The Album “Bulgarians and Arabs”

On February 6, the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” hosted the presentation of the album “Bulgarians and Arabs”. It was published by the All-Bulgarian foundation “Tangra TanNakRa” and the Centre for Studies of the Bulgarians, under the patronage of the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov. The event was attended by the ambassadors of all Arabic countries in Bulgaria. The accompanying exposition “The Arabic Manuscripts in the Archives of the National Library” contained exhibits, which were displayed to the Bulgarian public for the first time.

It will not be Forgotten

In the end of January 2004, the Sredetz exhibition hall hosted an exhibition of archive materials and photographic documents to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Great Famine in Ukraine 1932– 1933. The event was held under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria, the Mati Ukraine Foundation and the Euro-Bulgarian Cultural Centre. The exhibition was personally attended by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mr. Volodymyr Lytvyn.

On January 28, an exhibition of the Macedonian painter Novica Traikovsky was opened at the MP Club in the Bulgarian Parliament

50 Years of Italian Graphics

On February 4, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Mr. Umberto Rinaldi opened the exhibition “50 Years of Italian Graphics”, presented by the Association of Bulgarian Artists, at the National Exhibition Centre for Modern Art at 6 ShipkaSt.

The Parisian Impressions of Ilin Paunov

The exhibition “Parisian Impressions” by the painter Ilin Paunov was opened at the “Espresso Bar TSUM” Gallery on February 5. Born in 1935 in the town of Hisar and a follower of the French Impressionist School, he specialised in Bozar de Loubre, Paris. He staged exhibitions of his own in Italy, Switzerland and Germany and displayed murals in Melbourne, Australia. In 1980 he joined the association of French artists.

Second Festival of the Belgian Francophone Cinema

On February 5, in the Euro-Bulgarian Cultural Centre with a show of the movies “Merci” by Christine Rabet and “Hop” by Dominique Standaert the Second Festival of the Belgian Francophone Cinema started. The event was organised by the Embassy of Belgium and the Chief Commissariat for International Relations of the French Community in Belgium. The festival was inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Philippe Beke, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium. The floor was given to the guest of honour Mr. Louis Elio, cinema historian and critic, Director of Audiovisia Wallonia – Brussels, in Paris.
The film-shows were attended by representatives of the embassies of francophone countries, film-makers, journalists. Afterwards an elegant cocktail was given on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of the unique Belgian Jacque Brel.

The Legend Jacque Brel

Right after the opening of the Second Festival of Belgian Francophone Cinema on February 5 in Sredets hall of the Ministry of Culture an exhibition of Jacque Brel – one of the legendary figures of the variety from the middle of the last century – was opened.

Leos Janacek: “The Makropulos Case”

On February 11, the Czech Cultural Centre celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of the big composer Leos Janacek with a musical evening.

Family Photos

On February 11, the photo exhibition “Lorenz Geiser: Family Photos” opened at Goethe Institute Sofia. It was the first exhibition of the series “4 in 4” by the curator Ana Grip – positions of modern photography. On this occasion the director of the institute Mr. Peter Anders revealed his intentions for the present year: “Our cultural programme is designed to introduce you to the modern art in Germany which, despite or rather because of its innovative and experimental nature, has always helped determine our idiosyncratic social and cultural identity.”

29th National Exhibition of Caricatures

It was inaugurated on February 12, in the National Exhibition Centre for Modern Art at 6 Shipka Street in Sofia, by the Chairman of the UBA Prof. Hristo Haralampiev. The annual general exhibition of the UBA Caricature section was accompanied by the special participation of the collection “The World through the Eyes of the Iranian Caricaturists”. It was presented by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran H.E. Mr. Fereidoun Haghbin. The famous Iranian caricaturist Djevad Alizade was present at the ceremony.