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 [...]

A bilingual scientific catalog presenting works of art from the collections of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has been published. Art, as a natural companion to science since the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, has retained a special place in its structures and institutions. On the occasion of its 155th anniversary, the leadership of our oldest scientific institution commissioned a team from the Institute for Art Studies to carry out a research project related to the selection and cataloguing of part of the art collections. The BAS preserves in its collections both priceless works of high artistic value and symbolic images and testimonies to its history and cultural heritage. This anniversary album edition also contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about the arts by identifying and [...]

An international interdisciplinary scientific conference “The Arts and Migration(s): Reflections and Responsibilities” was held in Valletta, Malta. The forum was organized by the European Alliance of Academies in partnership with the Arts Council Malta. The Institute of Art Studies has been the representative of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the Alliance since 2021. Prof. Dr. Joanna Spassova-Dikova, Director of the Institute, was among the participants. Workshops and discussions were held. One of the initiatives was a special round table, “Café Climate”, dedicated to climate changes and various crises, and more specifically to the topic of migration. The role of arts in integration and enriching intercultural dialogue was highlighted. On the last day, a statement was prepared and adopted by all participants to increase the [...]

In July and August, the "Architectural Heritage in Virtual Reality" exhibition realized by the Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and within the National Scientific Programme for the Development and Recognition of Bulgarian Studies Abroad (NSP "Bulgarian Studies") will be presented again in the hall of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Berlin. Due to the great interest it aroused among Berliners at its opening in May 2025, the exhibition will be available for a longer time for those wishing to visit it. The 15 panels show three-dimensional digital reconstructions of objects of architectural heritage in Bulgaria. Digital technologies are used to test the possibilities of exploring and presenting architectural spaces of buildings and facilities when access to them in reality is [...]

The Grand Prix of the "The Golden Linden" International Film Festival for New European Cinema 2025 has gone to the film "Before I Forget" (2024, director Stanislav Donchev). Co-writer and co-producer of the film is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Teodora Stoilova-Doncheva from the Screen Arts department of the Institute of Art Studies, BAS (IAS). Besides being a professional screenwriter and film critic, Assoc. Prof. Stoilova-Doncheva is an established researcher of documentary cinema, author of a number of theoretical works and several monographs. She has participated in a number of collective projects of IAS-BAS and has helped to establish the Academy as a place for the realization of talented and young professionals who have an attractive presence in the public space in Bulgaria and Europe.

On World Theatre Day, 27 March, the "Icarus" National Performing Arts Awards of the Union of Bulgarian Actors were presented.  At a ceremony at the National Theatre, Prof. Nikolay Iordanov from the Theatre Department of the Institute of Art Studies of BAS received the award in the category of critical text for the book "The Bulgarian Dramaturgical Canon. Forming, Rearranging, Rereading" („Българският драматургичен канон. Формиране, пренареждане, препрочитане“), Sofia: Institute of Art Studies & Homo Ludens Foundation, 2024. The prize was awarded by the guild of theatre scholars and playwrights. Nikolay Iordanov's monograph aims to highlight those authors and titles in Bulgarian dramaturgy that have long-term validity in different historical situations and for diverse social groups. It traces the socio-cultural filters of recognition - theatrical, literary, [...]