Wood carving
Ivan Petrov discovered wood carving at the age of twelve, watching his grandfather work in a small workshop on the outskirts of Plovdiv. Today, his pieces hang in galleries across Bulgaria and have been exhibited at international craft fairs in Germany and Austria.
His signature technique — combining traditional Rhodope motifs with clean, geometric forms — took years to develop. "The old masters never explained their secrets," he says. "You had to watch, and then you had to make ten thousand mistakes."
At Kota Bilo, Ivan will lead two live demonstration sessions in the Masters Arena and a hands-on workshop in the Education Hub, teaching participants his approach to relief carving on walnut panels.