Happy moments of our presentation - 2025

More-than-Human Dwelling as a Palimpsest of Co-existence - 2025

We have researched the houses and lifestyle of Balkan mountain villagers on both side of the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. This mountain region over 1000m has been inhabited since pre-historic times by various ethnic groups with diverse beliefs and customs. 

Turlaks as they are known in Bulgaria have a specific dialect, sense of humour and many words about spirits in the house, village and mountain. They are mostly cattle breeders- sheep, horses, oxes, donkeys, etc. -men spending long time with animals high in the mountains. Family homes are small, made of stone foundation, timber skeleton, adobe walls and heavy slate roof. Life depends on the animals for heat, food, clothes and companionship.

The spirits illustrate villagers main fears- the black cat who will come at night to drink baby’s blood is related to efforts to prevent early baby’s death. The genderache house guardian spirit inhabits the fireplace and roof and ensure the house is in order and the fire is kept. The bulina owl sound reminds mothers about caring of their children.

It is curious that spirits are spatially bound to the fireplace, bedroom, roof space, yard, river, bridge, forest and key landscape features-  they represent a system of intuitive mapping for orientation and respect of borders-  house domain, family domain, relatives- extended family, neighbours, community, village.

Spirits acted as regulatory signs for moral behaviour taught verbally from elderly to children. They are most tightly related to darkness and night. An old man told us that with the introduction of electricity to the village all spirits disappeared.

The mountain villagers live partially in isolation from dominant political and governing systems. Christianity has come, but in a quite different form and contents -absorbing many pagan beliefs and sanctifying previous rituals.

It is an enormous effort for any administration to try to control these difficult to access region, so villagers were granted quite an independent status during the 500 years of Ottoman empire if they pay their taxes.

The majority of benevolent spirits were absorbed into the semi-Christian belief in Svetatz- village guardian saint and independent family guardian saints also named Svetatz-saint. One can pray and rely to Svetatz for anything. The malevolent spirits such as tenatz, talasam, etc. somehow resemble the devil in form and actions.

The modification of diverse beliefs (Djin from Islam was integrated into the spirits’ pantheon too) shaped in Christian envelop is highly curious as a hybrid form between religion, agricultural rites and animism. The relationship to space, interconnecting one’s home and yard to the neigbours, relatives, mahala district, village and the surrounding farm and mountain land represents a striking tapestry of a witty survival in harsh climatic conditions where men, animals and spirits inhabit consistently and obstinately hardly accessible slopes, valleys and spines.