site.btaUPDATED BTA Director General: Exhibition in Getty Museum Gives Bulgarians Reason to Feel Confident

With exhibitions like the one at the Getty Museum, Bulgarians have a reason to feel confident, said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev at a press conference on Thursday dedicated to the exhibition "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World. Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece" at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, US.

The event, held at the BTA National Press Club, was attended by National Archaeological Institute with Museum to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS) Director Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, the Deputy Director of the Regional Archaeological Museum - Plovdiv, Desislava Davidova, and Culture Ministry's Cultural Heritage, Museums and Fine Arts Directorate Director Ekaterina Dzhumaliyeva.

In Valchev's words, Bulgaria has its own contribution to Europe. "This exhibition is an example that Bulgaria will be the face of Europe with its lands' ancient culture, displayed on the west coast of the US for months, thanks to the efforts of Assoc. Prof. Popov and all his colleagues," he added. Valchev noted that the exhibition will be held under the patronage of the Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Iotova.

The BTA Director General announced that next year there will be an issue of the LIK magazine devoted to Bulgarian archaeology, with the exhibition in Los Angeles being its centrepiece.

Popov noted that this exhibition is not the largest the Bulgarian State has produced in recent decades, but it is one of the most significant. He added that the first inquiries to the Bulgarian side from the Getty Museum were made more than seven years ago. The NAIM-BAS Director underlined that while the exhibition features museums from Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and world museums holding exhibits from the period, Bulgaria is the focus.

Davidova explained that the Regional Archaeological Museum in Plovdiv participates in this exhibition with one of its most recognizable exhibits - the Panagyurishte Treasure. According to her, such large exhibitions trigger more invitations for future events.

Dzhumaliyeva pointed out that the Culture Ministry has been coordinating national museum exhibitions abroad for years. In 2020, an agreement was signed with the Getty Museum, which allows Bulgarian conservators to go on specialization courses there. She underlined that the Getty Museum is world-class and the agreement extremely useful.

The Director of Culture Ministry's Cultural Heritage, Museums and Fine Arts Directorate stressed that all costs associated with the exhibition are being provided by the Getty Museum, both for preparation, museum compensation, and the publication of "an extremely impressive catalogue. Bulgarian museums will receive copies of it," she said.

Popov noted that part of the effort put in recent years has been dedicated to training professionals. "The other positive was that some of the exhibits were restored and their condition was improved by the Getty Museum team. This is a lasting asset that remains for the museums themselves," he said.

Fourteen museums from Bulgaria with a total of over 150 objects will take part in the exhibition. Bulgarian objects represent over 90% of all exhibits included in the exhibition. The exhibition will run from November 3 to March 3, 2025.

According to information from the BTA's Reference Department, about 50 such exhibitions with Bulgarian participation have been held over the past 65 years. 

Here's a list of similar exhibitions covered by BTA:

1960, Paris (France): Treasures in Bulgarian Museums and Monasteries
1964, Essen (Germany): Treasures in Bulgarian Museums and Monasteries
1974, Paris (France): Thracian Art from the Bulgarian Lands
1978, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria: Thracian Art from the Bulgarian Lands
1979, Japan, Germany: Thracian Art from the Bulgarian Lands
1980, Geneva (Switzerland): Thracian Art from the Bulgarian Lands
1981, Stokholm (Sweden): Thracian Art from the Bulgarian Lands
1982, Tokyo (Japan): Europe’s Oldest Civilization and World’s Oldest Gold, Varna, Bulgaria
1983, Moscow, Soviet Union: Troy and Thrace
1986, London (UK): New Thracian Treasure of Rogozen
1987, Montreal (Canada): The Gold of the Thracian Horsemen
1988, Geneva (Switzerland): Treasures of Bulgarian Art from VII to XVI Century
1988, Madrid (Spain): Thracian Treasures
1989, Venice (Italy): The Thracians - Art and Culture in Bulgaria from Prehistory to the Late Roman Age
1989, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France): Mankind’s First Gold
1997, Uppsala (Sweden): Thracian Treasures
2000, Helsinki (Finland): Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria - World and Statehood
2000, Rome (Italy): Treasures of Christian Art in Bulgaria
2004, Vienna (Austria): Thracian Gold
2004, Bonn (Germany): Thracians. The Golden Kingdom of Orpheus
2005, Barcelona and Madrid (Spain): Thracians. The Enigmatic Treasures of Bulgaria
2006, Valencia (Spain): Thracians. The Enigmatic Treasures of Bulgaria
2006, Rome (Italy): Bulgarian Treasures from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages
2006, Paris (France): Thracian Treasures
2008-2009, Japan: Bulgarian Thracian Treasures
2013, Moscow (Russia): Legends Come to Life. The Thracian Gold of Bulgaria
2015, Paris (France): Epopee of the Thracian Kings - Archaeological Discoveries in Bulgaria
2016, Klosterneuburg Monastery (Austria): The Splendour of the East - Christian Art from Bulgaria
2017, Vienna (Austria): The First Gold. Ada Tepe: Europe’s Oldest Gold Mine
2017, Bergen (Norway): Legends in Gold. Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria
2018, Paris (France): The Preslav Treasure. Reflection of the Golden Bulgarian Middle Ages
2022, Bucharest (Romania): The Sveshtari Treasure – Gold of the Thracians South of Danube
2023-2024, Skopje (North Macedonia): Silver Thrace

Exhibits from Bulgarian museums have participated in many other exhibitions. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has already exhibited the bronze head of the Thracian ruler Seuthes III (reigned around 300 BC) from the National Archaeological Institute with Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences within the exhibition "Power and Pathos. Bronze Sculptures from the Hellenistic World" which featured exhibits from 12 countries.