A total of 264 places were booked in advance for children to participate in the various summer workshops organized by the Regional Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv. In July and August, the museum team held the first edition of ETHNOteka, under the motto “A Summer Without Screens.” The interest in the creative and educational activities for children during the summer holiday proved exceptionally strong.

“The main goal of the programme was to offer children an alternative to the digital environment through direct engagement with cultural heritage, creativity, play, experimentation and hands-on experiences in a museum setting. The workshops were designed not only to provide children with knowledge, but also to make them active participants – encouraging them to create, explore, ask questions, work as a team, and develop practical and creative skills,” said Malina Gadjeva, Deputy Director of the museum.

As part of ETHNOteka, a wide variety of formats were offered, including “The Museum of the Five Senses,” the “Discover Bulgaria” ethnographic quizzes and educational games, the improvisational theatre workshop “Colourful Tales,” a comic-drawing workshop, as well as workshops in felting, eco-resin, pottery and other activities.

The music workshops proved particularly popular, as did the activities involving an old photographic technique – cyanotype – and the therapeutic bread-making workshop held in the museum courtyard, entitled “No One Is Greater Than Bread.”

The museum’s restoration workshop also attracted a new audience. It became a special space for older students, who discovered an interesting and different alternative for spending their holiday at the museum.

ETHNOteka took place in several locations throughout the museum complex – in the courtyard of the Kuyumdzhioglu House, in the main exhibition, and in the museum’s newest space, “The World of the Iron.” The different locations added to the sense of adventure, especially during the games, in which participants had to discover hidden symbols, messages and treasures.

External specialists were also involved in delivering the new museum educational initiative, including master craftspeople and museum partners, as well as students from the Ethnology programme at Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv.