Museum Archipelago

54. Buzludzha Is Deteriorating. Brian Muthaliff Wants To Turn It Into A Winery.

November 19th, 2018  |  14 mins 8 secs

brian muthaliff, bulgaria, buzludzha, dora ivanova

High in the Balkan mountains, Buzludzha monument is deteriorating. Designed to emphasize the power and modernity of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Buzludzha is now at the center of a debate over how Bulgaria remembers its past.

Architect Brian Muthaliff wants the building to evolve along with Bulgaria. His master’s thesis on Buzludzha describes a re-adaption of the site to subvert the original intention of the architecture, including installing a winery and a theater.

Unlike architect Dora Ivanova’s Buzludzha Project, which we discussed at length in episode 47, Muthaliff’s plan only calls for a single, museum-like space. In this episode, we go in depth on what a museum means and what is the best path forward for this building and for Bulgaria.

51. Yulina Mihaylova Presents a Moral Lesson at the Sofia Jewish Museum of History

October 1st, 2018  |  12 mins 42 secs

bulgaria, yulina mihaylova

The Jewish Museum of History in Sofia, Bulgaria tells the full story of the Jewish people in Bulgaria from ancient Roman times to today. The museum takes on the complexities of the rescue of the Jews in Bulgaria from deportation to Nazi death camps during the Second World War.