BTA :: BTA's LIK Magazine Opened Door to Culture for 60 Years

BTA's LIK Magazine Opened Door to Culture for 60 Years - BTA Director General Kiril Valchev

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev (centre) with his predecessor Panayot Denev (left) and LIK Managing Editor Yanitsa Hristova at the launch of the January issue of LIK, Sofia, January 23, 2025 (BTA Photo/Milena Stoykova)

Sofia,

23.01.2025 17:55

(BTA)

At an event in Sofia Thursday, BTA unveiled the January issue of its LIK magazine for art and culture, celebrating its own 60th anniversary. "The entire history of this magazine is about opening a door to art and culture for Bulgarian people," said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev in his remarks on the occasion.

The first LIK issue was published on January 8, 1965.

Valchev said that it did not really look like a magazine the way people imagine it now: it was more of a newsletter but even the first issue had "incredible content", to use the BTA Director General's words.

In its first issue, the magazine featured achievements of socialist art, an exploration of Salvador Dalí, and his announcement of a new art form that was a fusion of pop art and op art. Moreover, the issue boldly states that after Dalí, Picasso is the second-best artist in the world. “Can you imagine how daring that was? Not a Soviet or Bulgarian artist!” remarked the BTA Director General.

He told the audience that the magazine's publication had been interrupted twice in the past. In 2023, its monthly activity was restored. He highlighted that the print edition is distributed entirely free of charge to locations where many Bulgarians can access it, such as libraries and institutions.

“We’ve made it available for free on the BTA website,” he noted, announcing plans to increase circulation to reach Bulgarian communities abroad.

/NF/