The Mission Gallery Gathered Guests for the Presentation of the Bilingual Album “Cyril and Methodius. Images. Memory. Identity
On the occasion of the celebration of the Assumption of St. Methodius on April 6 in the gallery "Mission" of the State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs was presented the bilingual album “Cyril and Methodius. Images. Memory. Identity", established by the Cyril and Methodius Research Center at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences under a project of the National Scientific Program "Cultural and Historical Heritage, National Memory and Social Development".
The only edition of its kind, prepared by V. Zhelyazkova and D. Naidenova, is dedicated to secular images of St. Cyril and Methodius - examples of faleristics, numismatics, philately, vexillology, which have a special place in the "culture of memory". The publication once again shows the Cyril and Methodius tradition as a main pillar of the national identity of Bulgarians and other European nations, which has become a symbol of dialogue and understanding in a united Europe.
The event was opened by Mr. Yavor Koynakov - Chief Expert at the state Institute for Culture, who congratulated the creators of the album and noted their impressive work. The main coordinator of the program "Cultural Heritage, National Memory and Social Development" Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Totomanova greeted the guests for the holiday and confirmed the project as an important bridge between cultures and eras, and Assoc. Prof. Elka Traykova - Scientific Secretary of BAS and coordinator in the program "Cultural Historical Heritage and National Identity" defined the publication as "brilliant" and one of the most important scientific achievements of BAS in the field of humanities. The presentation was also attended by Assoc. Prof. Georgi Valchev - Vice-Rector of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski”, Prof. Dr. Slavia Burlieva, Coordinator of the National Scientific Program “Cultural and Historical Heritage, National Memory and Social Development” at the KMRC and Deputy Director of the KMRC, Prof. Veselka Zhelyazkova and Assoc. Prof. Desislava Naidenova, co-authors of the bilingual album, as well as the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Bulgaria – H.E. Manuel Korcek.
The publication includes images of 118 monuments to Cyril and Methodius in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, China, Macedonia, Portugal, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, USA, Serbia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, most of them erected in recent decades; over 70 samples of philately from Bulgaria, Vatican, Greece, Macedonia, Mozambique, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic; 15 samples of numismatics from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic; over 30 examples of faleristics (orders, medals, badges, plaques) from Bulgaria, the Vatican, Greece, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic and 13 flags with the images of the first teachers. The publication is accompanied by studies, historically examining the work of Cyril and Methodius as a symbol of power claims, church and political independence, as well as its role in building national identity.