Създателят на Исторически парк в „Операция история“ с Росен Петров

Dear viewers, if you were wondering what our ancestors might have looked like, who built empires, which we then shamelessly call only states, you can see now. Interesting people live in Bulgaria, who are still preserving the Bulgarian language. As I told you, now my guest will be the man who tries to revive our history, to come to life. The man who is in charge of this truly grandiose work. The Historical Park of Varna. Mr. Evelin Mihailov. Welcome, Mr. Mihailov. Thank you. We showed some interesting shots. And you yourself have some necklace here. What is this? Yes, this was given to me by a Bulgarian priest in Ukraine, in a town called Rtsis, who built a unique temple complex, very large. He wants to open it and give it to Bulgaria, to the Bulgarian Church. And this is Archangel Mihailo from behind, he is a priest. It means a lot to me, because this is really a holy man. And I am a believer, and this is a symbol of our faith. And something that was given to me by a man who has great power. How is the park developing? The park is developing great. We do not stop, despite the different conditions, when we start from one thing. When Mr. Sparuha came to these lands, or when our owners did anything, they did not wait for the most favorable conditions, but created favorable conditions in the unfavorable situation. And we decide to work in the same way, not to stand and wait, but to see what we can do in the current circumstances and situation. Do you know that there is already a view of your park? Is that so? That the only larger park than the Historical Park of Varna is the Historical Park Center of Skopje. I will be happy one day to visit them. You know that Macedonians built Skopje unique, but your park is something like a symbol of statehood. I have never been to see them, but I will go one day. Good. Here we have gathered on a very important topic, on which you are a specialist. I have discussed it with my guests several times. Mr. Sparuha, can Bulgaria win from its cultural and historical heritage, or, to put it bluntly, can we finally reach our southern neighbors, who drink to the Greeks? I think this is the future of Bulgarian tourism, not only of Bulgarian tourism, but also of the Bulgarian state, because each state produces something that is unique, and other people or nations want to consume this thing. We are not strong in cars, in phones, but we are very strong in culture, or something that our children have taught us, and, most importantly, in spirituality. The spirituality of the Bulgarian people is very rich, very true. Sometimes they say, Bayganjo, but in fact these are the real people. Every woman in the world dreams of a real man. Every person dreams of having real relationships. And we can still say that we are a reserve of the real humanity, and it is thanks to our culture and everything that is inherited from our ancestors, such as language, literacy, religion and customs. When you said literacy, you were going to make an interesting statement. Can I ask you what letters we write in your opinion, in Greek or in Bulgarian? Well, I'll just tell you some facts. The Greek alphabet originates from the Phoenician. Few people know that the Phoenician alphabet is the first sound alphabet, and later the Greek and Bulgarian alphabets were created, which use this idea. So we, the two nations, have some development of this idea, which is of the Phoenicians. But the facts are as follows. Over 300 million people write in Bulgarian, or in Cyrillic, with our alphabet, and 10 million write in Greek. So we can ask ourselves the question, or rather find the answer, of who has had a greater cultural penetration in the past. Again, when we take a comparison in today's time, for example, the English, through their computers, through their colonies, at the moment, make English one of the most common languages. In the same way, the Spaniards with their colonies, or these are some of the most common languages in the world, which from smaller nationalities become very common. The cultural influence comes from the influence of these people in the past. Why do 300 million people write in the oldest known part of Europe, namely the countries which were the most developing? Bulgaria, Byzantium, they were the center of development, our world, which we know, excluding China, which for a long time was also a very large civilization. This shows that in the struggle between the Greek and Bulgarian letters, the victory is for the Bulgarian ones. Yes, it's just that Russians think that they write in Russian letters, that the alphabet was created by Lomonosov, some even think that it was created by Lenin, the Ukrainians think that some Ukrainian must have created it. Why does Bulgaria manage to advertise its past? What is the main problem? Why does everyone know about Greece, so to speak, in the West, and when they go to Greece, they are not so interested in the beach and how much it costs in rapeseed, that they will see Acropolis, that this is where Aristotle was born, and what should we attract? The village of Shopska? We forgot one thing, or rather we did not think about it, that every event that happens at the moment has its beginning. Some time ago I was surprised when I read the works of one of the greatest economists who made the strategy for the competitive development of Bulgaria, which in these works said that at the beginning of the 19th century Switzerland was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Today we know that Switzerland is one of the most well-developed countries. Or in a very short time a country manages to achieve a lot. How? When there is a targeted policy in this direction, the policy should not always be carried out by politicians, it can be carried out by entrepreneurs, by people, by organizations. The Greeks for a long time advertise everything they do. While we stand and choose ... For a long time, I would say almost 150 years. Exactly. 150 years is not such a long period. I say this because today things happen much faster. We see that an idea can be in 10 years. The means to spread information are much faster. But what they do is to act in this direction. I'll give you an example. If we go abroad, we will see Greek yogurt, and Bulgarian yogurt is almost never spread. This is because we do not make progress in this direction to spread it. The same is true for our culture. We do not do something to show it. That's why we decided to work in this direction. How? When we give the opportunity to the creators to express themselves and the topic on which they work to be our culture, then we will gradually start to gain world popularity. What do you mean? Think about it. If there are 10 films on the subject of Bulgarian history, what will happen then? Will Bulgaria be small or very recognizable? It will be very recognizable, but who will invest in such films? Let's start with something else. For example, when we look at the greatest artists in the world, the ones who choose for the theme of their paintings, which remain forever, because the film is transitional, but the paintings are eternal, they use either the Western mythology, the Roman or the Greek, and since the Greek is considered the originator of the Roman, the Western world is considered the originator of the Roman or of the Western philosophy, in this way they inadvertently advertise the Greek. Through various cultural events, the artists were once financed by rich people and they make paintings that are really dazzling and when we see them we inadvertently admire the history. In fact, we admire the art that these people have recreated. What did we decide to do? To make a huge contest which will give the chance to the Bulgarian and international artists to draw on the theme of the Bulgarian history, because this year we gave such a theme and it is the Bulgarian alphabet. You said very correctly that the Russians consider it to be Russian, the Macedonians consider it to be Macedonian, because it is in the Ohrid school, Kliment Ohrid, the creator of the alphabet. Everyone can find something and show that this alphabet is not Bulgarian, it is different. But the one who produces the most content on the subject, for example the Bulgarian alphabet or the Russian alphabet, then it becomes official and in the world it becomes a public property, because think about it, in this exhibition there are more than 16 countries who have representatives of their artists. All the media will show that their artists participate in the Bulgarian alphabet contest and these more than 200 artists who so far participate from 16 countries will spread our culture. Or this is an event that spreads as the trees spread their seeds and other trees are sown, so we will make a cultural spread about the information about the Bulgarian alphabet, but put in a beautiful way. The best contemporary artists should draw on the subject of the Bulgarian alphabet and show its development. They should take the beginning and recreate it. Or as it is in the Sikstinska Chapel or in other places, we start to make art on the subject of the Bulgarian history and something very important, the Bulgarian literacy. Do you think that this will be interesting from foreign authors? There are more than 16 countries that have their representatives and they are not one, but several. Even France has several representatives. This is one of the most developed European cultures. France and Italy are the most developed European cultures, the richest in cultural relations. This shows that we are interested in them. This is also a great opportunity for Bulgarian artists. Why? We know that in the context of the coronavirus singers are asking for help. Everyone is asking for help because the events are limited. The good thing about the Historic Park is that it was created for the coronavirus pandemic because everything is open and there is no danger of infection. But such an exhibition can give an opportunity because it has a large reward fund. First of all, the artists are the best rated. We made it like this. Except for the Phoenician alphabet, there are also Phoenician signs. Phoenician signs that help the artist to exist while he is creating and give him a direction. Very often in Bulgaria we fight against the chalga. But when there is someone who gives Phoenician signs, the singers are aiming to work in this direction, to produce it. And no matter how much we say that it is not good if someone does not pay for it, in the end the intellectuals will remain mute in front of the Phoenician signs. No one will hear them. Everyone will choose the direction that has money. If we create a direction and a search for such a product that is cultural, in which both the artists and the consumers really enjoy a product that enriches them and makes them more common with more people, then we will have an environment that we all dream of. At the moment we see these guys with these costumes, with these swords. How authentic is this? How close to a dream to remember the past glory? In the historical park we use reconstructors who live in this direction. They like it very much and love this thing. They are a specific community that if someone falls in the wrong direction they quickly return him to the right path. The community of reconstructors works only on the basis of archaeological findings. They do not invent something, but something has to be found, to be reconstructed, to start wearing it to make it comfortable, because the picture or the fragment is different when you make it as a whole to see how comfortable it is to wear. And what our reconstructors do and not only these people around the world, is to restore the history based on archaeological findings. So everything we see is authentic, from shoes, shields, helmets, scarves, clothes, shoes, necklaces, every detail. For example, the medals for the old Bulgarians were on their necklaces, not on their uniforms. There was a medal for bravery. It was put on the necklace and the greater the rank, the more battles the fighter suffered and distinguished himself. His necklace is richly decorated. Even his shoes have some meaning. At a shooting tournament with a bow, I chose red shoes because I like red flowers. I am not a revolutionary, but a man who has to get to this circle to organize events. Some Turks saw me and said, why are you wearing red shoes? And we said, because he is a tsar. At one time, only the tsars wore red shoes. They had yellow, black, depending on the rank. Not only in Bulgaria, but all over the world there are good revolutionaries and people-reconstructors. Even the reconstructors with their rank dress up with shoes, armor, decorations on their necklaces. It is very interesting to see and learn something about the past. What about the symbols on the shoes? The symbols on the shoes are digs found during various burials. They are embedded in the shoes of the reconstructors. I am sure that this is interesting for foreigners. During the pandemic, many foreigners came to the historical park. In the end, some people from Russia came to the park. They were watching how we were reconstructing medieval houses. They stopped and filmed. I was curious and asked them what they were doing. They said, we saw this project on the Internet. We came from Moscow to see it. When the whole world invests to keep people financially or economically safe, you are the only ones who invest in the soul, in the culture, in the reason why this community exists. We believe that you are the only ones who will survive. A lot of English, Germans, Germans came. In the village of the historical park, two Americans bought a house on the Internet just because they liked it. They liked it a lot. One American came and said, everything is fake. They did not expect so much effort. They are very impressed. What impresses me the most is a British man who is the heir of the British Empire. What impresses you the most When we ask an Englishman what is our national dish, he says, we do not have it. We do not know what is our national dish. They do not have a rich culture. They are a parasitic culture that has touched a lot of people thanks to the Phoenician signs or the power at some point. While we have so much creativity and diversity in each area, these people are delighted by it. Maybe you remember that during socialism we were dissatisfied with the blue panel blocks. They were all the same. What they have is a blue monotonous culture. While we are all the same. Our creativity and creativity are huge. When they are shown in one place, these people are delighted. They are not used to be seen as equal. In this case, when they come and see a nation that is equal, they are delighted. There are people who will say that we are rich spiritually, but the purpose of this park is to win. When a person wins from the good, he enriches other people and the environment. I will give you an example. I am from Gorna Orehovitsa. It is a very big city and you cannot boast about something special. So, when I see a beautiful building being built, I go and sit down and say that this building was built in my city. I can be proud of it. Wherever I have been in the world, I have always treated other people as equals. I have never treated them as a niche. Because I know the richness that our people have. What we create, we give each Bulgarian the confidence that he is equal to others. We create it, we support it, and a person can use it only for one purpose. For example, I have a garden. The support of my garden costs a lot of money. And for a person to have this park and to see it, he is a Bulgarian after all. I think that the need for profit, when it is done for the benefit of the community, cannot be called a need for profit. We can call it the creation in the name of the community. And then everyone deserves to have it. The last question. Last time I raised a topic that caused a heated discussion. I said that in Western historiography we are called the first and the second Bulgarian Empire, during the time of Ren Simon. Why are we Bulgarians ashamed to call ourselves an empire and use the case of ephemisms as a state and a kingdom? You are talking about ephemisms for the general public. Isn't it better for our children to read that their ancestors built empires? It is better, and I think that this is the problem of the rulers. I can't say which rulers. They have been ruling for 100 years. But for the last 40 years the rulers have been serving foreign interests, not the Bulgarian ones. And because of this reason they are afraid to call themselves so. I will give you an example. I have a friend. Once we talked about something and there was a dispute between me and a very rich person in Bulgaria. He said, I think he is right and I ask him why, because he is richer. Or most people think that someone who is richer now, was richer in the past and we should listen to what he tells us. Naturally, for other countries there is no interest in having self-respect because it is more difficult to rule. We all know that. What we will teach our children depends on each Bulgarian. There are a lot of books published, a lot of literature which is described as the first and the second Bulgarian empire. So let's look for them and we can teach our children as during the Renaissance the Ottoman Empire did not support the Bulgarian education. There were no subsidies. We spread our history and this is a unique example in the world. People should organize themselves and spread the history. What prevents us from doing it now? Thank you for this interview. Good luck at the park. We will see you after the commercials when the international journalist Samia Yavor Tsakov will be here. Thank you.