roseroma

In 2019 I conducted preliminary field research in the Rose Valley situated in Central Region of Bulgaria. At the time I had been exploring potential topics for my masters thesis and I became interested in Roma/Romani people's relationship to Bulgarian plant knowledge, practices and traditions. An ethno-linguistic minority group in Bulgaria (as well as many other parts of the world), scarce ethnobotanical research has focused on Roma people's contributions to the conservation and transmission of traditional plant practices; nor has their role as Bulgarian plant knowledge keepers been ever acknowledged. Having grown up in Bulgaria I am fully aware of the long history and traditions of rose cultivation, as well as the huge cultural significance the oil bearing rose - Rosa damascena holds in the country.

Bulgaria's rose Otto is one of its most valued products and indeed traditions, yet for a very long time I had thought about and wanted to address the discrepancy between the symbolic images and aesthetics associated with rose oil production and the actual dynamics at play in this context. In this self guided research project I explored the longstanding relationships between Roma people and rose oil production in Bulgaria, and scrutinised the erasure of Roma people from both the history, and the imagery associated with Rosa damascena cultivation.

I spent two weeks in the Bulgarian Rose Valley during the country's annual Rose festival. There I engaged in participant observation research (as a rose picker), and conducted semi structured interviews with rose pickers, distillers, middle men, non-Roma local populations, and tourist attending the festival on the topics of rose oil production chain, traditional plant knowledge, and Roma people as stakeholders in this context.

Although I decided to conduct my masters research on another topic, I did produce a piece of course work on Bulgaria's rose oil production, as well as a short video presentation featuring some of the findings of my research.

Some images taken during my field work in the rose valley: