Being the oldest cultural institute of post-liberation Bulgaria and thelargest public library in the country, St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library is a repository for the culture and history of thenation, an integral part of which is the contribution of cultural andethnic minorities. Guided by its role of a cultural institute of nationalvalue with broad public functions, defined in the Public Libraries Act and the Mandatory Deposit of Printed and Other Works Act, the National Library initiates this project proposal with the ambition tocontribute to the social cohesion between ethnic groups in Bulgaria onthe basis of interethnic cultural cohesion.
The project proposal integrates a Bulgarian-Icelandic partnership withthe The Vigdís International Centre for Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding at the University of Iceland, holding the initiative “Roma in the Centre”, uniting several Romani Studies related projects.
Two Bulgarian partners are involved in the project:
- Culture Center Sluntse -1879 in the town of Ihtiman unites the efforts of a group of students from the local Roma community around an initiative for studying of the Roma cultural presence at local level, and raising the awareness of the local communities on this topic.
- New Opportunities Association presents the diversity of Roma culture at a three-day Days of Roma Culture festival in a remote, Roma-populated area.