People as Bells
Kukeri [ Bulgarian: кукери ; singular : кукер,kuker ] is a traditional Bulgarian ritual to scare away evil spirits, with a costumed man performing the ritual. The costumes cover most of the body and include decorated wooden masks of animals / sometimes double-faced / and large bells attached to the belt. Around New Year and before Lent, the kukeri walk and dance through the village to scare evil spirits away with the costumes and the sound of the bells, as well as to provide a good harvest, health, and happiness to the village during the year.
Kukeri [ Bulgarian: кукери ; singular : кукер,kuker ] is a traditional Bulgarian ritual to scare away evil spirits, with a costumed man performing the ritual. The costumes cover most of the body and include decorated wooden masks of animals / sometimes double-faced / and large bells attached to the belt. Around New Year and before Lent, the kukeri walk and dance through the village to scare evil spirits away with the costumes and the sound of the bells, as well as to provide a good harvest, health, and happiness to the village during the year.
The silence was torn
Bells were ringing – many bells: of copper, silver, and gold
Bells jubilant, jolly, and singing
The earth of all the bells…
The world of all the bells
The bells of the stars…
Oh, these bells are vast!
Thousands of bells: of copper, silver, and gold - and their sacred song reaches the peaks of the Balkan mountain.
Nikolay Raynov - “A Cross” March 1939
All photos are from my exhibition in 2008 - "PEOPLE AS BELLS - 11 photographs from Ivo Christov " - © 2008
