On July 27, 2017, under the patronage of the Vice-President Iliyana Yotova, was opened and consecrated by His Eminence the bishop of Varna and Great Preslav – Yoan, the fortress Cyrillic, in “Stara Pliska” cultural-historical complex.
I share my pleasure and honor to work on this project. In the hall, connected with creation of the Cyrillic, are exhibited woodcarvings of the alphabet`s letters in dimensions 184 x 100-140 cm (H x L). They are made in USTA DARIN STUDIO by my projects and under my management. In the same hall there is a wall for Glagolitic alphabet on which base Clement creates Cyrillic alphabet. Here are also the wax figures of Clement, Naum and Angelarius, magnificently reproduced by the sculpture Boris Borisov and his team. Visitors learn that the alphabet created in First Square Pliska is used by over 400 million people in the world.
32 woodcarvings because, in addition to the thirty letters of our modern alphabet, the three Russian letters are represented in a separate woodcarving, and in another one – the old “YAT” or so on double “E”.
For the double “E” I have chosen a special place in the hall. The return of this sign in the order of the alphabet radiates energy to revive the spirituality of the Bulgarians throughout the Cyrillic world.
I recreated the letters of the Sacred Bulgarian Alphabet through the sacred geometry of the squaring the circle. Bookmarks are constructed in a square and circle where the square has a perimeter equal to the circumference of the circle, unlike any classical fonts where the circle fits in the square. The sacredness in geometry and the archaic character of their form return us to the beginning of their creation.
The letters are designed specifically for the fortress “Cyrillic” and for the material they are made of. In one way, letters are written with a feather, in another with a sloping wooden stick, and in the third are carved into the wood.
Ornamentation from the woodcarvings transfers us to the time of creation of the writing and recreates the atmosphere of dignity and grace.
The double line of ornament is associated with the two original archetypes of the dualistic: male and female; power and wisdom; day and night. It builds shapes that, through their curves, strive from the right angle (the square) to the circle, from the earth to the heaven, from the material to the spiritual and … again the square and the circle.
The woodcarvings are created by inspiration, sculpted with hammer and chisel and not only …
The space – “air”, enters into the plane of the wood – “earth”, to build shapes hardened by “fire” and “water” (in a literal sense). The four elements, as an emanation of ancient pramatiria, were part of the working tools.
The Alphabet – She! An endless ocean of opportunities that has taken the focus of God’s intention to manifest the Word in material form.
In the journalists’ comments I read that the letters from the Cyrillic are not decoration, they amplify the walls of the fortress “Cyrillic”. They amplify them with vibration, for which only the heart and the soul have sensitivity.
In 2007, my work started with the letters of the “The Tryavna’s chamber” at Kalinchev House in Tryavna. Then the Glagolitic from the church in Uzundjovo, the Glagolitic in the chapel of VUZF(University of finance, business and entrepreneurship) – Sofia, in a private library, Cyrillic words in the iconostasis of the church “St. Petka “- Haskovo, woodcarvings in the restaurant of” Stara Pliska “complex – town of Pliska.
After ten years of lived through and filled with experience way, I asked questions:
- What does sacred alphabet mean?
- How many are the sacred alphabets and which are they?
- Why is our alphabet sacred?
- Are the Glagolitic and the Cyrillic Sacred too?
- Why is a sacred alphabet given to the Bulgarians?
- How can the sacred alphabet serve the people?
- What is the expected result of this?
The answers to these questions touched me and I will be happy to share them in the near future!
I want to express my gratitude to the team, which made possible the realization of the project:
- usta Darin Bozhkov – manager, designer and contractor
- Vasko Nenkov – carpentry
- Ivan Penchev – carpentry
- Pepa Ancheva – woodcarving
- Vasil Krastev – woodcarving and carpentry
- Nikola Bozhkov – woodcarving, carpentry, surface treatment, assemblies and painting
- Svetla Deneva – surface treatment
- Christian Dimitrov – woodcarving, carpentry and assemblies
- Sofia Bozhkova – surface treatment and painting
- Petya Bozhkova – office, engineering and technical work, surface treatment, painting
- Ilia Popov – assemblies
- Kamen Simov – assemblies
- Boyan Alexandrov- assemblies
- Marin Asenov – assemblies
- Dobromir Denev – woodcarving
- Mladen Petrov – transport
- Hasan Mehmedov – transport
