The Institute of Art Studies at BAS awarded its annual Animated Heritage prize for outstanding contribution to the creative interpretation of traditions and values from Bulgarian and world cultural heritage in contemporary works of art. The 2025 prize in the “Visual Arts” category was awarded to sculptor Georgi Chapkanov for his entire body of work. Professor Chapkanov is the co-author of the coat of arms of the Republic of Bulgaria (1997) and the author of the “Statue of Sofia” in the capital (2000). He is also the author of many coins and medals and has created portraits of some of Bulgaria’s most famous personalities. His works are exhibited in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the National Art Gallery, the Sofia City Art Gallery, the International Olympic Committee building in Lausanne, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards.
The announcement of the award was followed by a public presentation of the latest publications and achievements of the Institute’s scholars. Those present had the opportunity to briefly familiarize themselves with the contents of 10 monographs; the complete set of issues of the two academic journals: “Bulgarian Musicology” and “Art Studies Quarterly”, referenced in ERIH PLUS; the two volumes of Art and History, indexed in Web of Science; a collection of papers from the “Art and Context” Youth Scientific Conference as well as the Institute’s electronic publication “Art Platform”. It was noted that a total of eight scholars from the Institute received scientific awards for their research in 2025, including two young scholars.
The results of work on seven collective projects with external funding from the Bulgarian National Science Fund, the National Scientific Program “Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Studies Abroad”, the project “Sustainable Development of the “Heritage BG” Center of Excellence – “Interactive Map of the Arts in Bulgaria” as well as from other sources.
