site.btaUPDATED Each Artefact to Be Exhibited in USA Is Valuable, Curator Tells BTA

Each item in the forthcoming exhibition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles is valuable - if not for its precious material or aesthetic qualities, then for the historical information it carries, the exhibition's curator, Assoc. Prof. Margarit Damyanov from the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS), told BTA's Vanya Suharova.

Fourteen museums from Bulgaria with over 150 artefacts will participate in the exhibition Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece at the Getty Museum from November 3 to March 3, 2025. Bulgarian artefacts represent over 90% of all exhibits, as the core of the ancient Thracian lands overlap with the territory of present-day Bulgaria. Artefacts from Greece and Romania are also included for the first time in such an exhibition.

Damyanov noted that this exhibition is part of a series oganized by the Getty Museum, entitled The Classical World in Context. It presents various ancient cultures bordering and interacting with the so-called classical antiquity of ancient Greece and Rome. "The project therefore focuses not just on the riches of Ancient Thrace, but on its place within the greater ancient world; for example, through its contacts with ancient Athens or the Persian Empire. These links can be traced back even further in time, to the Late Bronze Age and the time of Mycenaean Greece," he noted.

In an interview for BTA, Damyanov talked about the selection of the exhibits, the journey to Los Angeles and the work with the Getty Museum team.

Damyanov noted that this exhibition is part of a series oganized by the Getty Museum, entitled The Classical World in Context. It presents various ancient cultures bordering and interacting with the so-called classical antiquity of ancient Greece and Rome. "The project therefore focuses not just on the riches of Ancient Thrace, but on its place within the greater ancient world; for example, through its contacts with ancient Athens or the Persian Empire. These links can be traced back even further in time, to the Late Bronze Age and the time of Mycenaean Greece," he noted. 

This is the guiding principle in the selection of exhibits - in addition, of course, to the desire to display some of the most famous treasures, he said.

"The exhibition includes a copper ingot from 3500 years ago, proven to originate from the island of Cyprus, but discovered near the village of Cherkovo near Burgas. During the Late Bronze Age, similar ingots spread throughout the Mediterranean and were depicted on frescoes in Ancient Egypt. Along with it, we will present weapons of Mycenaean types, also spread in our lands. The Valchitran treasure, which is also part of the exhibition, is an eloquent testimony to the wealth of Thrace at that time," said Damyanov.

The curator pointed out that an important period was the heyday of the Odrysian kingdom, which in the 5th and 4th centuries BC maintained active relations with ancient Greece and particularly with Athens, then at the height of its power. "It is represented by some of the rich tomb mounds from Duvanlii village, provided by Plovdiv's Regional Archaeological Museum, and other objects - for example, individual vessels from the Rogozen treasure or the amazing greave from Vratsa," he pointed out.

In his words, the time of Alexander the Great and his successors holds a special place in the exhibition. All the finds from the mound of Golyama Kosmatka near Shipka are presented - the bronze head of Seuthes III, the golden wreath from the tomb, the objects with the name of the king, etc. The Panagyurishte treasure, dates from the same period and is possibly the best example of the riches that flowed into the ancient world after Alexander conquered the Persian Empire, the curator said.

Damyanov said that along with gold and silver, the exhibition also includes less glamorous but very important objects for history - for example, several stone inscriptions that are direct evidence of the relations between the Thracians and the Greeks in Antiquity. Included are finds from Greek cities founded along the Black Sea coast - quite literally direct neighbours of the ancient Thracians. Also involved are objects that represent the Thracia region within the Roman Empire.

Damyanov recalled that in 2018 Dr. Jeffrey Spear, then Chief Curator, and Dr. Timothy Potts, Director of the Getty Museum, came to Sofia and for the first time extended an invitation to organize such an exhibition in Los Angeles. "Clichés such as 'constructive' and 'good-natured' describe the collaboration that followed beautifully. However, this is a cooperation between institutions - I am only a representative of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which is co-organizing the exhibition. Both the director of NAIM-BAS - Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, and my colleagues, put a lot of effort into this project, and the Bulgarian expertise was appreciated highly," he said.

The curator pointed out that at the end of last year, when the main work - both on the preparation of the exhibition and its catalogue - was almost complete, Dr. Spear retired from active work and left the final phase in the hands of his younger colleagues - Dr. Jens Daehner, acting senior curator of antiquities and Dr. Sara Cole, associate curator of antiquities at the Getty Museum and co-curator of the exhibition, with whom he and the team are currently working on the arrangement of the exhibition. "'We are doing great together,” noted Damyanov.

He added that Bulgaria provides more than 90% of the artifacts in the exhibition, but it is very difficult to determine what is the most valuable when treasures such as those from Valchitran and Panagyurishte are involved. "One is the oldest and largest of the golden Thracian treasures, and the other has been an emblem of Ancient Thrace for 75 years. Or take the bronze head of Seuthes III from the Golyama Kosmatka mound, which allows us to look into the eyes of a Thracian king from 23 centuries ago. Or, if we want to get away from the gold, the so-called Pistiros Inscription, discovered near Vetren, Pazardzhik, containing a one-of-a-kind, worldwide, solemn agreement between a Thracian ruler and Greek merchants residing in the interior of Thrace," he said. 

The Getty Villa is a beautifully equipped museum, with a large and highly trained team of conservationists and specialists in all aspects of such exhibitions. "We are also a team - we are currently in Los Angeles together with Dr. Petya Penkova, a leading conservationist and restorer from NAIM, and Krustyu Chukalev, curator of the National Archaeological Museum's representative collection, who have vast experience," he said.

Damyanov noted that some of the large stone monuments travelled outside Bulgaria for the first time - for example the marble stele of Deines from Apollonia, today Sozopol, or the Thracian inscription from the village of Kyolmen, Shumen region. "The installation of such heavy but fragile monuments is difficult and takes time, but at the moment everything is going according to plan," he noted.