site.btaBulgarian Exhibits at J. Paul Getty Museum to Be Returned to Sofia by March 28 - Foreign Minister

Bulgarian exhibits displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles will be returned to Sofia by March 28, 2025, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev said here on Tuesday, taking a question from Vazrazhdane MP Violeta Karpacheva.

The teams from the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS) and the J. Paul Getty Museum are working on organizing the dismantling of the exhibition Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece and the return of the exhibits to Bulgaria. The exhibits are scheduled to arrive in Sofia by March 28, after which they will be gradually returned to the exhibitions and collections of all 14 participating Bulgarian museums.

In mid-January, the management of the NAIM and the J. Paul Getty Museum discussed the possibility of extending the exhibition. However, after the Los Angeles wildfires were fully contained, it was determined that rebuilding the infrastructure in the neighborhoods surrounding the museum would take time, and access to the Getty Villa will be restricted indefinitely. As a result, it has been decided not to extend the run of the exhibition at the Getty Villa, the Minister said.

The exhibits are in good condition and are being constantly monitored by the Getty Villa teams, Georgiev added.

The devastating wildfires that struck Los Angeles and its surrounding areas raged for three weeks and were fully contained in early February, according to US state authorities in California quoted by dpa. The series of wildfires were fuelled by strong winds and exceptionally dry conditions, with the Palisades and Eaton fires causing the most damage. These fires scorched vast areas of the city, destroying more than 16,200 buildings. The death toll currently stands at 29.