The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum

The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IEFSEM – BAS) is a leading national scientific institution for research  in the fields of ethnology, folkloristics, cultural and social anthropology, ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, art studies and museology. The Institute has large libraries and archives (field records, audio, photo and video recordings, ethnographic documents and descriptions, etc.) with the aim to safeguard and disseminate knowledge about traditions, cultural identity, cultural heritage, local communities and their role in the contemporary cultural world. The National Ethnographic Museum (NEM) preserves tens of thousands of objects,  representing Bulgarian traditional culture and it also has an educational center. The scientific archives of the Institute are a large repository of cultural memory and a valuable set of data for other future research by scientists from Bulgaria and the world.

Studies in the institute include both traditional and contemporary culture of Bulgarians and other ethnic and religious communities in Bulgaria, as well as transformation and integration processes in the Bulgarian society in the context of world globalization, modern migration processes and their impact on identity, cultural processes among Bulgarian communities abroad in the past and the present. 

Studies, analyses and results of scientists are presented at national and international conferences and published in scientific periodicals and other editions. The Institute publishes open access books and papers: https://iefem.bas.bg/e-publications.

Scientists, specialists and experts at IEFSEM – BAS are engaged in research, analysis and presentation of the multiascpect cultural history and contemporary time of Bulgaria, including studies of cultural phenomena and processes in the Balkan, European and global context. Through the work of the National Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage (NCICH) and the National Ethnographic Museum, cultural heritage is systematically identified, researched, documented, safeguarded and presented. The NCICH stores documents, photo and video data for all Bulgarian candidacies in the National System “Living Human Treasures – Bulgaria” and all candidacies listed in the UNESCO lists for safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. The archival items represent the various spheres of folklore and traditional culture: verbal, ritual, work and festive (calendar and family), musical (vocal and instrumental), dance, folk arts and visual forms.