On 12 December 2023, the results of the participation of the Institute for Art Studies (IAS) in the project “Creation and development of “Heritage BG” Centre of Excellence” funded under the “Science and Education for Smart Growth” Operational Programme were presented. It focuses on the discovery and promotion of cultural heritage in Bulgaria and aims both to provide better conditions for conducting high-level research and to introduce new technologies in the field to enhance the potential of applied science. In its first phase (2018 – 2023), the IAS is involved with three sub-projects.

The official event was attended by the head and coordinator of “Heritage BG”, Corr. Memb. Prof. DSc Ivan Ilchev and Prof. DSc Olia Harizanova from the leading organization SU “St. Kliment Ohridski”. In her welcoming remarks Prof. Harizanova stressed the importance of the IAS as an active partner and thanked the scientific teams and the administration.

The three sub-projects were presented by their leaders. The results of the first one – “Cultural Heritage in the Archives of the Institute of Art Studies” – were presented by Prof. Goritsa Naydenova. She demonstrated the website developed by the team with five databases prepared for the different scientific archives of the IAS in which each unit is presented with its passport data and an illustrative file (audio, video or images – notograms, photographs, architectural drawings, etc.). Immediately after her Prof. Ivanka Gergova pointed out the achievements of the second sub-project “Prayer Journeys of the Bulgarians in the XVIII and XIX centuries and art” (seminar, scripts for documentary films, monographs and a collection of texts). She stressed that it was with her publication in this project that Asst. Prof. Dr. Darina Boykina received an award in this year’s competition of BAS for the publication of a young scientist in the field of humanities and social sciences. The activity of the third sub-project on “Performing and Screen Arts in Bulgaria – Research, Historical Compendium and Laboratory” was presented by Prof. Dr. Nadezhda Mihaylova Marinchevska.

At the end of the event, Corr. Memb. Ivan Ilchev congratulated the teams for the results achieved and expressed his hope for the continuation of the partnership in the next stage of “Heritage BG”.