The Exhibition “The Best Among the Best – Traditional Craft Masters’ Competitions at the Etar Museum” Opens in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
On 29 October 2026, the exhibition “The Best Among the Best – Traditional Craft Masters’ Competitions at the Etar Museum” opened at the Museum of Herzegovina in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The exhibition features 43 objects created over more than two decades, between 2003 and 2025, as part of the international competitions for traditional craft masters organized by the Etar Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum in the Bulgarian town of Gabrovo.
The exhibition includes 38 award-winning works by adult artisans and five pieces by distinguished participants in the youth section. Visitors have the opportunity to discover a wide range of traditional craft techniques and skills, as well as the creative approaches of master artisans from different countries.
A distinctive feature of the competitions is that each edition focuses on a different traditional craft, with participants required to use traditional techniques and tools. The exhibited works therefore represent not only a high level of artistic and technical craftsmanship, but also the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge and skills. Established in 2017, the youth section further contributes to this mission by encouraging younger generations to engage with traditional craft heritage.
The exhibition combines traditional museum presentation with contemporary technology. NFC tags allow visitors to access additional information about the exhibited objects and their creators, offering an enhanced insight into the works and their background.
The exhibition's presentation in Trebinje is the result of cooperation between the Museum of Herzegovina and the Etar Museum, with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria. The State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO – Sofia are partners in the project.
The initiative also marks the first tangible outcome of the cooperation agreement signed in November 2025 between the State Institute for Culture and the Etar Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. The partnership creates opportunities for joint initiatives and the wider international promotion of Bulgarian cultural heritage.
By presenting award-winning works by master artisans from different generations in an international museum setting, the exhibition highlights traditional crafts as a living heritage that continues to evolve and find its place in the contemporary world. Its presentation in Bosnia and Herzegovina contributes to raising the international profile of Bulgarian cultural traditions while fostering professional exchange and cooperation between cultural institutions.