The Project “Emissary” is an artistic research of the ritual mask as an interactive tool for social change, inspired by the kuker masquerade tradition. The goal of the project is the creation of an interactive masked character for artistic actions in public environment. This character is the most sophisticated representative of Bulgarian folklore demonology – Karakondjul, and represents an mediator of the imagination in the world of cultural and civic self-awareness.

The Karakondjul’s mask is made of papier-mâché with rabbit skin glue and natural animal elements – cow and deer teeth, horns and a vertebra, procured by hand from dead animals, degreased and bleached. It is painted with tempera paint, impregnated with shellac, the back is fringed with natural suede, and in the middle of the vertebra there is a piece of raw amber.

Funded by the “Creative Initiatives” program of the National Culture Fund, “Emissary” is my diploma project for the Master’s program “Artistic Psycho-Social Practices and Psychodrama” at the New Bulgarian University. In addition to the making of the mask itself, the project includes two photo shoots with the character – in the Borisova Garden and among the representative and historical buildings of the capital city. An important stage of the project were the so-called Pilot sessions of the Forum for Civic Imagination led by me and the psychodramatist Mila Tsalova in Studio 4 of the Regional Center for Contemporary Arts “Toplocentrala”. During these sessions, I presented the idea of the forum as a safe environment for expressive work with public information to a team of 20 people – artists, therapists and social entrepreneurs. We worked in small groups, shared experiences, performed them and let the Karakondjul be a part of the performances.