site.btaSix Artists Awarded in 11th Friends of the Sea National Exhibition

Six artists were awarded in the 11th edition of Friends of the Sea National Exhibition, a biennial for contemporary Bulgarian art. The 2024 edition was officially launched in the halls of the Petko Zadgorski Art Gallery in Burgas and the Society of Burgas Artists on Thursday.

A total of 151 artists have been approved for participation this year. Exhibited until September 28 are some 200 works in the field of painting, graphics and sculpture, said Petko Zadgorski Art Gallery head Georgi Dinev. Involved in the works' selection and arrangement are representatives of the Society of Burgas Artists.

The total award fund is just over BGN 10,000. The awarded works become part of the Burgas Art Gallery's fund. A catalogue is also published as part of the exhibition, Dinev said.

The Union of Bulgarian Artists' award for young artist went to Vesselin Simeonov. The award is worth BGN 1,000.

The Todor Atanasov Award went to Hristo Georgiev.

The Burgas Municipality's award for graphics went to Vesselin Damyanov, for sculpture to Dimo Dimov and for painting, to Ivan Milchev.

The Burgas Art Gallery's award for painting went to Angela Terzieva. Nomination diplomas were conferred on Vassil Yanev, Nikolina Encheva, Nikola Pevicharov, and Simeon Panayotov.

The Friends of the Sea biennial for contemporary art is the oldest of its kind in the country, its director told BTA in 2023. It was originally organized in 1968 in the form of a regional exhibition called Friends of the South Beach and existed until 1984. It was restored in 2004 and has since been held with the help of the Union of Bulgarian Artists and the cooperation of the Municipality of Burgas as well as private sponsors.