THE EXHIBITION "MIRACULOUS ICONS AND HOLY RELICS OF THE BALKANS" VISITS PLOVDIV ON THE OCCASION OF THE FESTIVAL OF THE ASSUMPTION
TRAKART Cultural Center, Plovdiv: August 15 - September 15, 2022
Opening: August 15, 2022, 6 p.m
On August 15, on the occasion of the Christian holiday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the poster exhibition "Miraculous Icons and Holy Relics of the Balkans" will be presented in the exhibition space of the "Trakart" Cultural Center, Plovdiv.
The exhibition is a new visual project that was realized by a team of medievalist researchers from the Center for Slavic-Byzantine Studies "Prof. Ivan Duichev" at the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and is implemented with the support and partnership of the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Living faith in the miraculous images of the Mother of God, in their power, which is not subject to time, ideologies, theories and philosophies, is like a bridge across the ages. This is the connecting thread between churches and monasteries in the Balkans, where miraculous icons and holy relics are kept as precious relics. Our poster exhibition "Miraculous Icons and Holy Relics of the Balkans" is dedicated to this theme”, emphasizes the director of the State Institute for Culture at the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Snezhana Joveva, in an interview with Vatican Radio.
The phototype exhibition is successfully presented in the programs of diplomatic missions around the world and enjoys increased interest. Until now, it has been presented to a wide audience at home and abroad: with it, the renovated "Mission" gallery was opened in Sofia, on the eve of the feast of the Assumption last year, in the presence of the diplomatic corps, guests, partners and personally opened by the official minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev; her journey continued in the town of Kyustendil (Art Gallery “Vladimir Dimitrov – the Master”) and the Rila Monastery, as part of the cultural program of the 16th World Meeting of the Bulgarian Media, organized by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency; at the beginning of this year it was at the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Center in the city of Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, with an emphasis and a story about the miraculous icon of St. John the Forerunner in the Bigor Monastery and the preserved relics of St. Kliment Ohridski in the church "St. Panteleimon" in Ohrid; on the occasion of the Awakening Day, he visited the Bulgarian Embassy in Belgrade; in South Africa in the city of Midrand, on the occasion of the Day of Saint Ivan of Rila, in Albania - Iconographic Museum "Onufri" in the city of Berat and then in Tirana; in the city of Minsk on the occasion of the celebration of the National Holiday - March 3 at the initiative of the Embassy; in Geneva - at the invitation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Municipality "Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno" and under the patronage of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Bulgaria in Geneva, Switzerland, for Easter; at Ca Foscari University – Venice, Italy, on the occasion of May 24 and in many other places.
A bilingual representative catalog was printed for the exhibition, which enriches the stories about the miraculous icons and holy relics of the Balkans and will also be presented in Plovdiv, during the opening of the exhibition in the "Trakart" cultural center at 6 p.m.