site.btaMarch Issue of LIK Magazine: "Bulgaria's Cultural Heritage Travels the World"

"Bulgaria's Cultural Heritage Travels the World" is the theme of the March issue of BTA's LIK magazine. It was inspired by the exhibition "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece," which was showcased at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The exhibition opened in early November 2024, and the artefacts will be returning to Bulgaria this month. In addition to the display in the United States, the magazine highlights a number of other exhibitions which have brought Bulgaria's ancient history to international audiences since the mid-20th century.

The issue will be press-launched on March 24 at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS). The event will be livestreamed at BTA's national press clubs in Bulgaria and abroad.

LIK Editor-in-Chief, Assoc Prof Georgi Lozanov, said in the foreword: "With this issue, we invite you on a journey backwards in time and forwards in space to show how Bulgaria presents its cultural heritage to foreign audiences. The way it is presented to a domestic audience is no less important, but this is a question to which the LIK magazine, with its dedication to the nation's cultural memory, is entirely devoted." He went on to say: "It must be said, however, that this heritage does not belong to us by default; we must acquire it here and now - by discovering, preserving, studying, teaching and exhibiting it, and engaging it in the dialogue between cultures."

The NAIM-BAS Director, Assoc Prof Hristo Popov, told the magazine: "Bulgaria's cultural and historical heritage is not just a given; it is also an enormous duty and responsibility." He also said: "We are only temporary inhabitants of this world, and one day we too will become archaeological heritage. We must pass on to the next generations what has come down to us from our predecessors in the best possible condition."

The National Museum of History Director, Assoc Prof Boni Petrunowa, told the magazine: "We have something to show the world. It's a shame that it seems as if, in Bulgaria, it is often most difficult to appreciate this national treasure." She commented on the need for a national strategy for the cultural heritage. In her view, it should be a programme with priorities on which the authorities should focus to safeguard the cultural heritage.

Prof Ivan Marazov has contributed an item on travelling cultural diplomacy.

Prof Totko Stoyanov shared his impressions as the curator of the exhibition "The Saga of the Thracian Kings" at the Louvre in Paris in 2015.

Assoc Prof Margarit Damyanov, the Bulgarian curator of the exhibition at the Getty Museum, talked about the presentation of Ancient Thrace in Los Angeles.

Cultural historian, art critic and photographer Michael Zaimov told LIK: "The Thracian heritage has been Bulgaria's most capable ambassador around the world for half a century. Anywhere in the world Thracian artefacts evoke respect and profound emotions." In the interview, he talked about his role in facilitating the organization of the exhibition "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" and the fascination of Thracian culture for foreign visitors."

Prof Roumiana Preshlenova commented on the link between Bulgaria's oldest cultural heritage and cultural diplomacy. This link is exemplified through the story of the poster exhibition "The Ancient Treasures of Bulgaria".

BTA's news archive highlights exhibitions featuring Bulgaria's travelling cultural heritage. They began in the mid-20th century and have toured several countries across Europe, the US, Canada, India and Japan. The exhibitions showcasing iconic ancient artefacts have been covered by some of the most prestigious international publications, some of which are cited in LIK.

The March issue ends with an interview with the archaeologist Academician Vasil Nikolov. In his view, it is "genetically embedded in us to be interested in our roots".

As of January 2024, the LIK magazine has been freely available. All issues since it was revived in 2022 can be downloaded from the BTA website. The March edition on "Bulgaria's Cultural Heritage Travels the World" is available in Bulgarian at https://www.bta.bg/bg/lik-magazine/46.