It is 160 years since the first chitalishte appeared in Bulgaria. (chitalishte is a kind of community culture club, specific to Bulgaria). Even in our day these community culture clubs are an institution in their own right, especially in small towns and villages because through the years, they have played a crucial role as a centre of education and enlightenment. The chitalishte is a social phenomenon intrinsic to Bulgaria that combines education, enlightenment, creativity and amateur art. The idea of having the chitalishte working for the public weal is deeply ingrained in the psychology of Bulgarians as a nation. The chitalishta have always been a hub of the Bulgarians spirit, a place of education, a place to develop one’s talents.

In our day chitalishta have libraries, organize literary readings, shared interest clubs - amateur music, dancing, sports, foreign language, drama clubs. They usually have a hall to house significant events with the participation of the local community, celebrations or meetings of the public. Each chitalishte has a name, usually honouring the memory of prominent cultural or historical figures.

Opening a new chitalishte is a grand event, worthy of the time of the National Revival, say people living in our own time, adding that the first 130 chitalishta opened doors precisely during the period of the National Revival(19^th century). One more cultural and educational centre of this kind is to open doors in Bourgas on the Black Sea, born of the belief of a group of enthusiasts that the local community needs to be united by culture and art.

“It is not a commercial project,” says Lina Skavova and introduces herself as the cultural manager of the new chitalishte, called Hamalogika.

“We are a group of enthusiasts freshly returned from abroad. We got to talking that Bourgas needs a cultural and social centre, a hub to overstep the bounds of the city. And we realized there was a Bulgarian word for that – chitalishte. The idea is to make use of art and culture to form communities that will push society as a whole forward. Since we launched the campaign for a new chitalishte we have been getting calls from all kinds of people with new ideas and projects. For the time being the chitalishte offers lectures, discussions and seminars, as well as training courses and alternative methods for resolving long-standing social problems. We have had no support from the municipality or from the state, our financing comes from different funds, programmes and fund-raisers we ourselves organize. I myself have a background in law, but the board includes all kinds of people – architects, photographers, choreographers, book publishers, musicians. We decided we needed to bring together active people from the city, people who organize jazz festivals, theatre performances so they can put their own energy into the idea and leave their imprint on the life of the community. I am glad to say that there are many people willing to help. When we posted information in social networks that we needed help to refurbish the building, seven people responded and on the day the work had to be done, twelve turned up. So, it was simply a question of organizing people’s energy, suggesting an idea that is sound and showing that it is well worth the effort.”

Where does the name of the chitalishte, Hamalogika come from?

“The name can be interpreted in different ways. (The name is a combination of the words for stevedore, logics and other shades of meaning). We have even been called the cultural stevedores of the big city and that is very true. Actually, the idea for the name was born out of our very first initiative when we put up hammocks in the trees in the park for people to read in. So, we came up with the word hamalogika – or the logic of people stretched out in hammocks, reading. There will be no official opening of the chitalishte, but we will bring together lots of people with ideas like ours. We would very much like to invite people and show them how far we have come. We have done everything ourselves, there was a time when the chitalishte building didn’t even have walls. But when everything is done on a voluntary basis, it is difficult to set down deadlines and promise when the chitalishte will open. Still we hope everyone will notice how much we have done in our temerity to open a new chitalishte.”

English version: Milena Daynova