas

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