The State Institute for Culture Officially Celebrated 20 Years of its Establishment
At the Regional Center for Contemporary Art "Toplotsentrala", the State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs celebrated 20 years of its establishment. At the beginning of the celebration, the guests were greeted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Georg Georgiev, who noted that "20 years ago, when the State Institute for Culture was established by virtue of an inspiration of his own, Solomon Passy, together with Academician Svetlin Rusev and the Belgian philanthropist Hugo Wooten, truly gave rise to something that we call "soft power", but in fact has a huge influence and spreads what Bulgaria possesses in exceptional abundance, namely a cultural and historical heritage translated into the language of foreign policy."
Minister Georgiev emphasised that he feels proud and happy because he had the opportunity to work with the State Institute for Culture in two capacities – as its deputy minister in the third government of Boyko Borissov (ed. bel 2017 – 2021), as well as now – as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. “I have the opportunity to see with my own eyes the often difficult, but very heartfelt work of the colleagues from the State Institute for Culture. Those who tirelessly, every day, in each of their duties find the meaning of conveying the messages of Bulgaria in the strongest, most impactful, most reaching way. And here I am not talking only about the exhibitions, I am not talking only about the wonderful cultural events and activities that the team of Ms. Snezhana Yoveva and she herself organise, but about the way in which they manage to translate the messages of Bulgarian diplomacy into a language accessible to everyone. And this, I assure you, is an exceptional art, which is not simply part of the cultural narrative of our country, but one that springs from the depth of our sense of what Bulgaria is and what it is capable of on the international stage,” pointed out Georg Georgiev.
Minister Georgiev presented the Director of the State Institute for Culture, Ms. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, with a special honorary diploma for her significant contribution to the promotion of Bulgarian culture around the world and the development of cultural diplomacy.
In her speech, she stated: "Allow me to express my gratitude to all those who have supported the building of our institution so far, to all the previous ministers of foreign affairs, to the people who have worked at the Institute and who are part of my team today. Our task is not easy, every day we face many challenges from the administration, at the same time we must carry the feeling of the importance that culture must solve problems in a different way, we must carry the knowledge and professionalism that is related to culture, to art, to cinema, to music. And all this must be within a small structure, such as ours." She also noted that the State Institute for Culture has successfully built a network of partnerships at the international level and is part of the Association of European Union Cultural Institutes EUNIC and the Global Public Diplomacy Network GPDNet. "This international visibility gives us confidence that we are on the right track, that we are doing our job correctly, that it is not easy to do it, but we are being heard and successful."
The event continued with the presentation of special plaques and diplomas on behalf of the State Institute for Culture as a sign of gratitude and appreciation to partners - institutions with which the team has worked over the years. The first award was awarded to Solomon Passy - former Minister of Foreign Affairs, on whose idea in 2005 the State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs was established.
"I would like to specially congratulate Minister Georg Georgiev and all his predecessors back to Ivaylo Kalfin for the way in which they managed to develop this institute, as well as Snezhana Yoveva and all her predecessors back to Tsvetoslav Hristov, who did what we see today. And today we see an exceptional selection from the constellation of Bulgarian art, that is, the development of this institute can only make us happy," noted Solomon Passy.
Plaques and certificates were also received by the Director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute "Liszt" Sandra Mishkedi, Ambassador Plamen Bonchev, the Deputy Director of the Center for Slavic-Byzantine Studies "Prof. Ivan Duychev" at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Prof. Dr. Rumen Boyadzhiev, the Executive Director of the "Balkan Heritage" Foundation Ivan Vassilev, the President of the Organizing Committee of the International Triennial of the Stage Poster - Prof. Bozhidar Yonov, the Director of the Balkan Documentary Center Martichka Bozhilova, the Chairperson of the "Europe and the World" Foundation Gergina Dvoretzka and the Director of the "Vapreki" Foundation Zelma Almaleh. Other partners who have received awards for partnership include Dr. Alexandra Milanova from the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Center for Thracology "Prof. Alexander Fol" at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the artist who has been living in Italy for more than 60 years - Alzek Misheff, Ivanka Gezenko, a researcher and partner in the implementation of international projects, as well as three directors of Bulgarian cultural institutes abroad, with whom the State Institute for Culture has been developing truly excellent work in recent years – Borislav Petranov from the Bulgarian Cultural Institute – Berlin, Volodya Gotsev from the Bulgarian Cultural Institute – Prague and Antonia Veleva from the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Center in Skopje.
For active media partnerships, awards were presented to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency and the Bulgarian National Radio.
The State Institute for Culture received an honorary plaque from the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and congratulatory addresses from Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner, Nikolay Mladenov, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Yordanka Chobanova, Head of the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria, Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, Rector of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Spaska Tarandova, Executive Director of "Global Libraries - Bulgaria", Bisera Yosifova, Executive Director of the NDF "13 Centuries Bulgaria", Tanya Mihaylova, Director of Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute, Кхсэеиясшщ до University of Library Studies and Information Technologies and others.
The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of State Institute for Culture continued with classical guitar performances by Milen Djurov and a curatorial tour with Vladiya Mihaylova of the exhibition “High Voices”, which was opened at the “Toplotsentrala” and the Museum “Earth and People” on May 8, 2025, as part of the events with which the State Institute for Culture is marking its anniversary. The celebration was attended by diplomats, ambassadors, artists, media and connoisseurs of art, diplomacy and culture.
Photography: Stefan Markov