In May this year Simeon Marlokov presented his own project, named a Virtual Walk at the Union of Bulgaria 1885 exposition with Plovdiv’s Regional Museum of History. Simeon has graduated from the Academician Kiril Popov high school of mathematics and is now studying at the local branch of the Technical University. He says the implementation of the idea was a challenge:

“The project started its story during my high school years. I have always been interested in cultural institutions. I wanted to recreate one of them, in order to leave it not only to the current generation, but also to the younger one and the next. I did it all on my own. We were a team while we presented it at first, but I was the only one who worked on the technical part. Lots of labor was necessary for the creation of the virtual walk. Usually there are large teams involved into such projects, but it took me three years to complete it, as I was alone.”

The project of Simeon Marlokov is also a platform that can be added to. The initial idea of the author was that it would cover the entire Plovdiv:

“I didn’t want to limit my efforts to the museum only, but my participation in this project is now over. I will be happy to find out from now on that someone else has shown the enthusiasm to continue. Unfortunately I don’t have the time and abilities to develop the project actively, as the work is too much for me at the moment.”

Virtual walks of that kind are an easily accessible option for a modern person that uses different interactive devices on a daily basis. One can visit the exposition at any time and from anywhere on the globe online. However, is it possible the opposite effect to occur this way: what’s accessible becomes less attractive, making the connection of young people with our history thinner?

“I think there are people out there who continue to have faith in what’s Bulgarian, to get to know their own history and to be proud of it. Of course, some may find the Unification day just another paid holiday. However, there will be always others who will know that the date is a special one, almost as special as March 3 – Bulgaria’s National Day,” Stefan Marlokov says in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev