On 29 April 2026, the Museum of Humor and Satire presented the exhibition 100 Years Since the Birth of Stefan Fartunov.
The exhibition is dedicated to the founder of the House of Humor and Satire and traces his life—his personality, work, and significance—while also going beyond biography, as its focus lies on the idea and its realisation rather than on a life story.
Sixteen panels, arranged outdoors near the entrance of the museum, tell the story of a lawyer by training and a visionary of remarkable scale, who over the course of more than twenty years, built and developed an institution without parallel in the world.
The Museum’s deputy director, Nela Rachevits, noted that none of the team working on the exhibition knew Stefan Furtunov personally which made it necessary to adopt a specific approach: to seek understanding through the documents before telling the story. The exhibition is based on in-depth research into archival materials, photographs, publications and audio recordings, among which an extensive interview with Fartunov from the mid-1990s that was told in his own voice and showed his personal narrative. The main goal is to make the content accessible to a wide audience, including passers-by on the street, which is why the exhibition uses visual highlights and short texts. Rachevits emphasized the importance of teamwork and thanked the partners from the State Archives – Gabrovo for their active participation in both the selection of documents and the development of the concept. She also expressed hope that the exhibition would continue to evolve as an ongoing narrative, one to which the Museum will return with each anniversary and for every new generation that seeks to understand where it all began.
Tsvetomira Koycheva, Head of the State Archives – Gabrovo, emphasized the collective character of both the exhibition and the establishment of the museum itself. She mentioned Fartunov’s like-minded collaborators-Veselin Vassilev, Mihail Mihov, Radoy Ralin, Boris Dimovski, and Todor Tsonev-people without whom the House would have remained only a dream. Koycheva also emphasized the importance of the archival materials: only through factual evidence of events and processes can Furtunov’s work be faithfully recreated – and the joint work between the two institutions is precisely the model by which such expositions should be made.
Prior to the official opening, the museum team organised a meeting with former colleagues who had worked with Fartunov. The personal stories they shared complement the archival records and are part of the living memory the exhibition aims to bring forward.
Among the official guests at the event were the Chair of the Municipal Council, Eng. Kliment Kunev, and the Deputy Mayors of Gabrovo Municipality, Maria Yozova and Architect Nikolay Merazchiev.
The Museum of Humor and Satire expresses its gratitude to the partners from the State Archives – Gabrovo, to former colleagues, and to all guests who honoured the anniversary and the work of Stefan Fartunov with their presence – the man who transformed Gabrovo humour from a local phenomenon into a cultural institution of international reach.
The exhibition is realised in partnership with the State Archives – Gabrovo.
Special thanks for their support to the Municipality of Gabrovo and the Municipal Enterprise “Urban Development”
