The Struggles and Victory of the Bulgarian Communist Party. Detail from an interior wall mosaic in the Buzludzha Monument
1981, authors: Hristo Stefanov, Yoan Leviev, arch. Georgi Stoilov et al.
Buzludzha Monument, Kazanlak Municipality, Stara Zagora district
Photography: Aron Taylor. The image is provided for the current exhibition by the “Buzludzha Project” Foundation.
Buzludzha Monument, the monument of the Bulgarian Communist party created on Buzludzha Peak in 1981, is a masterpiece of monumental architecture from the Late Socialist period in Bulgaria (1970s and 1980s). According to the Party’s narrative, the monument was built to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Bulgarian Communist party or, rather, its socialist predecessors. The spaceship-like building consists of a spherical body, symbolizing a wreath to commemorate the historical events on Buzludzha Peak, and a tower representing a flag with the largest glowing red five-pointed stars at the time.
The mosaic titled “The Struggles and Victory of the Bulgarian Communist Party” by Yoan Leviev and Hristo Stefanov is located in the inner circle of the main ceremonial hall of the monument. The mosaic panel follows the round shape of the room. The combination of its large scale, contrasting colors, shining gold tesserae, figures, and portraits, make this striking mosaic stand out and dominate the interior space. The mosaic’s theme is connected to the history of Socialism with the portrait-icons depicting communist thinkers and activists. Among the depicted are Todor Zhivkov (1911-1988, a Bulgarian head of state and general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) from the 1950s until 1989), Dimitar Blagoev (1856-1924, Bulgarian politician and ideologist of Socialism in Bulgaria), Georgi Dimitrov (1882-1949, Bulgarian and international communist activist, instrumental for the promotion of Stalin’s politics in Bulgaria and prime minister in the 1940s), Karl Marx (1813-1883, German philosopher and political economist, considered as one of the fathers of communist ideology), Friedrich Engels (1820-1895, German philosopher who is considered to be one of the fathers of communist ideology) and Vladimir Il. Lenin (1870-1924, Russian ideologist, revolutionary and politician). The mosaic detail featured here is a portrait of Dimitar Blagoev, which forms a triptych with the portraits of Georgi Dimitrov and Todor Zhivkov.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BUZLUDZHA MONUMENT
One of Europe’s most emblematic buildings of postwar modernism, the Buzludzha monument stands as a crowning achievement in the architectural, engineering, and artistic disciplines. Deemed a national cause of Bulgarian socialist society, the monument was built with public donations and worked on by over 6000 people, including some of the best Bulgarian architects, artists, sculptors, and engineers. The project took more than seven years (1974-1989) to complete due to the difficult terrain, meteorological conditions, and complicated construction plan. The monument’s interior boasts nearly 1000 sq.m. of exceptional mosaics depicting major events and people in Bulgarian history from the Socialist period.
Over 2 million people visited the monument between 1981 and 1989 when it served as a quasi-temple and museum of the Bulgarian communist ideology and as a place for official ceremonies. The political changes in Bulgaria in 1989, which brought democracy to the country, also resulted in the total abandonment of this ideological and architectural colossus, quickly transforming it into a ruin. However, the monument’s size, shape, and history, provided a new future for the building: its silhouette was used as decor in science fiction movies and the monument began attracting tourists again.
The “Buzludzha Project” Foundation was established in 2015 with the goals of preserving the monument as a space where history, education and art meet, and establishing a dialogue about the recent past and the beginning of democracy in Bulgaria. In collaboration with the local authorities of Stara Zagora and Kazanlak Municipality, the Foundation attracted an international team of experts and created a plan for the conservation and management of the monument, resulting in a series of urgent stabilizations of the mosaics.. The “Buzludzha Project” Foundation also organizes an annual forum and festival to attract attention to the problems related to the preservation of the monument.