A Documentary Exhibition from the Program of the State Institute for Culture Visits France
The State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria participates with a thematic exhibition in events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the GreenCat Gallery in Caunes Minervois, Aude Department, France. They are carried out in cooperation with the municipality of Caunes Minervois, the Association "Cultural Relations" and the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Lyon and are dedicated to the theme "Thracians and Celts on the way to Immortality", "With a Celtic Chariot through Europe" and a special guest lecturer Prof. Diana Gergova.
The exhibition from the "Traveling expositions" program of the State Institute for Culture "Sboryanovo - Nature and Monuments, Gods and People" will be presented in the GreenCat gallery by its author Prof. Diana Gergova, a famous Bulgarian archaeologist and scientist. This exhibition was part of the cultural programs of a number of Bulgarian diplomatic missions and institutions such as in Denmark, Paris, Codre, Dublin, Belgrade, Athens, Thailand, Seoul, Tokyo, Sarajevo and others and has aroused interest and curiosity among various international audiences and scientific audience.
The traveling exhibition is dedicated to the National Archaeological Reserve "Sboryanovo" and aims to show the international community one of the most interesting archaeological reserves in Bulgaria, which, amidst a unique natural environment, is home to archaeological sites of exceptional importance, some of which such as the Priest's Tomb - included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The cultural layers from prehistory to the present testify to the preservation of the ancient Indo-European tradition of coexistence and mutual encounters between world religions. The meeting place - the capital of the Northern Thracians - known to the Getae as Helis or the City of Wolves on the famous map of the Roman geographer Ptolemy, provides extraordinary testimony not only to the flowering of Thracian civilization, but also to the connection between the ancient Thracian culture of the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe , about the influence of Thracian culture, art and spirituality on the Celts and Germans. It also shows contacts with the northern coast and western Asia Minor, Macedonia, southern Italy, Egypt and Palestine and the contribution of Thracian Orphic beliefs to the formation of ideas in early Christianity. The place also provides important information about the beginning of Bulgarian culture. Sboryanovo offers many interesting details about the connections between Bulgarian lands and Eastern religions, as well as their mediating role in the spread of certain Eastern beliefs in Western and Northern Europe, and is a remarkable example of the unifying importance and modern tolerance between different ethnicities and religions in modern Bulgaria.
Research has been carried out in the reserve using a number of innovative research and conservation methods, as well as active scientific and cultural cooperation with a number of European countries such as France, Poland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan. This dynamic international collaboration on valuable historical objects and the ideas they convey makes the exhibition important and interesting for diverse audiences. It consists of 21 boards and includes photos, graphics and maps of high quality and great artistic value.
Within the framework of the events, Prof. Dr. Diana Gergova will hold public thematic lectures in French, as follows:
August 17 - 2 p.m. - "The Thracians and the Celts on the Road to Immortality", lecture on the topic "The Thracians and the Southern Celts"
August 18 - 2 p.m. - "The "Bessi" priests of Dionysus and his sanctuary"
Prof. Diana Gergova is a world-renowned and recognized scientist, with the discovery of the capital of the Getae from Northern Thrace with the Sveshtari tomb - a UNESCO monument, and the Sveshtari golden treasure. She is a Bulgarian trachologist and specialist in Thracian archaeology. She graduated in history and archeology at SU "St. Kliment Ohridski". From 1972 to 1977, she worked as a doctoral student at the Archaeological Institute with a Museum at the BAS, defending a thesis on "Thracian Jewelry in the Bulgarian lands during the Early Iron Age (XI - VI centuries BC)" and obtained the scientific degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences. There are a number of specializations around the world. Professor of Archeology at the State University of Rzeszów, Poland. For a long time, she led excavations in the national reserve "Sboryanovo" and in the sanctuary of Dionysus on Mount Ostrets near the town of Velingrad. In 2001, she received the Woman of the Year Award in Archeology and Business from the American Biographical Institute. She is the author of numerous books and more than 200 scientific articles. She is a member of prestigious national and international organizations, including the board of directors of the national committee of ICOMOS - UNESCO, the Scientific Committee on Burial Archeology - Braila and the World Archaeological Committee. Congress member and coordinator for Central and Eastern Europe and Asia. She is the recipient of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun - Golden Rays with Rosette, the Award for Archaeological Excavations at the 20th Congress of the UISPP (International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences) - Timisoara, a member of the Board of Directors of ICOMOS-Bulgaria and the World Archaeological Congress (WAC). Prof. Gergova's research interests include Thracian archaeology, the Bronze and Iron Ages, ethnogenetic processes, Thracian culture in a Eurasian context, cult archaeology, migrations, archaeometry and cultural heritage conservation. She was the discoverer of numerous ancient objects and treasures, many of which were exhibited during the exhibition "Epic of the Thracian Kings" at the Louvre Museum in 2015.
Today, Prof. Dr. Diana Gergova is one of the most respected and famous archaeologists in Europe and lectures at conferences all over the world. Her presence at Caunes Minervois is an exceptional event for all those interested in archaeology, history and the relations between Occitania and Bulgaria, which go beyond what is generally accepted.
The exhibition "Sboryanovo - nature and monuments, gods and people" can be viewed in the GreenCat gallery in the town of Con Minervois from August 16 to September 3.