Theo Cottle paperwork Bulgaria's outstanding Kukeri custom
In many Bulgarian towns and villages, winter is interrupted by the ancient kukeri ritual, which is performed to drive away the presence of evil. As with many cultural traditions passed down through the centuries, the Kukeri tradition has become a source of fascination for outsiders thanks to the use of visually appealing clothing and a sense of theater that surrounds the occasion.
Kukeri wears a range of distinctive costumes and runs through local residents' homes to drive away evil spirits and encourage positivity and new life. Although the masks and costumes vary widely, silky Kalofer goat hair, shaggy materials and domineering horns often come into play, which are then shaped into enormous proportions. Custom-made bells are often an integral part.
All pictures: Theo Cottle
For a long time the tradition was mostly reserved for young men, but in the last few decades more women and people of different ages have started to participate. The Kukeri tradition can be found all over Bulgaria (similar forms also exist in neighboring countries), although the specifics vary depending on the region, from the type of costumes to the time of year and the time of day.
Many Kukeri come to Pernik, a town in western Bulgaria near the capital Sofia, every year to take part in the Surva Festival at the end of January. Documentary and fashion photographer Theo Cottle, who previously worked on projects for The Face and Vice, wanted to travel to the festival and document this tradition. A drought last winter meant it had been canceled, however, and instead visited the homes of Kukeri, who welcomed him and proudly shared her traditions, took out costumes from the warehouse and dressed for him.
The photographs are featured in his first book, Generation / поколение, published by Trip. While the cancellation of the festival will undoubtedly have been a disappointment to the many Kukeri attending, the change in events appears to have been of benefit to the project. Rather than producing the inflammatory, disoriented imagery that is difficult to avoid at festivals or carnivals, Cottle's photographs are inherently more personal and spacious. And while we see the range of incredible costumes, they are given enough space to breathe in the images, and sometimes we also get a closer look at the people behind the traditions.
Although the tradition has existed for centuries – thought by some for millennia – it has been the subject of increasing fascination in recent years. Kukeri festival guides are now in abundance, and photographers like Aron Klein previously put the spotlight on the Rhodope Mountains ritual along the Greek border to the south (the urban setting in Cottle's series makes a refreshing difference).
The tradition has also found resonance in the film world; A Kukeri costume gave the German comedy drama Toni Erdmann a spectacularly surreal touch in 2016, while Daniel Ali and Jacob Schühle Lewis released a short film earlier this year that illuminates Kukeri. It seems fitting that in the continued documentation of the Kukeri tradition a new ritual of its own was born.
Generation / поколение, published by Trip, can be pre-ordered here. trippublishing.co.uk