Saint Kliment Ohridski – a Disciple and a Teacher

On the occasion of the 1100th Anniversary of the Assumption of St. Kliment Ohridski, the State Institute for Culture together with “Elena and Ivan Dujčevs” Foundation have prepared the exhibition “St. Kliment Ohridski – a Disciple and a Teacher”.

On the 27th of July 916 death ended the finite existence of one of the most remarkable persons of the cultural and literary history of Bulgaria and of the entire Slavonic world – Bishop Kliment, preserved in the historic memory of people as St. Kliment the Golden and St. KLiment the Teacher. It was the end of life on Earth of the First Master of the Bulgarian literary language, of the founder of our first literary school in Medieval Bulgaria, of the first bishop of the converted to Christianity medieval Bulgarian state who had thrown a bridge between the Moravian mission of the Slavonic Apostles, Saints Cyril and Methodius and the First Bulgarian Kingdom thus adding European dimensions to Bulgarian cultural life in the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century.

This photo exhibition, dedicated to the 1100th anniversary of the Assumption of St. Kliment Ohridski (Clement of Ohrid) is aimed at presenting the various aspects of his work and the significant periods of his life, as well as at reminding us of the style and the beauty of his works. It is also an effort to outline the deep mark left by the great man of letters in the literary, cultural and spiritual history of the Bulgarians and other Slavonic nations.

The exhibition comprises images of St. Kliment Ohridski from frescoes and icons produced in the period from the 11th to the 20th century. They demonstrate the wide geographic and chronological territory of the cult of Saint Kliment which has played a unifying symbol of the Christian nations on the Balkans. Some exhibits display copies of his numerous works which have made their way to the libraries of all Slavonic nations. Other exhibits demonstrate the modern forms of the high esteem to St. Kliment Ohridski in Bulgaria expressed in the works of modern Bulgarian artists and sculptors. The exhibition is also an expression of the homage and the gratitude to the literary and enlightenment work of St. Kliment Ohridski – the closest disciple and follower of the great Slavonic Teachers, i.e. the Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The materials of the photo exhibition come from the archives of the Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies “Professor Ivan Dujčev”, the Faculty of Theology and the Museum of University “St. Kliment Ohridski” - Sofia, as well as from the National Library “Saints Cyril and Methodius”, the Church-Historical and Archive Institute, the National Museum of History - Sofia, the Regional Museum of History Varna, etc.

The Anniversary is included in the UNESCO calendar for 2016 and a number of Slavic countries will mark the Anniversary with various events.

The exhibition consists of 23 posters, 140 x 70 cm.