Hidden Letters

6th to 28th Aug, 10:30am to 5pm

Poetry, typography and urban gardens? Follow our new outdoor trail of brightly coloured park benches in the grounds of St John’s Church.

They are designed in the shape of letters from the Cyrillic alphabet which have no graphic analogue in the Roman or Greek scripts. Turn this quiet urban oasis into a new outdoor space for reading, resting and meeting family and friends. Discover specially commissioned poems attached to each letter-bench by contemporary Bulgarian writers, presented in their original Cyrillic script and in English translation. Tune into the accompaning online poetry activism events reconsidering the role of small cultures in the global village of world literature.

Fun facts? The Cyrillic alphabet is the third official alphabet of the European Union after the Latin and the Greek script. It is used by over 300 million people worldwide in more than 10 countries, including Bulgaria where the Cyrillic script is celebrated at an annual day of culture, language, and education every 24 May at least since 1813.

Unlike the Latin script, which is usually adapted to different languages by adding supplementary marks such as accents to standard Roman letters, the Cyrillic script is usually adapted by the creation of entirely new letter shapes.

Did you know?

Hidden Letters is designed by the Bulgarian artists and architects Cyrill Zlatkov and Ivan Ivanov. It first launched in Sofia in 2018 and since has toured to Berlin, Paris, Budapest, Plovdiv, Munster, Rabat and Brussels. Edinburgh is its first UK destination – an initiative of the Bulgarian Cultural and
Educational Centre Scotland, curated by Daniela Dimova-Yaneva, Iliyana Nedkova
and Todora Radeva.

Fun facts?

The Cyrillic alphabet is the third official alphabet of the European Union after the Latin and the Greek script. It is used by over 300 million people worldwide in more than 10 countries, including Bulgaria where the Cyrillic script is celebrated at an annual day of culture, language, and education every 24 May at least since 1813.

Unlike the Latin script, which is usually adapted to different languages by adding supplementary marks such as accents to standard Roman letters, the Cyrillic script is usually adapted by the creation of entirely new letter shapes.

Other Related Events at this year’s Just Festival

Provinciality in the Global Village of World Literature?

Hidden Letters – Poetry, Precarity and Post-Covid Monuments

This Event is free. Suggested Donation £4.

If you have any access requirements please email [email protected] to discuss – no later than seven days prior to the event if possible.