National Art Gallery Gift Shop, Sofia

What to buy here: Kukeri masks | Litak | Martenitsa | Traditional rugs.

Kukeri masks - The Bulgarians start the new year with some traditional rituals for prolific year, prosperity and good health by organizing different events. The Bulgarian carnival « Kukeri » is organized mainly in the region of Sofia and takes place in the end of January. Only married men can participate in this ritual. They dance and perform folk theater in large groups with the purpose of scaring away evil spirits and promoting fertility and good health. Most of the masks are made of wood. Different colored threads are glued on it as well as pieces of multicolored fabrics, mirrors and other shiny elements. The masks represent a ram, a goat or a bull. The impact that the masked mummers make, gets even bigger by the sound of the copper and bronze bells that hang on them. The participants produce the masks themselves, the more scary they are, the stronger impact they have.

Some of them have two sides (two faces) – from one side the face is and from the other the nose is big and the face is scary. These type of masks are symbols of the good and the bad that exist in the nature and are inavoidable. Very important are the colors of the decoration – mainly used is the red color as a symbol of the fertility, the sun and the fire. The black colo r is a personification of the mother earth and the white is the water and the light.

Prices from 250$ for a small size mask, 350$ for a middle size, 450$ for a big one.

Working time: 10:00 - 18:00, closed on Monday