site.btaBTA Director General: Latest Issue of LIK Is Dedicated to Memory for Memory's Sake

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, who spoke at the presentation of the latest issue of the LIK magazine entitled Bulgaria's Cultural Heritage Travels the World, said that this issue has three messages and one of them is that it is about "memory for the memory". He was among the speakers in the LIK press-launch held at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on Monday.

Valchev believes that the most appropriate place for the presentation of this issue is precisely the building of the National Archaeological Institute, because the monuments in this museum remind the public that "nothing starts with us."

The magazine was inspired by the exhibition Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece that was hosted by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The first article in this issue is about an exhibition in Switzerland from 1958. BTA's archives contain texts and photos from more than 60 exhibitions that have taken place since then, Valchev said.

The second message is about the discussions that often grow into arguments on how the past should be presented. Valchev added: "And in fact, this issue turned out to be quite polemical and not at all promotional for Bulgaria."

Some of the questions that LIK looks into are whether Bulgaria's cultural heritage should travel abroad at all, or whether curious foreigners should have to travel to Bulgaria to see it; whether artefacts should be collected in one place to facilitate access to them, or whether they should remain in local museums close to the original sites where they were discovered, since the latter could boost the local economy of smaller towns.

This issue's third message is about cooperation between the museums of Bulgaria. Such cooperation led to the exhibition in Los Angeles. Valchev added: "This issue is also an example that Bulgarians can work together, and Bulgarian museums are setting an example of that."

Valchev thanked BAS President Evelina Slavcheva for hosting the LIK event at the Archaeological Museum. Along with her, the attendees included Presidential Culture Adviser Plamen Slavov, Council of Electronic Media member Gabriela Naplatanova, Meglena Plugchieva, the ambassador of the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism, Kin Stoyanov, a programme director at the Bulgarian National Radio and former BAS President Academician Julian Revalski, among many others.