iBB Podcast #10 – Stopan – The New Bulgarian Bookbinding Tradition, Show & Tell, Workshop Tour
We talk to Kalin Daskalov – Stopan – a bookbinder from Bulgaria who tries to create the modern style of Bulgarian bindings from scratch. His works are heavily influenced by the folk art of the country. But you can also see his personal style.
Stopan (Стопан) speaks about his path to bookbinding and collaboration with his father, a silversmith. Then we have a show & tell and a tour of his workshop.
Audio
Video
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- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/ibookbinding-podcast/id1510257102
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Follow Stopan:
- Website: https://www.iostopan.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iostopan
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iostopan
Follow Stopan’s father:
Follow Anna Markova: https://www.instagram.com/annamarkova_bookhist/
Podcast with Eliane Gomes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu-81ulWb8o
Chelopek – the Bulgarian Bookvillage: http://knigini.com/en/home/
00:00 – Beginning
00:22 – Musings on peculiarities of the Balcaniс languages
03:44 – Introduction of the guest
05:06 – The meaning of the pseudonym Stopan
07:07 – Was there a market for bindings in Bulgaria when Stopan started to practice bookbinding?
08:34 – Being the only licensed craftsman-bookbinder in Bulgaria’s capital
09:18 – Reinventing the lost tradition of bookbinding in Bulgaria
12:33 – Chelopek – the Bulgarian Bookvillage
14:13 – What can a bookbinder teach their students
15:45 – A profile of an average Stopan’s student
16:44 – “Knigovezets” is the word for “bookbinder” in Bulgarian
17:22 – When did Stopan start making books? The synergy of knowledge and skill after all these years
19:26 – Which techniques and approaches excite Stopan at the moment?
21:19 – One of the current projects – a book for which Stopan made all elements himself, including paper and calligraphy
22:56 – Shifting from design bindings to artist’s books
23:13 – Stopan’s father is a silversmith
26:17 – Artisans working as a family is a very traditional thing
27:11 – Traditional motifs in Stopan’s work
31:09 – On Glagolitic script and calligraphy
37:13 – Did Stopan have any experience with arts prior to becoming a bookbinder? How a programmer’s experience helps Stopan now?
39:49 – Designing patterns for the bindings. Drawing. Handwriting
43:06 – How Stopan’s experiments with calligraphy began?
46:46 – Pen’s made by Stopan’s father
47:33 – Some more examples of Stopan’s recent works / Show & Tell
48:36 – Diptych book
56:36 – Scroll in a silver encasement
58:15 – Market for unique book objects
1:00:00 – Isn’t it a bit sad to pass your prize-winning book to a collector?
1:03:23 – Workshop tour
1:12:51 – You don’t really need lots of space to start making books
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