“Що е човек?” · “Shto e chovek?”
What Is a Human?
When change is NOT the only constant: poverty: how one’s lived experiences/historical memory of the 20th C are still the reality in the 21st Century in the Western Balkans geographical region
When change is NOT the only constant: poverty: how one’s lived experiences/historical memory of the 20th C are still the reality in the 21st Century in the Western Balkans geographical region. Visibilise emotional memories: the story speaks to poverty and the difficult life in the Western Balkan mou…
It brings attention to an otherwise “forgotten” part of Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans and the Bulgaria-Serbia border, village Senokos (Serbia) and one of the poorest European regions. The story exemplifies how life in the mountain is characterised by severe economic hardship and isolation due to extreme geography and a lack of basic infrastructure. There are only several people still living in the village today and this is the story of one of them in his own words. The story also connects to migration, the “Balkan Route”, and the plight of migrants crossing the border.
A life across a divided borderland
This illustrated graphic history follows memories associated with a family story in the Serbia–Bulgaria border region.
What remains in testimony
The work combines recorded conversation, illustrations, historical images and maps to examine poverty, labour, care and migration across generations.
A graphic form for public history
Instead of presenting a single authoritative account, the pages juxtapose the subject’s voice with wider borderland histories and the contemporary experiences of refugees.
Sources & Credits
Original project references, visual sources and creator credits are collected here in one place.
- Creator & project
Kremena Dimitrova. Graphic public-history narrative. Who Owns Memory? Digital Public Exhibition, First Cycle 2026.
Oral history interview/research report; journal articles; websites; photographs taken by the artist-researcher;
- Visual and media material
Photographs, documents, illustrations, video and audio are attributed through the project text, captions and contributor documentation wherever that information was supplied. This exhibition page does not grant additional reuse permissions.
- Digital exhibition edition
Web presentation adapted for Who Owns Memory? (2026), with layout and language editing. The original contributors retain authorship of their research, interpretation and creative work.