An interdisciplinary hub for space culture, governance and scientific outreach — bridging 8,000 years of Plovdiv's heritage with humanity's return to the Moon.
Body → religion → calendar → craft → art → space. Every phase the Moon has structured in human culture, rendered as one continuous cycle.
Modern chronobiology confirms what millennia of intuition suggested: circalunar rhythms are documented in human sleep, hormonal cycles and reproduction. Tidal cycles shaped the coastal ecosystems early communities depended on. The Moon's hold on the body is not metaphorical — it is physiological.
Every major religious tradition arrived, independently, at the Moon as the arbiter of its most sacred dates — Easter, Passover, Ramadan, Diwali, Vesak — and Bulgarian folk tradition (народен календар) times planting and healing rites by the same lunar phases. Every known ancient calendar, from Babylon to Mesoamerica, is lunar or lunisolar; the Lebombo bone, ~43,000 years old, is read by researchers as a tally of lunar cycles predating agriculture, writing and cities.
"Lunar art is not decoration. It is the most honest expression of why we want to go back."
MVC Bulgaria exists to hold that argument in one continuous programme — and to carry it, deliberately, from Plovdiv back toward the Moon.
The Center's value lies in refusing to silo culture from governance from science — each pillar is designed to inform the others.
Bulgaria's national node for International Moon Day, an ongoing space-art exhibition programme, and a junior Moon Village for the next generation.
An annual dialogue series producing public policy briefs, feeding directly into MVA Working Groups and COPUOS processes.
Public science programming built with a 25+ institution national network, culminating in an annual forum designed for actionable output.
The panel advances a central proposition: that the Moon is humanity's primordial temporal regulator, the origin of the calendar, and the organiser of sacred time across civilisations. The drive to return to the Moon is not purely technological — lunar art is the most honest expression of why humanity wants to go back.
View on IMD 2026 ↗Co-produced with Moon Gallery Foundation and hosted at the Episcopal Basilica of Philippopolis (23 Feb – 15 Mar 2026), MoonBound was conceived, planned, executed and communicated end-to-end by the Association's team — the clearest evidence of MVC Bulgaria's operational capacity, and a replicable model rather than a one-off.
The accompanying publication carried contributions from Christopher Cokinos, Chair of MVA's Cultural Considerations Working Group. The exhibition also included children's educational workshops, a jazz performance event, a podcast episode and a live broadcast.
Note: the IMD concept note gives a lower figure — "over 1,000 visitors from 15 countries" — for the same exhibition. The proposal's more detailed figures (2,000+ visitors, 27 features) are used here; reconcile before publication.
Ancient stonework beneath an open dome, in the heart of Plovdiv's old town. Site of the MoonBound exhibition and home of International Moon Day and large-scale public events.
Scientific programming delivered through partner-institution venues within the 25+ member Bulgarian Space & STEAM Cluster.
A two-year commitment on a best-effort basis, per the terms of the MVA Call.
| Institution | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal Foundation Plovdiv 2019 | Institutional endorsement; ECoC legacy linkage | Confirmed |
| Moon Gallery Foundation | Space art exhibitions; 50+ artist network | Confirmed |
| Radix Lucis Studio | Innovation partner; space art & commercial space tech | Confirmed |
| Bulgarian Space & STEAM Cluster | Scientific anchor; 25+ institution network | In preparation |
| Bulgarian Academy of Sciences | Scientific credibility; research collaboration | Year 1 |
| University of Economics – Varna | Academic linkage; space economics & governance | Year 1 |
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