Context of the study

Three years ago, I started learning and creating art with the ninth-century script Glagolitsa. Little did I know that the script would take me around the world and back to university to observe it as an enlivened ancient medium, a technology of holistic communication. Between March and August 2025, I organized the first immersive exhibition combining the photography of artifacts of ancient Glagolitic script with mixed-media art by contemporary artists, and professional crafts to be displayed in government buildings, museums, shopping centres, and educational institutions. Twenty-five artists and six professional crafts participated in the total 25-day project. The goal was to investigate a collective creative engagement with the script and observe the reactions and readings of it. The experiential exhibit in Toronto alone attracted over 1,000 people from diverse cultural backgrounds, including a display in Toronto City Hall, a temporary gallery at Shops at Don Mills and a guest exhibit at the Kitchener Museum Ken Seiling. In some cases, people travelled 6 hours to experience the exhibition. Friends and families reunited at the gallery space; the visuals attracted all ages and ethnicities. With these curious findings, the project travelled to Bat Yam, Israel and Sofia and Varna in Bulgaria, connecting with a thousand more global citizens under the title of “Sacred Letters and Words for Peace”.

Exhibit 1: “Sacred Letters and Words”, Shops At Don Mills, Toronto

Exhibit 2: “Sacred Letters and Words for Peace”, Sofia, Bulgaria, Presidential Building

The last stop of the exhibition was at The Regional Archaeological Museum of Varna, housing the oldest gold art, dating 5,000 BC, and artifacts from Thracian, Roman, proto-Bulgarians, Byzantine and other epochs. All to say, I was able to position the script’s modern representation in a physical environment alongside cultural artifacts spanning 30,000 years and over 30 different cultural backgrounds, in less than six months.

Exhibit 3: “Sacred Letters and Words”, Varna, Bulgaria, Regional Archaeological Museum. Display of the oldest gold art, 5,000 BC

The intention was to introduce the script to a global public and find a new way of reading the medium, which has not undergone the typical language commodification or mechanical reproduction, in the words of Walter Benjamin (1936). The questions this experience posed were: what if there is a different way of seeing my indigenous language and its communication technology? Could this new way of seeing be a gateway to alternative worldviews and restoring a balance in these conflicting times? Why did people of diverse cultural backgrounds come to the exhibit and cry, or bring their ex-wives, grandchildren, and best friends? Why did some people not leave even after we closed for the day?

How to see- a kaleidoscope

My curiosity extended to learn what is known of the Glagolitsa’s semantics- beyond the shapes and conjectural studies of politicized histories. In a world dominated by hegemonic linguistics and visuality, what lives in the crevices of the couves and corners of the eyes is as valuable as the meanings hidden in the circles and triangles of the Glagolitc script. Indeed, the techniques used by all of the authors cited in this paper could be applied to ancient and indigenous languages. By combining Berger, Elkins and Mirzoeff, I fashioned a “how to see” toolkit, a kaleidoscopic perspective. I am now able to explore a multitude of new entry points for studying endangered languages.

Mirzoeff shows us that not only the urban landscape, art, and gender identities changed with the times, but the entire worldview continues to shift before our eyes. The Renaissance embodied an angular mindset, subsumed by the thrust of industrial excitement to finally emerge with a centuries-long obsession over the aesthetics of power. Berger discussed the framing of status and wealth in the gesture of how “X had seen Y”. A similar framing to how our identities today depend on performative linguistics embedded in trendy and exploitative technologies mediating all social activities. Berger may have failed to note all relevant issues, but he exposed us to two major lessons: how looking at art and reading its cultural symbolism both consciously and subconsciously over time builds pre-set assumptions; and secondly, that the social fabric maintains a greater consciousness, like a net ready to catch all that is missed or forgotten (his own arguments being a vivid proof of that phenomenon). A layer that extends beyond the seen curves on a screen or an oil painting is something Mirzoeff coins as counter visuality. This consciousness also alerts us to mass enlightenment and transformative events like the dismantling of linguistic dominance in ninth-century Europe. Undeniably a complex process for this short reflection, but somehow carried by the life work of two scholars and their students.

Today’s dominant mindset instils a sense of hopelessness, of no alternatives, but if there is one thing to take away from the “how to see” toolkit and the case study of Glagolitsa, it is the existence of a plethora of counter visualities waiting to be invited into the field of vision of the collective, to borrow semiotics from Carl Jung.

Thus, on one side, we can argue that language has been stripped of its aura by capitalism, much like a cheap reproduction in a souvenir shop. On the other side, we can enliven the patiently travelling subcultural artifacts, like in the case of Glagolitsa, and discover an entirely new moral system that differs from capitalism with intentionality rooted in peace, care for the Earth, speaking and thinking with intention.

It is not to say that switching your inner seeing is like a toggle bar. Furthermore, we must caution that my work comes in a lineage of sacred symbols being used for propaganda by radical leaders, superhero franchises, and brands alike- commodifying and erasing what Walter Benjamin names the “aura” of the original. But as a media archaeologist, he was also greatly inspired by the potential in media forms combining language and art. He saw such convergences perhaps as the equivalent of an aura revitalization program. Why not? – The thought is organized in a form before materializing in a shape through language or other expression-art. Therefore, the thought determines to a large extent the auratic qualities of the materiality, from the shape of our buildings to the swiping habits on a screen. A collective shift in thought, as we will explore below, is also not uncommon to observe.

Undeniably, Berger is right to state that “Seeing comes before words” (1997, p. 6). But seeing, others (Elkins) may argue, happens through the stories embedded in the shapes and sounds of the letters too. To continue adding to the “how to see” toolkit, I invite Elkins’ approach, almost like a new recipe for living life or reading- “learning to see anything, learning to use your eyes more concertedly and with more patience” (2008, p IX. ). Elkins is teaching us to see as if we are actively training our temporoparietal junction in the brain. Repetitive patterns, diverse examples, showing the many ways to live life and to experience it visually. While Berger dethrones the sight from its elite status, Elkins takes it on a slow, contemplative, individual journey of intuitive curiosity, pausing in the moment of discovery to remember the new perspective. He, too, mentions the auratic qualities of ancient scripts, rebuses and alchemical elements. Indeed, Elkins points to Linear B as “one of the success stories of modern linguistics” and speaks to the mixing of images and letters in a singular communication vehicle (2008, p. 48). Not surprisingly, Instagram’s reels are not the first to enliven a tablet. Elkins goes further to apply this method in the layout of his book “How To Use Your Eyes” asking language and imagination, hence the seen and unseen, to collide back together.

Figure 1. A display of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, exhibiting literary artifacts from 1275 AD, showing a similar style and formatting in medieval codices.

Elkins’ approach is timeless and could be applied in various cultural contexts, particularly to seeing language in new ways- building upon the paleographic research and moving into daily spatial organization using current images, sounds, and encouraging responses from marginalized senses. We may continue with adding new macro lenses with Berger’s relentless focus on the elite and intentionality in gazing. Hence, the Glagolitic script was brought into existence in 855-863 AD in the midst of complex political and linguistic religious manoeuvres. Today, the spiritual and economic value of sacred books is determined by grand institutions like the Vatican and museums and libraries in Great Britain, Russia, Egypt, Paris and Austria, to name a few. The Glagolitic books are not in their countries of origin but are still valuable as cultural trophies and research objects.

The script could also be seen through its literal meaning: each symbol corresponds to a sound formation. For example, the first letter

, A, which corresponds to the sound “a”, also known as “Azu”,  could be translated as I, or a spiritual self, the beginning, and also has direct relations to the image of Christ. Furthermore, each grapheme forms language patterns which, in combinations, often come not only as spoken everyday words, but as good wishes, prayers, and abbreviations of sacred names. For example, the first two letters mean “azu”, “buki” , B, in current literal translation – alphabet; but metaphorically, I who know the letters, I am conscious and aware of knowledge. The script could also be examined through its direct relation to earlier writing systems, such as Linear A and B, or resemblances with Bulgarian runes or Sumerian tablets.

However, for many of the visitors during my exhibitions, these curiosities were in addition to the non-definable by words sacred seeing.  Indeed, a shared container of spiritual wisdom, which is a felt experience. The combination of geometric figures and rebus-like shapes, combined with the artist’s translations captured in colour and texture a palaeographic archive and a teaching tool that doesn’t require storage or electricity, but slow contemplation and imagination. The increased interest by artists, teachers, entire communities, and businesses to learn from Glagolitsa is a call for academic curiosity to see the script differently.

Figure 2- Artistic drawing of font Glagolitsa by Mira Kopanarov

Figure 3- Baskanska ploca, Croatia, in Glagolitic

The angles Elkins’ philosophy may take us include also the mathematical values in each symbol, or the cultural wave of changes that ensued, shaping national monuments, literary movements and music traditions. We also have the option to focus on the geometrical shapes and the interaction points of the shapes with the spoken languages amongst the Slavic nations. We may even spend a lifetime deciphering all the hypertext related to the Bible, or how the symbols engage with the concept of light. Either way, the script is teaching the viewer and reader a lesson each time they interact.

However, all of this is most general to what the individual author of the script left of himself in this linguistic rebus. Thus, pointing the viewer and reader of Glagolitsa to follow the words into the past and future simultaneously. Why would someone leave a message if it is not meant to be read in the future? Indeed, the translation of the first three letters “azu, buki, vedi” continues to reveal a personal story: ” I know the letters and sacred books”.

Figure 4 showing St Cyril-Constantin and St Methodius, source Bulgarian Orthodox Church Source: https://bg-patriarshia.bg/orthodox-thought/pochitta-kam-sv-kiril-i-metodiy-po-balgarskite-zemi

The creation of Glagolitsa was strongly believed to be a political and religious strategy. However, this story evolved beyond the semantics of power through the individual acts of the two scholars, Constantin and Methodius and their students. When the script arrived in the form of the translated Bible, at the Vatican and was blessed by Pope Adrian II, it broke the trilingual heresy in ninth-century Europe. In these far-removed events, we see what today is called freedom of expression. Undeniably, such an event changed the course of history for all of humanity. The veneration for Sts Cyril-Constantin and Methodius for their literary and spiritual contributions expanded into a linguistic preservation tradition that now spans across the globe despite faith and cultural differences, recognizing the importance of diversity and the sacredness of languages and worldviews.

The visual and semantic discourse may start with Berger and Elkins, but will connect all points into a singular toolkit with Mirzoeff’s analysis of the first Earth photo from space- “the Blue Marble”. Thus, a heart-opening method of mindfulness- reminding us of the spiritual and environmental movements embodying a shared perspective. Although only three astronauts saw the original planet from above, the visual image had an impact on the entire world, much like Glagolitsa did. The emotional connection that emerged created a united human view of the entire planet, a collective awareness of our fragile yet beautiful existence. This analysis shows a perspective often overlooked due to its speculative character. Indeed, the personal encoding of sacred artifacts by the creator or artist, and their very human intentionality. If we see indigenous languages and their visual and oral representation as agents of balance, mapping the seen and unseen fields of the human experience, we can expand the cartography of the visual to include more senses, we can see letters as cultures, sciences and sounds.  The perspectives that could be derived are not only personally enriching but could be collectively transformative.

Works Cited:
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series with John Berger. 1. publ. 1972 by British Broadcasting Corp. and 1977 by Penguin Books, British Broadcasting Corp, 1997

Benjamin, W. (1968). “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” In H. Arendt (Ed.), Illuminations. Schocken Books. (Original work published 1936)

Elkins, James. How to Use Your Eyes. Taylor & Francis, 2008.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World: An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More. Basic Books, 2016. https://archive.org/details/howtoseeworldint0000mirz/page/n5/mode/2up