2024-03-11 22:13:14
The book “Sokai” by Svetoslav Petrov will be presented on March 15 in the Art Gallery in the city of Elena.
Svetoslav Petrov is an ethnologist with professional interests in the field of the material culture of Bulgarians. He was born in the city of Elena. In 2012, he made the first reconstruction of the Sokain weeding, reports the municipality.
The book is the most recent study dedicated to the female bridal veil “sokai” worn in Tarnovsko, Gabrovsko and Loveško until the middle of the 19th century. Its use is associated with the ethnographic group of the Balkans, inhabiting the northern slopes of the Central Stara Planina and Pre-Balkan. More after the Liberation, the sokai were always in the field of view of the researchers, because such a magnificent head ornament cannot remain unnoticed. There are several theories about their origin, one of them connects them to the former boyar costume. After the fall of Tarnovo under Ottoman rule, the boyars hid in the inaccessible Balkans. It is believed that, as a result of changes in the costume over the centuries, the type of Sokain turban that we know today was reached. Other authors believe that the turban was influenced by the East and that is where its roots should be sought.
The book “Sokai” brings together all the research done so far. It also examines many valuable archival materials, some of which are published for the first time – photos, paintings, murals. No less important are the memories of the actual wearers of the birth, recorded by researchers at the beginning of the 20th century. Probably people do not know, but behind the joke “Your board is clicking” is precisely the sokayat and its base of beech board.
Valuable from the book is its practical part, in which the author gives guidelines for the correct and accurate reconstruction of the sokai. He has been making reproductions of antique turbans for nearly 12 years, based on the model of preserved authentic ones.
It is interesting to note that the last published study of the sokai is from 1976. For the period between then and now, many new materials – photographs, digitized archival collections – have become available and their use makes the present study very complete and comprehensive.
Today, preserved Sokaian veils are extremely rare, and their display in front of the public always arouses admiration. Since the purpose of the book is to remove the mention of sokai from the text, the author will show live the three types of folk costumes from Gabrovo, Tarnovsko and Loveško and demonstrate how each type of sokai is pronounced. For those present, it will be an opportunity to enjoy nearly 200 years of costumes and veils.