These are the Awakening Women of Bulgaria
"These are the Awakening Women of Bulgaria" is the project that started it all. It began in 2018 with a series dedicated to notable Bulgarian women from the period after the Liberation - women who left their mark in education, culture, literature, medicine, charity, social causes and public life. It was this project that gave the Foundation its name and shaped one of its main directions: to bring back to public memory the contribution of women who shaped the face of modern Bulgaria.
The project collects the stories of 20 exceptional Bulgarian women with different biographies, professions and causes. Among them are teachers, writers, doctors, benefactors, artists, publishers, public figures and organizers. What they have in common is that they have paved new paths - for education, culture, social change, civil rights and a more visible place for women in public life.
The series
Work on the project began with research, digitization of archival materials and the creation of a special series on the website "Girls from the City". In June 2019, some of the stories were also presented as an exhibition within the festival Mish Mash Fest.
The Exhibition
In 2018, with the support of the Sofia Municipality, we realized the first edition of the exhibition "The Awakening Women", as well as a special digital presentation at Sofia Airport. Since then, the project has continued to develop and reach new audiences in Bulgaria and abroad.
The traveling exhibition for the project includes 20 large panels with the stories of remarkable Bulgarian women and their contribution to culture, education, social causes, public life and the struggle for equal rights.
So far, the exhibition has been presented in various spaces and partnerships:
Gallery "Plus This" - exhibition and talk in 2018
Regional History Museum, Sofia - 2022
Chitalishte "Aleko Konstantinov", with the support of the "Oborishte" district - 2024
KvARTal Festival - pop up exhibition - 2024
Warsaw, in partnership with the Bulgarian Embassy and the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Poland - 2024
Dublin, in partnership with the Bulgarian Embassy in Ireland - 2026
The Interactive Museum
On November 1, 2025, the Day of the National Awakeners, the interactive museum "These are the Awakening Women of Bulgaria" was opened on Gina Kuncheva Square in Sofia.
It includes 14 signs placed on the benches of the square. Each sign bears the name of one of our predecessors and a QR code that leads to her story on the project website - buditelkite.bg
Thus, the stories of the Awakening Women become part of the urban environment - not just an archive or an exhibition, but an encounter that can happen in everyday life.
The Project
For The Wake Up Foundation, this project has a special meaning. It is not just a part of our work, but its beginning. It is where our name comes from and one of our main tasks - to make women, their contribution and their place in society visible. "These are the Awekening Women of Bulgaria" continues to develop as a project for memory, culture and civic sensitivity - connected to the past, but focused on the way we tell the story of Bulgaria today.
