Site/s: Two to five medieval Christian Orthodox chapels and small churches in Western Bulgaria
Project Venue: Sofia - Bankya (SPA town in the Sofia Metropolitan Area)
Period(s): Late Medieval period (fourteenth to seventeenth century)
Nearest Air Terminal: Sofia - don't forget checking the low cost  flight options!

If participants arrive at either the Sofia airport or bus/train stations, a taxi transfer to the project venue in Bankya may be arranged by request (Please, specify this in your application form!). Individual or group transfers’ price may vary depending on number of passengers from 10 to 20 EUR.

• Fieldwork that entails the creation of both graphic (drawn) and photographic records of ecclesiastic edifices and frescos (two to three churches will be the focus of study);
• Educational course  - specialized lectures in South East European Medieval History, Orthodox iconography, introduction to Documental Photography, Fresco Conservation and Restoration and the techniques of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)* and UV & Infrared Photography as well as workshops for Graphic Documentation (drawn and photographic record). Optional course in Illustration of architectural features and frescos (using graphic software);
• Excursions/guided tours of Sofia and the Rila Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site) (refer to the Field School Agenda!).

* In 2013 the “Fresco Hunting” Photo Expedition will continue to expand the existing iconographic schemes of imaging the Medieval Churches in Western Bulgaria by employing Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). The objective of this module of the “Fresco Hunt” is to introduce the new and affordable technique of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in order to document rapidly decaying and damaged frescos in selected Medieval Churches in Western Bulgaria. In the RTI technique a camera is focused at a surface and series of photographs are taken each with a different light position. A free software package originally developed at Hewlett-Packard Labs is then used to combine the information from the sixty or so images to produce a single three-dimensional rendering of the surface. This digital technique is non-invasive and non-destructive and is rapidly becoming a standard investigative tool for Archeologists and Art Conservators.

Prior knowledge of basic and/or digital photography is recommended, however the field school will provide the participants with the toolset for advanced technical photography as it is currently used in Art Conservation and Archeology.

• Study-visits to several Late Medieval Orthodox chapels and churches;
• Fieldwork, that entails creation of both graphic (drawn) and photographic records of ecclesiastic edifices and frescos (Optional. depends on workload);
• Workshops for Graphic Documentation (drawn and photographic records);
• Course in Orthophotograhy;
  
• Workshops for processing of digital images and development of digital archives;
• Guided visit to the ancient city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

 

Archaeological and Historical Context:  The decline of Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires in the fourteenth century, rise and fall of Serbian Kingdom (an Empire between 1346-1371), Ottoman conquest  of South-eastern Europe and the apogee of Ottoman power between the second half of the fourteenth and the end of seventeenth century highlight the Balkan Late Medieval Period. Churches and chapels that will be visited and studied were built during these turbulent times in one of the few Balkan areas where the traditions of all the major Balkan Late Medieval Art Schools and Guilds (those of Constantinople, Tarnovo, Ohrid, Thessaloniki, the Athos Holy Mountain, Epirus, Creta and the Danubain principalities) met. What we see today from the once flourishing medieval Orthodox art in the area are just small chapels and churches that survived the “disastrous” Ottoman invasion in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Many of these monuments are characterized by humble architecture and often hide exquisite frescoes behind their unattractive exterior. Most of them have been abandoned long ago. There is visible damage due to both hostile acts of Muslims (in the period of Ottoman domination: fifteenth to nineteenth century.) and/or weather conditions ruining them after they were abandoned.

• Ivan Vasilev (MA) - Project director and instructor.Chairman and CEO of Balkan Heritage Foundation, Archaeologist (Medieval period), Adjunct Professor, Balkan Medieval History and Arts, New Bulgarian University;
  
• Alexander Gabov (PhD candidate) – Project consultant and instructor.  Professionally Accredited Art Conservator and Owner, Conservation of Sculptures, Monuments and Objects, Canada. Adjunct Professor, Artifact Conservation, Queen’s University Master of Art Conservation Program, Kingston, Ontario, Canada;
  
• Dr. Angel Angelov - Project consultant and instructor. Assistant Professor at Sofia University, Bulgaria and Balkan Heritage affiliated archaeologist; 
• Dr. Vassil Tenekedjiev - Project consultant and instructor. Archaeologist and curator (Early Byzantine period), Varna Regional Museum of History;  Balkan Heritage Branch Manager in Varna, Bulgaria; 
• Tamaki Suzuki (PhD candidate) - Project consultant and instructor. Research Fellow (Architecture), Japan Centre for International Cooperation in Conservation National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo.
  
• Kalina Stoyanova - Project instructor and assistant. Archaeologist and artifact illustrator; PhD student at the Department of Classical Archaeology, National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Lectures, workshops and field trainings:

• History of Bulgaria and the Central Balkans in the Middle Ages;
• Architecture of Orthodox Churches;
• Medieval and Late Medieval Churches in Western Bulgaria;
• Iconographic Program of Orthodox Churches;
• Themes and Characters in Orthodox Iconography;
• Stages in Development of a Wall-paintings Conservation and Restoration Project;
• Orthodox Icons. Iconostasis;
• History of Sofia;
• History and Art of Boyana Church;
• History of the Rila Monastery;
• Life in the Orthodox Monastery;
• Post-expedition work and digital archiving;
• Field and Graphic Documentation (field journal, drawings of cross-section,  plan, architectural structure (optional), iconographic plan and photographic record);
• Introduction to the Documental Photography;
• Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and UV & Infrared Photography;
• Illustration (by using graphic software) of Architectural Features and Wall-paintings - optional;
• Digital Orthophotograhy - only for students in the Extended Field School Project.

 

HAVE A LOOK AT THE FRESCO-HUNTING PHOTO GALLERY