Human culture, space reborn.
The first European Moon Village Center and the second globally — an interdisciplinary hub for space culture, governance and scientific outreach, based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Body -- religion -- calendar -- craft -- art -- space. Every phase the Moon has structured in human culture, rendered as one continuous cycle.
Modern chronobiology confirms what millennia of intuition suggested: circalunar rhythms are documented in human sleep, hormonal cycles and reproduction. Tidal cycles shaped the coastal ecosystems early communities depended on. The Moon's hold on the body is not metaphorical — it is physiological.
Every major religious tradition arrived, independently, at the Moon as the arbiter of its most sacred dates — Easter, Passover, Ramadan, Diwali, Vesak — and Bulgarian folk tradition times planting and healing rites by the same lunar phases. Every known ancient calendar, from Babylon to Mesoamerica, is lunar or lunisolar; the Lebombo bone, ~43,000 years old, is read by researchers as a tally of lunar cycles predating agriculture, writing and cities.
"Every rocket follows an impulse that art understood centuries ago."
MVC Bulgaria exists to hold that argument in one continuous programme — and to carry it, deliberately, from Plovdiv back toward the Moon.
The Center refuses to separate culture from governance from science. Every programme is built at their intersection.
The impulse to return to the Moon is older than any rocket. We position art and public engagement at the centre of the space conversation — not as illustration, but as the medium through which humanity's relationship with the Moon is most fully expressed.
Sustainable presence on the Moon requires governance frameworks that account for culture, heritage and equity — not only engineering and economics. We contribute to that dialogue through research, policy briefs and active participation in international processes.
We connect Bulgaria's research ecosystem with the global lunar agenda, translating scientific work into public knowledge and building regional capacity where access to established space fora has been limited.
On 18 September 2026, Moon Village Center Bulgaria officially opened its doors at CPSBB, as part of European Researchers’ Night 2026. The first Moon Village Association center in Europe and the second worldwide, it was opened with welcoming addresses from Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation; Prof. Vesela Kazashka on behalf of host institution CPSBB; and Remo Rapetti, representing the MVA Cultural Considerations Working Group.
The afternoon belonged to our youngest lunar explorers. In the children’s workshop “The Moon, the First Mother of Time,” children aged 5 to 8 turned planets, art materials and imagination into their own maps of the cosmos.
Opening remarks · CPSBB Conference Hall · 18 September 2026
Children’s workshop · “The Moon, the First Mother of Time”
On 20 October 2026, MVC-Bulgaria held its first online panel as part of International Moon Day 2026, exploring how terrestrial artistic practice engages with the Moon as a primordial symbol of time and myth. The 90-minute session was moderated by Dr. Ivelina Kadiri, Director of MVC-Bulgaria, and brought together six voices from the frontier of space culture and art.
Held as an open-access live stream with no registration required, the panel combined short presentations from each speaker with a moderated discussion and audience questions. At participants’ request, the session was not published online afterwards and remains available only to those who attended.
View on IMD 2026 ↗Hosted at the Episcopal Basilica of Philippopolis (23 Feb – 15 Mar 2026), MoonBound was curated and designed by Moon Gallery Foundation, featuring the work of 50+ artists from its global network. Our role was local production and execution of the communication plan. Financed by the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria.
The accompanying publication included contributions from Christopher Cokinos, Chair of MVA's Cultural Considerations Working Group. The programme also featured children's educational workshops, a jazz performance event, a podcast episode and a live broadcast.
Ancient stonework beneath an open dome, in the heart of Plovdiv's old town. Site of the MoonBound exhibition and home of International Moon Day and large-scale public events.
Scientific programming delivered through partner-institution venues within the 25+ member Bulgarian Space & STEAM Cluster.
Follow MVC Bulgaria's programme, register for International Moon Day, or get in touch about partnership.
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