Creative Comms Campaign

Negative stereotypes, discrimination, and hate speech against vulnerable groups in Bulgaria are increasingly serious problems. To address them, Fine Acts launched a multi-year, multi-faceted creative campaign, supported by the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria. See more about the project below.

Exhibition

At the end of April, we launched Louder than Words – an inspiring display of 54 courageous individuals uniting against hate speech – their faces echoing a powerful message of solidarity, strength, and hope.

Representatives of the three groups most often affected by hate speech in Bulgaria – Roma, LGBTI people and refugees, as well as their active supporters – took part in the photo action. Laughing in the face of hate, because, let's be honest, hating people just because they are different from you, is ridiculous.

Portraits: Yana Lozeva
Documentation: Mihail Novakov
Video: Razkaz Studio

“I decided to participate in this campaign because I myself have been a victim of hate speech, be it because of where I come from, the color of my skin, or the religion I practice. Knowing firsthand how painful it can be, I stand not only with Syrians, refugees, people of color, but with every single person who has been the target of hate speech.” – Neely Rifai, English teacher

"I am proud to be of Roma origin and proud to be Bulgarian. I am not embarrassed by the color of my skin, and I believe that the more people participate openly with their faces in such actions, the greater the effect will be on decreasing stereotypes against different people. It seems like we are in need of a little empathy and more courage when witnessing hate speech." – Emil Metodiev, human rights activist

“I took part in this campaign to be the voice of my people, to say that the world is very big and there is room for every human being in this country, to say that I/we are also human like everyone else in this world and home is where you feel free and happy. Let's give each other that space." – Silsila Mahboub, Community manager, entrepreneur, activist, singer, writer

"The least anyone can do is confront their friends and relatives when they catch them talking nonsense. We have all grown up in the same sexist and racist society where a number of hateful phrases are an absolutely normal part of everyday vocabulary. It's just as normal to challenge that inertia and change things." – Konstantin Georgiev, PhD student in Anthropology

"Everyone can make the choice to be better to themselves and to others, and I think this is the first step. Legislation alone will not change anything if we – the people – do not work together to achieve tolerance, respect, and equality in our society." – Sophia Lyateva, communication expert, entrepreneur, activist

Omnibus

Louder Than Words: 5 filmmakers take a stand against hate speech, in 5 short films shot without words.

Louder Than Words is our video omnibus dedicated to overcoming stereotypes towards different vulnerable groups in Bulgaria. For it, Fine Acts worked with five Bulgarian directors on five short films on hate speech, bound by a common creative constraint - they are all shot without words.

The short films in the omnibus include Home (by Kevork Aslanyan), Heritage (by Rozaliya Dimitrova), Tasty (by Joro Peev-Jawpains), Journey (by Tsvetoslav Tsonev), and Love (by Slava Doytcheva). Each film focuses on one of the three groups in Bulgaria that are most often the target of hate speech - Roma, LGBTI people, and asylum seekers/refugees.

All of the short films in the Louder Than Words omnibus were filmed in the summer of 2022, with Fine Acts partnering for the productions with the internationally acclaimed studio handplayed.

WESEUM

WESEUM: Our unique concept for community-curated pop-up museums

Started in 2019, WESEUM is our global series of community-curated pop-up museums. WESEUM is designed to make invisible people visible, build understanding, overcome stereotypes and break down barriers for groups that are oppressed or stigmatized.

At each WESEUM, people from a community are asked two questions – “What makes you happy?” and “What makes you sad?” – and they respond to each question with an object. The museum is the collection of these objects, and the stories behind them.

The latest three editions of WESEUM feature 45 people from the three groups in Bulgaria, which most often face hate speech – Roma, LGBTI people, and refugees/asylum seekers.

See the online exhibition here.

WESEUM is a unique and innovative concept – a space that empowers communities to own their narratives and rise above the stereotypization and misrepresentation – by exhibiting the everyday objects/mementos they feel best represent their stories and selves.

The physical exhibition happened between September 26 and October 1 at Doza Gallery in Sofia. Huge thanks to our partners Caritas Sofia, LGBTI organization Deystvie, Bilitis Foundation, and Foundation Opre Roma for Community Empowerment.

Fine Acts' “Creative Communication in Support of Human Rights” project is being implemented with financial support provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism. The main objective of the "Creative Communication in Support of Human Rights" project is to strengthen support for human rights in Bulgaria by developing a wide range of communication activities focusing on different vulnerable groups, as well as by increasing the communication capacity of the groups themselves.

This page is created with the financial support of the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The sole responsibility for its content lies with Fine Acts and under no circumstances can it be assumed that it reflects the official opinion of the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Operator of the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria. For more information on the funding programme, see www.activecitizensfund.bg.

Active Citizens Creative Campaign

Creative Comms Campaign

Exhibition

Omnibus

WESEUM