site.btaExhibition Presents Sacred Texts, Images of Christianity and Islam at Sofia National Library

An exhibition presenting texts and images of the two main religions in the Balkans, Christianity and Islam, opened Wednesday at the National Library of Sts Cyril and Methodius in Sofia.

"We decided to show the role of the sacred verbal presence in people's lives, no matter their background or faith," said the National Library Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr Krasimira Alexandrova.

The exhibition includes 16 panels with manuscripts, archival documents, old-printed books and original graphics focusing on the role of the word in Christianity and Islam. They belong to the collections of the National Library and have a chronological range from the 13th to the 20th century, said Dr. Boyana Mincheva, the head of the Manuscript and Documentary Heritage Preservation Department at the Library. 

Miniature editions of the Bible and the Koran, prayer books and others are placed in three showcases. The exhibition does not claim to be exhaustive, Mincheva added.

A book by Prof. Hristo Trendafilov titled Parapet. Topiki i Suotvetstvia, was presented at the exhibition. The volume includes 30 articles and studies written over 25 years and published in various Bulgarian and foreign journals, series and collections.

Hristo Trendafilov was born in Anton village. His scientific interests are Bulgarian literature and literary schools. He lectured in Bulgarian philology at St. Petersburg University. Trendafilov is the author of monographs, textbooks and reference books. Among them are Studies in the Poetics of History, Young Poetry: 1975-1989, John Exarch of Bulgaria among others.