site.btaExhibition Presents Retro Computers, Games in Sofia

Retro computers and Bulgarian retro games are on display at the National Student House in Sofia until October 26. Titled Retro Graphic Editors, Interfaces and Computer Screens, the exhibition showcases a range of vintage computers and their displays that represent some of the key moments in the history and development of computers and computer graphics, both from a global and regional perspective, the organizers from Student Computer Art Society say.

Among the exhibits are a Sofia-made computer from 42 years ago,  Pravets 82, 8M and 16, IMKO 2, Apple IIe, iMac G3, iMac G4, and SGI Indу. 

Student Computer Art Society head Rossen Petkov told BTA's Vanya Suharova that the oldest exhibit is an IMKO 2, made in Sofia in 1982; only some 300 such computers were released on the market. Shortly after, mass production began of Pravets 82 which, following the computer architecture of the Apple II, played an important role in the introduction of personal computers in Eastern Europe. The exhibited Apple IIe was made in 1979-1980.

The exhibition also includes other models from the Pravets series, such as Pravets 8M and Pravets 16, which represent the efforts to create powerful yet affordable computers for educational and business purposes in the 1980s, the organizers say.

Petkov also told BTA that years ago, computers were either microcomputers or big machines for professional purposes. "Back then, it was not that clear that computers will become powerful enough to be used for graphics, animation and as servers. Back then, they were used mostly for home purposes and games, while the big machines - supercomputers, which occupied a half or entire room, were used for professional purposes," he explained.

Also exhibited is an iMac from the early 1990s, which is a multimedia computer combining the capabilities for sounds, graphics works, animation, and a CD ROM, Petkov said.

Stoyan Angelov presented to BTA two UNIX workstations, both from the 1993-1994 period. At the time, workstations were used primarily for personal purposes. They were used by a single user, Angelov specified. For their time, they worked much faster, had more memory, graphics accelerators and, unlike house computers, they were usually utilized for scientific purposes. That was the first workstation equipped with a camera, making video conferences, video file attachment, and sound in an email possible.

Some of the machines were so well made that they are still operational, Angelov told BTA.

Evgeni Atanassov told BTA about the Amiga 500 - a series of computers produced since 1987. "It is famous for the fact that for its time it was one of the most powerful, most versatile machines sold on the market. What made it special was that unlike anything else that was on the market, this one had a separate chip that was used for the graphics, a separate chip that was used for the sound, which helped it gain capabilities far beyond anything else that was on the market at the time," he said. Also, inside was 1 megabyte of RAM memory, which was a lot for a home computer at the time, Atanassov commented.

The exhibition is also dedicated to the graphic editors of these computers. Some Bulgarian retro games from the early 1990s will also be demonstrated, the organizers added.

A seminar, held on October 26, will present a more detailed history of the exhibits and their graphics software and displays.

The exhibition is a part of the 36th International Computer Art Forum Computer Space, organized by Student Computer Art Society.