women-from-bulgaria

"From a young age, I was instinctively drawn to stories of escape, adventure and the high seas. It wasn’t just that I was living in a society where I felt trapped, it was also because I was a reader and a dreamer. In retrospect, no matter where I grew up I probably would have dreamt of escape. But the fact that we were living behind the iron curtain fuelled that escapism."

"Traumas, or very powerful, primal experiences, especially when they’re experienced by large numbers of people, have a tendency to affect everything they touch. At that border, it wasn’t just one person who died. It was many, untold numbers—mouths full of earth. I think when you have a massive collective experience like that, the trauma remains in the earth. I think the earth has a memory, trees have a memory, rivers have a memory. If we’re a little bit open to it, we pick it up…"

"It seems to me that untold histories that come from a very pure place of suffering and survival contain truth. Everything else is subject to question, really. Anything that comes to us through an official source—especially an official source attached to a national or religious agenda, or any of those other identity politics that seem to bedevil the world at the moment—is questioned. I felt that the voices I was hearing, the places from which these stories came to me, were genuine and, therefore, very precious. The stories in themselves contained both the questions and the answers about identity, or about what borders do to people and how they survive."

"The trauma of half a century of social life based on lies is going to take several generations to heal, if it heals at all."

"The parallels between communism and Bulgaria's current regime are inevitable — not only are some of the actors the same, they have also revived the repressive practices of the past."

"Ultimately, harmonization between England, France, and Bulgaria, at least on the question of hardship in commercial contracts, seems impossible at this stage. The question, which remains, is how troublesome this is."

"The most striking thing of all is the silence of EU institutions regarding the deplorable state of Bulgaria’s rule of law. One could even argue that prominent representatives of the European People’s Party (EPP), which has endorsed Borissov’s GERB, are complicit with the regime."

"Os populistas têm duas grandes cartas: imigrantes e minorias."

"While pro-European commentators fear the rise of the far-right on a pan-European scale, Bulgaria’s case illustrates that mainstream parties like the EPP have contributed to the legitimization of far-right rhetoric and policies."

"What is fascinating about Bulgarian contract law is that one can discern continuity despite drastic political changes — a feature, which has not been captured by mainstream comparative taxonomies."

"While it is easy to take the microphone away from a journalist, especially in Bulgaria, many questions will eventually catch up with the new commission president. For instance: what is the price of the rule of law in the EU?; how does her team gather country information?; how much does she value transparency?; is she worried about the misuse of EU funds?; is prosperity a new EU synonym for poverty in Brussels?"

"...it is certain that Bulgarian football hooliganism is just the visible part of a more complex issue: corruption and xenophobia have embraced each other."

"Muitos analistas modernos têm-se concentrado em explicar os problemas com o comunismo e as suas repercussões no leste europeu e na Rússia. O comunismo continua a ser um objeto de estudo para politólogos. Em contraste, a memória do fascismo tem-se desvanecido e é um objeto de estudo sobretudo para historiadores. Isto torna mais fácil para os políticos confundirem e brincarem com ideias fascistas."

""The talent is passion and intellect" says the famous pianist Heinrich Neuhaus — with this mind we can define the art of the young harpist — Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean."

"[She] is a brilliant harpist … communicates marvelously with the audience."

"Triumphed ...the concert was a rare pleasure."

"Demonstrated mastery of the instrument, deep musical insights and stylistic understanding … extraordinary."

"Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean is flying amazingly headlong to the performance peaks. Overwhelming, incisive images, kaleidoscope of colors, flexible technique."

"[She] played with drive, aplomb, and sensitivity throughout … this performance will take a place amongst the best performances of my music."

"Artistic, with high sensitivity and imagination, Anna-Maria managed the difficult program."

"Exhibited a rare combination of emotional involvement and profound calmness on stage."