In the beginning, our search for objects often took us to unusual places.

We visited old factories and industrial buildings that were about to be demolished. Inside, we found objects that had been used for decades: industrial lamps, clocks, telephones, workbenches, enamel instruction signs and many other items with characteristic inscriptions from the communist period.

In some of these factories, it felt as if time had simply stopped. Entire spaces remained untouched since the last day the workers had been there. Tools were still lying on workbenches, lamps were hanging above empty production lines, and old clocks were frozen at the time they had last been used.

These places felt like small time capsules. The objects we found there were not decorative pieces but tools that had been part of everyday work. 

At the same time we began travelling, to remote villages across Bulgaria. In old houses, barns and storage spaces, we discovered rustic furniture and traditional household objects such as wooden chests, dough bowls, butter churns and many other handmade items that carried traces of rural life.

The visits to these villages were often as memorable as the objects themselves. We met warm and generous people who welcomed us into their homes and shared stories about their lives, their families and the past. Through these conversations, we learned much more about the history behind the objects we were finding.

As we continued searching, we started visiting antique dealers and markets across the region. There we encountered even more unusual objects – everything from vintage cars to curious historical artefacts – and slowly began building connections with other collectors and dealers.

All of this happened while we were still in our twenties. My husband even learned to speak Bulgarian along the way as we travelled, searched for objects and met people across the country.

What began as an adventure gradually evolved into a serious project. With every trip, we discovered new objects, new stories and new places that revealed different layers of the region’s history.

This was the beginning of Balkan Hangar.