Cartography of Memory: POMAK is an audiovisual work delving into the themes of identity, language, and culture among the Pomaks—Bulgarian-speaking Muslims. They primarily inhabit territories in Bulgaria, Northern Greece (the Xanthi region), and Northern Turkey. They speak a variety of Bulgarian (often referred to as the Pomak language) and practice Islam. Throughout the centuries, their identity, self-perception, and cultural belonging have been repeatedly questioned and suppressed. As Prof. Evgenia Ivanova from New Bulgarian University notes, the “double marginalization” of the Pomaks—by both Turks and Bulgarians—has driven them to seek an identity of their own.

The project documents visual imagery, rituals, the Pomak language, written records, and archival photographs, thereby affirming the community’s presence within the historical and cultural landscape. The result is a film essay, initiated in 2025 in Pomak villages across Bulgaria and continued during the summer in the villages of Miki, Echinos, and Thermes in the Xanthi region (Greece). The content, visual imagery, and sonic aesthetics of the work stem directly from fieldwork, the creative process, and exchanges with these communities.

We approached the subject as artists, rather than as ethnographers, anthropologists, or historians. Field encounters, personal narratives, songs, and archival materials intertwined to form visual and sound experiments—a collage exploring how the past and memory are experienced, preserved, erased, and reimagined, thereby opening a space for reflection on belonging, understanding, and equality among communities.

This project started back in 2020 and 2025 in collaboration with Aether Sofia and Rayna Teneva @aether_sofia, and now is part of Sofia Art Week 9 → check the full program here @saw_sofiaartweek

“Cartography of Memory: POMAK” is financially supported by the National Culture Fund, “Creation’25” and Creative Europe: On Move grant ’25 @nationalculturefund and @creative.europe.bulgaria