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BULGARIANS ABROAD
The Association of Bulgarian Cultural Organisations Abroad starts active operation
Thursday
1 October 2026
10:13
Vesela Raytchinova from Israel: Bulgarians must protect their soul – and the peace in their country
Vesela Raytchinova views the exhibition “Around the World with the Glagolitic Alphabet” at the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) building.
Bulgarian culture has long transcended geographical borders. It travels with people, carried in language, song, books, dance and celebrations. But when people are scattered across different parts of the world, a question arises: how can individual artists meet and communicate with one another, exchange experience and gain greater visibility, including in their homeland?
The Association of Bulgarian Cultural Organisations Abroad (ABCOA) will seek to provide an answer. The foundations of the association were laid on 29 July 2025 at a constituent assembly held at the Library and Information Centre of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad in Sofia. A year later, the association has obtained official legal registration, enabling it to operate as a representative umbrella organisation for Bulgarian cultural organisations abroad. Now the nine-member Management Board faces the task at the heart of its mission: attracting like-minded people from among the vast number of Bulgarian artists and cultural organisations around the world. How will it do so?
To answer this and other questions concerning the organisation’s future work, we spoke to the association’s chairperson Vesela Raytchinova, herself deeply committed to culture andthe creator of the international festival “Bulgarian Soul of the Holy Land” in Israel, which has developed into a meeting place for Bulgarians living in different parts of the world. It was precisely her communication with them that convinced Raychinova of the need for a more lasting creative alliance.
Vesela Raytchinova: We Bulgarians enjoy a very good name in Israel
In an interview with Radio Bulgaria, Vesela Raytchinova says the idea behind the new association is to become a broader platform than the traditional cultural associations.
“Besides organisations, we want to attract artists who are not affiliated with any organisation. These are artists who create, but for one reason or another do not have opportunities to perform or exhibit, or who are active but are not sufficiently represented,” explains Vesela Raytchinova. “In other words, we want the association to bring together a broad spectrum of organisations and individuals working to preserve Bulgarian spirituality, language and traditions abroad. Thus, creative and cultural associations, as well as various artistic groups and individual artists, writers, visual artists and public figures engaged with Bulgarian culture, can join us. Members of the association may also belong to other organisations, such as the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad or the association of folklore ensembles. Around the world there are also literary and writers’ societies, poets’ clubs, art salons and galleries. All of them can become our members.”
The Management Board of the Association of Bulgarian Cultural Organisations Abroad comprises representatives from different countries. The idea is for each member of the leadership to serve, in a sense, as a link to a particular region, making it easier to build a network of contacts with Bulgarian cultural organisations and artists. Vesela Raytchinova describes the process metaphorically as a “beautiful, colourful chain”, with each person adding their own bead. Behind the metaphor, however, lies a very practical task: identifying the people, organisations and initiatives that can work together.
Vesela Raytchinova in the studio of Radio Bulgaria
Another objective of the association is to make the cultural activities of Bulgarians living abroad far more visible in Bulgaria itself.
“We will have very frequent gatherings in Bulgaria. In other words, we will work to present the creative work and cultural activities of Bulgarians abroad to people in Bulgaria. Our aim is also to help improve interaction between our artists and organisations working outside the country and the institutions here.”
Once the organisational stage in establishing the new association is complete, including the development of an online platform, the creation of a logo and the sending of membership invitations to Bulgarian cultural organisations and individual artists around the world, the expectation is that the organisation will begin actively recruiting members in early November this year.
Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad with a focus on Bulgarians in the Baltic countries in 2026
This publication was created by: Rositsa Petkova
