Opening of the exhibition “Bulgarian Monuments Under the Protection of UNESCO” at the International Francophone Festival Soleil in Sozopol
On 3rd June, the 15th edition of the Solei International Francophone Festival opened in Sozopol. It features a range of cultural events and activities, including exhibitions, concerts, literary readings, creative workshops, and discussions. The State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been an institutional partner of the festival since 2021.
The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Yavor Koynakov, Acting Director of the State Institute for Culture, together with Ms. Katalina Vasileva, Chief Expert at the Institute. As part of the festival program, on 4 June, the exhibition “Bulgarian Monuments Under the Protection of UNESCO” was opened at the Museum Center in Sozopol, as part of the State Institute for Culture's “Traveling Exhibitions” program. In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Koynakov expressed his gratitude to the festival organizers and highlighted the rich variety of cultural events included in the program. Of particular importance is the international character of the festival, he added, as well as the fact that the annual plein air event, organized each year as part of the festival, demonstrates intergenerational continuity among the participants.
The exhibition "Bulgarian Monuments Under the Protection of UNESCO" features seven sites included on UNESCO’s list of cultural and natural sites, World Heritage monuments. They are depicted through professional artistic photographs and trilingual scholarly texts: Bulgarian, English, and French. Most of the photographs in the exhibition are by the well-known photographer Ivo Hadjimishev.
Among the highlights of the festival is the participation of international artists, including artists from Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, France, and Azerbaijan. The festival will run through Sunday, June 7. More information and the full program of events can be found online at https://soleilfest.com/.