THE ROOTS OF GABROVO HUMOUR
(permanent exhibition, Room 1)
The exhibition introduces every newcomer to the phenomenon Gabrovo
Humour focusing on some broadly popular Gabrovo anecdotes that have
been illustrated by the inimitable Bulgarian artist Boris Dimovski.
It is these anecdotes that most adequately
reveal the inner mind and mentality of the mountain-dweller faced by
the challenges of a life of hardships and deprivations. This hard life
developed a more economical and economically determined attitude to
everyday matters. Perhaps, being thrifty is not an entirely negative
trait, but the conceivable dimensions of thriftiness did unleash local
jokers' imagination.
150 YEARS SINCE GABROVO WAS PROCLAIMED A TOWN
THE GABROVO CONTRIBUTION - COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY GABROVO ARTISTS
The exhibition is a low bow taken by the Museum HOUSE OF HUMOUR
AND SATIRE to 60 artists - painters, graphic artists, sculptors
and photographers - who have committed their life and art to
the town of Gabrovo. For nearly 40 years now, their work has
slowly, but steadily been leaving unique and indelible imprints
on the Humour of the Peoples art collection. This retrospective
show comprises 100 works inspired by Gabrovo humour and the
local cultural history. The exhibition is also made possible
owing to the continuing policy of the House of Humour and Satire
to build up individual collections of the artists it has been
working with over the years, whether through the artists' participation
in the International Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts
or solo shows staged at the museum, or purchases and donations.
Therefore, without claiming comprehensiveness, The Gabrovo
Contribution "depicts" the history of a constructive partnership
between the Gabrovo artists and the
House the sole and eternal beneficiary of which remains the
citizens of Gabrovo.
Gabrovians have long conferred the title Gabrovo Citizen
of Honour on artists Boris Dimovski, Todor Tsonev, Georgi
Chapkanov, Nikola Nikolov and Mityo Solakov who have become
emblematic figures in the town and its cultural traditions.
Other Gabrovo artists have been recognized and highly appreciated
by the juries of the International Biennial: Dyanko Kolev, Nikolay
Razhdashki, Nikola Nikolov, Emil Popgenchev, Ivan Denchev, Ilko
Nemtsov, Ivan Hristov-Groga, Ivan Georgiev, Tsvetelina Stefanova,
Nikolay Tsvetanov and Tsvetan Kolev. The graphic art genre is
defended by Hristo Tsankov, Desislav Panchev, Peycho Todorov,
Tihomir Rusinov, Bozhidar Kovachev and Georgi Rusinov. Striking
is the number of the Gabrovo painters featured in the show.
Among them are Yordan
Lazarov, Snezhina Popgencheva, Ivan Barakov, Dragan Nemtsov
and some 30 names more. Whole families of artists, working in
different art genres - the Solakovs, the Minchevs, the Popgenchevs,
the Rusinovs, the Nemtsovs - come to prove that the creative
genes are really passed down from generation to generation.
Among the sculptors on display are Neli Dimova, Adrian Novakov,
Dimitrinka Grancharova, Ivan Kanchev, Maya Kazakova, Nikolay
Tsvetanov, Petar Maleshkov, Nikolay Kolev, and, of course, Mityo
Solakov with his small sculpture Gascar which is one
of the most prestigious prizes awarded at the International
Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts.
Dedicated to the 150 years since Gabrovo was proclaimed a town,
The Gabrovo Contribution exhibition is an illustrative
example of how the local spiritual potential, confined in its
own time, has succeeded in turning the artistic traditions and
the specific character of a town in the folds of the Balkan
Mountains into an invaluable heritage for the generations to
come.
GABROVO Planet- Children's Amusement Room
(suitable for children from 5 to 105)
(permanent exhibition, Room 4)
On the eve of the birthday of the House of Humour and Satire
- April 1st - doors opened the renovated permanent
exhibition GABROVO Planet. On the planet of laughter,
fun and amusement there are no bans. Here all children from
5 to 105 can look, listen, touch, sing and laugh to their
heart's content. Wander about the labyrinth of funny corners abounding
in adventures and pleasant surprises! Plunge into the pagent of lights and sounds! Get to know the inhabitants on the Laughter Planet
and address your message to them! Enjoy yourselves in the company of weird mummers, fairy-tale
and carnival characters! Take photos together with the Gabrovo tailless cats
in the Cats' House! Welcome to GABROVO Planet! Join in the amusement and attractions! You come in low-spirited, but leave smiling!
'PARADISE'
(permanent exhibition, Floor 3, the lobby)
The focal point of this eclectic exhibition is eight beautiful tapestries
designed by the Bulgarian artist Boris Dimovski (illustrator of Gabrovo
Anecdotes booklet) on the subject matter "What if Adam and Eve were
full-blooded Gabrovians?" Pieces of small Bulgarian sculpture and matching
"Garden of Eden" jokes enhance the feeling that man-woman relations
remain the topic of the day.
LET'S LAUGH TOGETHER, NOT AT EACH OTHER - EXHIBITION OF HUMOROUS PHOTOGRAPHS FROM IRAN AND BULGARIA
Photographs
(June 24 - August 31, 2010, Room 5)
In the International
Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures 2010 the House of Humour
and Satire is playing host to a collective exhibition of 97
humorous photographs by four Iranian and eight Bulgarian photographers
seeking the comic, but also the sad in the world we live in
smilingly.
It is not for the first time that Iranian photographers GHADIR
VAGHARI, SEYED HAMID SEYEDI, MOSTAFA NIKNAGSH and SEYED ALI
SEYEDI - members of KPIB Photography Club in Mashhad, Iran -
set foot on the territory of Gabrovo and the House. They are
regular entrants in the International Biennial of Humour and
Satire in the Arts, and have already fascinated the Bulgarian
general public with their sensuous perception of Bulgarian reality,
the Gabrovo carnival, the people and
the nature of Bulgaria revealed in the exhibitions Humour
in Photography (2006) and Laughter Therapy (2008)
at the House of Humour and Satire. This third consecutive group
exhibition is yet another attempt of the photographers to bring
a smile on the visitors' faces, for as Seyed Ali Seyedi holds,
"Making people smile is increasingly rewarding in a world
where people need to smile more than in
any other time in history."
The Bulgarian counterparts in this constructive dialogue - ROBERT
KIRKOVSKI, TODOR DINEV, KIRIL ATANASOV, TATYANA HADZHIEVA, KONSTANTIN
KOSTADINOV, MIHAIL SYAROV, PETYA DASKALOVA and IVAN INOVSKI
- are representatives of the Burgas Photography Society. Taking
photographs is their favourite hobby. The Society is only two
years old, but its members' participation, collectively or individually,
in numerous events is a definite sign of the photographers'
intention to play a major part on the cultural stage of the
Black Sea city. That they "love humour in photography",
as photographer Todor Dinev says, is sure to open the doors
to the House of Humour and Satire and its international and
national art events even broader for the Burgas artists.
ONE MAY NOT BE A RIGHTEOUS MAN, BUT ONE
MAY JUDGE FAIRLY - THEMATIC EXHIBITION OF CARTOONS FROM
THE HUMOUR OF THE PEOPLES ART COLLECTION
Cartoons
(June 24 - September 5, 2010, Room 5)
The satirical arrows of the eleven cartoonists featured in the exhibition are aimed right at the heart of the judicial system and its inherent vices: corruption, lawlessness and absence of true justice. Though only 22, the cartoons on show indicate that the problems at issue are not only Bulgarian; the works reflect the civil stand of artists from Germany, Israel, Indonesia, Russia, Latvia and Ukraine as well. Among the Bulgarian artists stand out the names of the classics in the genre Iliya Beshkov and Boris Dimovski followed by their contemporaries Dechko Nikolov and Racho Rachev. The focal point of the exhibition One May Not Be a Righteous Man, but One May Judge Fairly is a series of Latin maxims illustrated by cartoonist Boris Dimovski. According to inimitable Dimovski, truth is spoken solely by children, fools and drunks. As the sores of the judicial system are as old as the system itself, the viewer is left but to hope that this cumbersome machine called "justice", clogged and chokes with centuries-old inequity and bribery, may eventually budge.
THE ART SOCIETY TO APRILOV-PALAUZOV
COMMUNITY CENTRE IN GABROVO PUTS ON A SHOW AT THE HOUSE OF HUMOUR
AND SATIRE
Children's drawings
(June 30 - August 31, 2010, Room 5)
It is for the third
time now that young artists from the Art Society to Aprilov-Palauzov
Community Centre show their work in the exhibition rooms of
the House of Humour and Satire. Their instructor is Ema Verterova
who is a regular entrant in the International Biennial of Humour
and Satire in the Arts and whose creative career encompasses
numerous solo shows group exhibitions.
Following the Art Society's successful exhibitions in 1997 and 2008, this exhibition features the 2009/2010 creative output of 16 artists aged 7 to 15 years. They are: POLIKSENA PETROVA, DENISLAVA KIRILOVA, KRASIMIRA ATANASOVA,
VANESA DIMITROVA, NANCY ALI SOUYED, ELITSA DOCHEVA, INNA ILIEVA,
YOANNA-MARIA PETKOVA, HRISTIANA GERASIMOVA, IVANA GERASIMOVA,
PAVEL PEEV, TSVETA HRISTOVA, ADRIANA KOVACHEVA, STEFAN TASHEV,
YANITA NENCHEVA and SELENA SIMEONOVA. The 47 drawings on show are executed in various media: distemper, pastel, crayon, felt-tip pen and watercolours.
It won't exaggerated to say that the exhibition crowns the achievements the young artists have gradually made since the beginning of 2010 until now: participation in a poster design on the topic Different People, One Europe; four prizes at the Municipal Competition and Exhibition on Fun-loving Gabrovo and Clean Hands = Good Health held to celebrate the 150 years since Gabrovo was proclaimed a town; two 2010 prizes awarded by TOLYA Foundation to children gifted in more than one genre of art, etc.
Striking are the 2009/2010 personal achievements of 13-year-old
Tsveta Hristova: second nomination for achievements in the field
of art by Dimitar Berbatov Foundation; another entry
in the Achievements Book of Gabrovo Municipality; first prize
at My Child's Dreams National Competition in Ruse; honourable
mention at the National Competition Dechko Uzunov's Successors
in Kazanlak; second prize at the Liberation National
Competition in Pleven; honourable mention at the International
Competition A Drum Is Played, a Horo Is Danced in Montana,
and others.
The current exhibition which conveys the bright colours of summer and the unadulterated sincerity of children's imagination complements in a beautiful way the diverse exhibitions the House of Humour and Satire offers to its visitors.
150 YEARS SINCE GABROVO WAS PROCLAIMED A TOWN
HOW GABROVO TURNED INTO A HUMOUR CAPITAL - SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE HOUSE OF HUMOUR AND SATIRE
Documentary photographs
(May 15 - December 31, 2010, Room 6)
This extensive exhibition of over 200 blown-up B&W and color
photographs from the archives of the Museum House of Humour
and Satire is an attempt to follow the building-up, the
development and the recognition of the image of the town of
Gabrovo as the humour capital of Bulgaria from the 30s of the
20th century down to the present day. With a few
exceptions, the selected photographs focus on personalities
that have been related, to a greater or smaller extent, to the
cause of humour and
the House's motto The World Lasts Because It laughs,
for hadn't there existed the human potential, Gabrovo would
have been primeaval hornbeam woods and mountain streams and
rapids.
Tentatively divided into the sub-headings THE TRADITION
(the 30s of the 20th c. ), NO EVENTS ARE ACCIDENTAL
(the Gabrovo carnival from the 1960s to the present day ),
GABROVO BROUGHT THE HOUSE OF HUMOUR AND SATIRE INTO THE WORLD
(the 1970s), THE HOUSE OF HUMOUR AND SATIRE GAVE BIRTH
TO (the establishing of the House as a national culture
institute), THEY BESTOWED THEIR BLESSING ON THE HOUSE,
GABROVO HAS TWINNED WITH and THE SMILING YOUTH OF
GABROVO. DO YOU RECOGNIZE YOURSELVES?, the exhibition features a kaleidoscopic picture of the
merry dance parties and masquerades in the 1930s; the first
humour carnivals and the national festivals of humour and satire
in Gabrovo; the conversion of an old leather factory into a
humour art museum; the ambitious programme of the House of Humour
and Satire to promote and further humour through a variety of
international and national events in the field of the fine arts
and the verbal folklore, literature competitions, an international
comedy film festival, humorous and satirical publications, a
Park of Laughter, an Experimental Satirical Variety Theatre,
and more, and more! However, the colours on this palette of
events are mixed by no one but the main characters of the exhibition,
i.e.: heads of government and politicians from the past and
the present; figures of culture; Bulgarian and foreign artists,
writers, journalists, actors; representatives of the partner
towns of Gabrovo, as well as all who feel themselves Gabrovians
and without whom the humour and satire festivals in Gabrovo
would never have come true.
The documentary photographs are "garnished with" old posters, advertisements and publicity material, documentary films, editions of the Gabrovo Anecdotes, as well as other humour publications of the House of Humour and Satire which complement the jig-saw puzze
How Gabrovo Turned into a Humour Capital on the back-drop of music composed to honour Gabrovo.
The House of Humour and Satire dedicates the exhibition to the
150 years since Gabrovo was proclaimed a town, but first and
foremost, to the citizens of Gabrovo in the hope that taken
back in time, Gabrovians will also regain precious moments of
their youth.
CATS -
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION OF SERGIO CAVALLERIN (ITALY) AND YORDANKA
SHIYAKOVA (BULGARIA)
Paintings
(Apri 1 - September 6, 2010, Room 7)
Rarely has the symbol of the town of Gabrovo - the black cat
with a cut-off tail - been witness to such a poetic and brightly
coloured praise of her siblings and close friends all over the
world - cats black and white, with or without tails, in love
or lonely, happily sitting for a family photo or shooting a
romantic look at a star-studded night sky, flirting or carrying
the burden of human daily life. This original painted "monument"
to the cat - a masterpiece of the evolution of the species according
to Leonardo - is raised by two very different artists - Sergio
Cavallerin from Italy and Yordanka Shiyakova from Bulgaria.
Therefore, the subtitle of the exhibition dedicated to the International
Year for the Rapproachement of Cultures - 2010 is The Cats
of Sergio Cavallerin Meet the Cats of Yordanka Shiyakova.
Born in Perugia, Umbria region, Sergio Cavallerin has got art
in his DNA. He did his studies in the Institute of Art in his
native town, and then he collaborated with national publishing
houses and agencies, as well as with the prestigious magazines
Nebel Spalter (Switzerland) and Televizier (the
Netherlands). In 1984 he established his first contact with
the House of Humour and Satire having heard about the museum
and about A PROPOS magazine for humour and satire published
by it. The contacts keep developing thanks to Cavallerin's entries
in the International Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts
as a result of which, today, the Humour of the Peoples
art collection houses 15 paintings, 2 photographs and 3 graphic
works by the Italian artist.
An eclectic designer and tender humorist, who has adopted the romantic notion of art, Sergio Cavallerin has participated in over 300 collective and solo shows the world over. Diverse are the prizes and awards that his work in the field of painting, graphic art, illustration and photography has won him. The Italian artist is a perfect contemporary example of the "contamination" among the art genres and forms.
The 57 paintings and graphic works on show reveal how Callerin "...is able to awaken all cats slumbering ensconced in each one of us. He goes even further and transforms himself into a cat in order to step into the mystery protected and multiplied by the eyes of this animal."(Vincenco Mollica)
Bulgarian artist Yordanka Shiyakova shows 8 large-size canvases that have an expressive and emotional influence on the viewer. The cats in her compositions laugh and have fun, sit for a family photograph, join in the carnival or take wings into the skies. One of them is a flirt, but a lonesome one on the bank of the Seine in Paris. The artist employs pastel and soft colours that enhance the cheerful and upbeat atmosphere in her paintings and seen to tempt the viewer into the world of her cats.
Yordanka Shiyakova's art is not confined within the frame of
one art genre either. Having graduated in sculpture from St.
Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, she
is equally successful in the field of painting, graphic design
and illustration. She has left hebind lots of entries in group
and one-artist exhibitions, but these days she has another burden
to shoulder as a head of the biggest department at the House
of Humour and Satire - Fine Arts, Exhibitions and Art Collections
- which means that in addition to her daily responsibilities,
she is engaged in the preparation and holding of the International
Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts, as well as in sitting
on juries of national and international competitions for visual
humour.
Walking around the CATS exhibition, one experiences the feeling that these animals are really the stars, the actors and the extras of a movie that unfolds smoothly and winkingly on the backdrop of British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's tender music of the same-named musical that seems to echo from each painting on display.
WORLD CARNIVALS IN POSTAGE STAMPS Philately
(permanent exhibition, Room 8)
Little known is the fact that through the years of its development
the House of Humour and Satire has amassed a striking Philately
collection, part of the Humour of the Peoples art
collection, that houses 17 670 postage
stamps and first-day covers. The current exhibition reveals
but a tiny piece of this wealth - copies of 170 philately values.
It is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the opening of the
Bulgarian Post Office and the issuing of the first Bulgarian
stamps known by the name of centimes.
The philately exhibition World Carnivals in Postage Stamps transports the viewer to carnival squares throughout Europe, Asia, America and Japan; to rital mask festivals in Africa, as well as to the Red Indians in America. The collection attracts one with almost unknown images of masquerades and unique masks from all corners of the world.
Postage stamps and first-day covers issued to celebrate eight
editions of the International Biennial of Humour and Satire
in the Arts have a specially reserved place in the exhibition.
Among the stamp designers are artists Stefan Kanchev, Ivan Bogdanov
and Stoyan Dukov who have masterly used works by the eminent
Bulgarian artists Iliya Beshkov, Boris Angelushev, Stoyan Venev
and Georgi Chapkanov to covery the spirit of this world-wide
known forum of art in the field of humour and satire.
LONG LIVE THE CARNIVAL!
(permanent exhibition, Room 8)
Addressed to the public at large, the exhibition opened doors entirely redesigned and displayed in a recently refurbished exhibition space to celebrate the opening of the new carnival season on 11 November, 2006. Long Live the Carnival! is the outcome of the collection
and research efforts of the House of Humour and Satire in the
field of masquerade festiveness; it is also a token of recognition
to the donors who have kindly provided material on the subject
matter. Thanks to the House's contacts with carnival cities
from the world over, visitors to the museum can familiarize
themselves with representative carnivals in Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico, France, Switzerland, Japan, etc.
On show are authentic carnival costumes, masks, accessories
and publicity material. The succinct commentary in Bulgarian
and English makes
it possible for visitors to go round the exhibition without
a guide. By illustrating carnival moments of Gabrovo, Shoumen,
Yambol, Pernik, Rakovski and Rouse, Bulgarian masquerade tradition
is assigned a particular place in the display.
Presented in details is the Gabrovo masquerade from
the beginning of the 20th century until the present day. Because
of its carnival, Gabrovo has joined the big family of the Foundation
of the European and Mediterranean Carnival Cities. Long
Live the Carnival is the perfect backgound for opening
the carnival season in Bulgaria on 11 November, at 11 h 11'
every year. A number of photographs underscore the part the
House of Humour and Satire plays in drawing children and young
people to the local carnival traditions (to serve the purpose,
educational programmes run throughout the year).
The exhibition room is equipped with a video screen that allows
the showing of documentaries and educational films about the
carnivals in the world. The exhibition is open to adding new
exhibits, and the most valuable new donations find their place
in it immediately.
THE MASK - THE FACE OF THE FESTIVAL
African Masks and Sculpture
(permanent exhibition, Room 7A)
The House of Humour and Satire owns a unique collection of African masks, ritual items and accessories. It has been complemented in the course of decades by means of purchases and donations made by collectors and connoisseurs of African art. The exhibition features the merry rites and celebrations of the African peoples.
The festivals of the African peoples are distinguished for their originality. The variety of symbols, hot-tempered folklore and potent tradition lend them a particular sumptuousness and inimitability reminiscent of primordial celebrations where no borderline existed between the serious and the comic.
On show are masks for protection and initiation, as well as 'peaceful' dance masks, sculpted figures and ethnographic objects. Visitors can see masks from Zambia, Burkina Faso (the Bobo), Congo (the Basonge and the Bapende), Tanzania (the Makonde), Nigeria (the Joruba), figures from Nigeria and Ghana (the Ashanti), musical instruments from Nigeria and Zambia, etc.
Ancient pieces of African wisdom play an important part in the exhibition, and make a fitting illustration of the different ritual objects.
"THE SIN" - BULGARIAN NATIONAL REVIVAL PERIOD MURALS
(permanent exhibition, Room 8)
The exhibition shows a selected collection of 48 copies of frescos and
fresco fragments that can be found in various churches and monasteries
all over Bulgaria. One of the major topics ,"Final Judgement", gave
freedom to a number of high-minded National Revival painters to ridicule
and castigate everyday human vices and faults. The original frescos
date back to the beginning of the 18th century.
reveal the inner mind and mentality of the mountain-dweller faced by
the challenges of a life of hardships and deprivations. This hard life
developed a more economical and economically determined attitude to
everyday matters. Perhaps, being thrifty is not an entirely negative
trait, but the conceivable dimensions of thriftiness did unleash local
jokers' imagination.
the
House the sole and eternal beneficiary of which remains the
citizens of Gabrovo.
rdan
Lazarov, Snezhina Popgencheva, Ivan Barakov, Dragan Nemtsov
and some 30 names more. Whole families of artists, working in
different art genres - the Solakovs, the Minchevs, the Popgenchevs,
the Rusinovs, the Nemtsovs - come to prove that the creative
genes are really passed down from generation to generation.
Among the sculptors on display are Neli Dimova, Adrian Novakov,
Dimitrinka Grancharova, Ivan Kanchev, Maya Kazakova, Nikolay
Tsvetanov, Petar Maleshkov, Nikolay Kolev, and, of course, Mityo
Solakov with his small sculpture Gascar which is one
of the most prestigious prizes awarded at the International
Biennial of Humour and Satire in the Arts. 
In the International
Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures 2010 the House of Humour
and Satire is playing host to a collective exhibition of 97
humorous photographs by four Iranian and eight Bulgarian photographers
seeking the comic, but also the sad in the world we live in
smilingly. 
and
the nature of Bulgaria revealed in the exhibitions Humour
in Photography (2006) and Laughter Therapy (2008)
at the House of Humour and Satire. This third consecutive group
exhibition is yet another attempt of the photographers to bring
a smile on the visitors' faces, for as Seyed Ali Seyedi holds,
"Making people smile is increasingly rewarding in a world
where people need to smile more than in
any other time in history." 
It is for the third
time now that young artists from the Art Society to Aprilov-Palauzov
Community Centre show their work in the exhibition rooms of
the House of Humour and Satire. Their instructor is Ema Verterova
who is a regular entrant in the International Biennial of Humour
and Satire in the Arts and whose creative career encompasses
numerous solo shows group exhibitions. 
nd
the House's motto The World Lasts Because It laughs,
for hadn't there existed the human potential, Gabrovo would
have been primeaval hornbeam woods and mountain streams and
rapids.
, the exhibition features a kaleidoscopic picture of the
merry dance parties and masquerades in the 1930s; the first
humour carnivals and the national festivals of humour and satire
in Gabrovo; the conversion of an old leather factory into a
humour art museum; the ambitious programme of the House of Humour
and Satire to promote and further humour through a variety of
international and national events in the field of the fine arts
and the verbal folklore, literature competitions, an international
comedy film festival, humorous and satirical publications, a
Park of Laughter, an Experimental Satirical Variety Theatre,
and more, and more! However, the colours on this palette of
events are mixed by no one but the main characters of the exhibition,
i.e.: heads of government and politicians from the past and
the present; figures of culture; Bulgarian and foreign artists,
writers, journalists, actors; representatives of the partner
towns of Gabrovo, as well as all who feel themselves Gabrovians
and without whom the humour and satire festivals in Gabrovo
would never have come true. 
stage
stamps and first-day covers. The current exhibition reveals
but a tiny piece of this wealth - copies of 170 philately values.
It is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the opening of the
Bulgarian Post Office and the issuing of the first Bulgarian
stamps known by the name of centimes. 
sh makes
it possible for visitors to go round the exhibition without
a guide. By illustrating carnival moments of Gabrovo, Shoumen,
Yambol, Pernik, Rakovski and Rouse, Bulgarian masquerade tradition
is assigned a particular place in the display. 
the beginning of the 20th century until the present day. Because
of its carnival, Gabrovo has joined the big family of the Foundation
of the European and Mediterranean Carnival Cities. Long
Live the Carnival is the perfect backgound for opening
the carnival season in Bulgaria on 11 November, at 11 h 11'
every year. A number of photographs underscore the part the
House of Humour and Satire plays in drawing children and young
people to the local carnival traditions (to serve the purpose,
educational programmes run throughout the year). 
The festivals of the African peoples are distinguished for their originality. The variety of symbols, hot-tempered folklore and potent tradition lend them a particular sumptuousness and inimitability reminiscent of primordial celebrations where no borderline existed between the serious and the comic.
