From 8 to 26 October, the exhibition space will feature old, archival photographs of iconic shopping markets in the Bulgarian capital. Georgi Prodanov says of the images that most were taken by foreigners who passed through Bulgaria and were strongly attracted by the local markets. Many of these photos are from the first half of the 20th century. 

In the exhibition visitors will be able to see human figures of sellers and buyers from different eras, made from old photographs, and on a tablet every visitor will be able to see five short films, made by five directors - Vanya Ivanova, Silvia Pesheva, Stefan Stefanov, Ina Vladimirova and Ekaterina Minkova. The stories in them are part of the raw material shot for the feature film. 

We're not looking for specific periods, we're looking literally for photographs that tell stories about time and life, admits Dr. Georgi Prodanov. For this reason, the project's protagonists are the professor of the history of modern culture Alexander Kyosev and the historian and journalist Albena Shkodrova, as well as the three sisters Lili, Laura and Blagorodna, who remember their childhood in the market, Bai Georgi - the son of the cartman, and Steve - a foreigner who came to Bulgaria in 1988, who after his first tour of the Women's Market said to himself, "These are my people." And to the vendor who still remembers the date he came to Sofia and the Women's Market. 

The film will also give us interesting perspectives on another significant place for our capital, especially during the transition - the so-called "bitak" (flea market) and its history. "Is it the goods that are sold there or the stories?" will be one of the first questions you will ask yourself. 

The market is a living organism that disappears and reappears at the same time and on a daily basis, says Georgi Prodanov:

"I am not sure if the understanding that we are on the edge of the Orient here is valid for the markets in Bulgaria. In fact, the mass perception of the markets is influenced by films and stories about the oriental markets of the Ottoman Empire. I think that in fact the relationship is the same in the west and in the east. Everywhere you can meet people who are addicted to markets, people who communicate through them. We Bulgarians are not as colourful and attractive as, say, the markets to the East of us. At the same time, we are not as poor in relationships as some of the markets in the West. I wish after watching our films people would take a walk in the places we talk about. You won't get that experience in any hypermarket. 

There you have it, back to being able to choose, relying on your senses, not so much on the packaging. Every time you go to the market you are put in a different situation, which for these years we are living in is an opportunity to change for a moment the attitude and the way we perceive the world and to see that there is something else around us.

"What's changing, and for me is the problem in the marketplace, is the fact that more and more people are out there selling things they didn't produce themselves. That's changing the buyer-seller relationship. And in that sense, the market is disappearing, because ultimately the big retail chains are doing the same thing", says Georgi Prodanov.