On 18 September 2026, the book In the Embrace of Chronos: Stories of Timelessness. Tales from the Watchmakers of the South Central Region by Dr. Ivelina Kadiri was officially presented at the Center for Plant System Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB) in Plovdiv, together with an opening of the photography exhibition by young photographer Magdalena Nikolova.

The Premiere in Plovdiv

The most valuable part of the evening was the presence of the craftsmen whose knowledge, memories and experience stand at the heart of the book: Viktor Veleganov, Adrinela Shirinyan and the collector and enthusiast Tonislav Petkov. The premiere built a bridge between generations, bringing masters with decades of experience together with an audience that was looking into the world of mechanisms and precise handwork for the first time, and it made the idea behind the book a reality.

Audience at the premiere of In the Embrace of Chronos in Plovdiv

Guests, including members of the Pensioners' Club in Plovdiv, at the premiere.

In the afternoon, young Plovdiv watchmaker Nikolay Dunkov led a creative workshop, "Winding Up Time", which showed the craft as a living practice. Copies of the book were donated to CPSBB and to the Pensioners' Club in Plovdiv.

Hands-on craft materials from the Winding Up Time workshop

Hands-on work during the "Winding Up Time" workshop.

Four Community Cultural Centres

The presentations then continued in four community cultural centres across the region:

  • 27 October, 11:30 — Pazardzhik, Hristo Botev – 1897 Community Centre
  • 27 October, 14:30 — Parvenets, Saznanie 1914 Community Centre
  • 27 October, 17:00 — Stamboliyski, Nikola Y. Vaptsarov – 1924 Community Centre
  • 29 October, 12:00 — Asenovgrad, Rodolyubie Community Centre

The book gathers the voices of watchmakers from the South Central Region, the people who have kept a fading craft alive for decades. At each meeting the author spoke about how these stories came to be and why the trade deserves to be preserved, and the discussions with the audience were lively and productive. The photography exhibition complemented the presentations, offering a close look at clock hands, mechanisms and the hands that set them in motion.

A young pianist performing at the presentation in Pazardzhik

A performance during the Pazardzhik presentation.

In Pazardzhik, the centre welcomed two school classes, third and sixth graders, whose curiosity and questions brought great energy to the meeting. Angel, a Pazardzhik student from one of the visiting groups, enriched the event with a performance of Mozart's Turkish March on the piano.

Dr. Ivelina Kadiri presenting the book to the audience

Dr. Ivelina Kadiri presenting the book to the audience.

Copies of the book were donated to each of the four community centres and now form part of their library collections. We thank the teams of the centres for their warm hospitality, the masters who shared their stories, and everyone who joined us along the way.

Photo Gallery

Exhibition portraits of watchmakers on the wall Copies of In the Embrace of Chronos stacked on a table A man in a red patterned shirt beside the exhibition Exhibition portrait on an easel Visitor in a pink shawl viewing the exhibition Guest reading the book Audience at the Parvenets community centre Three women holding the book Dr. Ivelina Kadiri signing copies of the book Visitors looking at the exhibition

The book was published as part of CPP's project The Watchmaking Craft in the South Central Region of Bulgaria.

The publication was realised with the support of the National Culture Fund of Bulgaria.