114. Bulgaria Doesn’t Have A Museum of Communism. That Might Be Changing Soon.

Thirty-seven years after the collapse of Bulgaria's communist regime, the country still doesn’t have an interpretive museum about the period. But even if one existed, I know Bulgarians who would never visit, confident that a museum of communism would be an endorsement of the regime. Political scientist Louisa Slavkova, founder of the Sofia Platform Foundation, is hoping to solve both problems with Facade, a new museum set to open in Sofia in 2028. The name points to the gap between the regime's promises and its human cost. In this episode, Slavkova describes how her team's work at the former Belene concentration camp gave them the confidence to build a museum, the first version of the museum inside a converted bus in time for Eurovision 2027, and how Facade will make room for a full range of Bulgarian’s memories without treating those memories as a verdict on the regime. Image: The building of the future Facade museum in Sofia, Bulgaria. Topics and Notes 00:00 Welcome to Museum Archipelago 00:15 Bulgaria's Missing Museum 00:57 Inside the Museum of Socialist Art 02:14 Louisa Slavkova and the Sofia Platform Foundation 03:27 After the Fall of Communism 04:57 Young Bulgarians and Secondhand Nostalgia 06:14 Histories from Belene 08:03 Teaching the History of Communism 08:58 From Belene to Facade 10:37 Making Room for Conflicting Memories 12:09 A Museum on Wheels for Eurovision 13:00 Inside the Museum Bus 15:13 When Museums Become Propaganda 16:36 Facade's Planned Opening 16:52 Outro | Join Club Archipelago DIVE DEEPER WITH CLUB ARCHIPELAGO 🏖️ Unlock exclusive museum insights and support independent museum media for just $2/month. Join Club Archipelago Start with a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime. Your Club Archipelago membership includes: 🎙️Access to a private podcast about how pop culture reflects the museum world back to us. Each episode is WAY longer than 15 minutes :) ✨A warm feeling knowing you're helping make this show possible. Transcript Here is a transcript of Museum Archipelago episode 114. For more information on the people and ideas in the episode, refer to the links above. Support Museum Archipelago