site.btaNational Literature Museum Is the Bridge between Literary Past and Present, Museum Deputy Director Says

The National Literature Museum is the bridge between the literary past and the literary present and successfully corresponds with today’s digital reality, handling all the challenges of the fast-paced and intensive times, Deputy Director Sonya Kiritsova said on Wednesday at the presentation of the new issue of LIK magazine, dedicated to Literature and Memory, held at the Ivan Vazov House Museum in Sofia.

“I am delighted that it is the Ivan Vazov Museum that has the honor of hosting this wonderful event – the presentation of the latest issue of LIK magazine. We are deeply grateful to the Bulgarian News Agency for this inaugural event, with which, starting in January, we will launch our celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the National Literature Museum,” Kiritsova said.

She cited the words of National Literature Museum Director Atanas Kapralov in the latest issue of the magazine: “The museum is a living institution; it is not frozen in time. It is neither merely an archive or a storage facility, nor simply a place where literary artifacts are kept, waiting for visitors to come, look at them, and leave.”

According to Kiritsova, for nearly 50 years the National Literature Museum has been a pillar of literary memory and is now asserting its future role as both a classical institution and a thoroughly modernized one.

She noted that in recent years the museum has been undergoing a revival. “The Hristo Smirnenski House Museum, which had been in dreadful condition, has been restored and has now become a wonderful cultural centre. The effort to return the Peyo Yavorov House Museum from private ownership to the State was brought to a successful conclusion,” Kiritsova said.

She added that three projects funded by the Ministry of Culture were implemented this year. One of them concerns the conservation and restoration of all works of art – priceless pieces displayed in the exhibitions of the Petko and Pencho Slaveykov House Museum and the Peyo Yavorov House Museum.

Kiritsova noted that the permanent exhibition at the Ivan Vazov House Museum, dedicated to his life and work, has been updated. “It is now bilingual, so that the many foreign visitors can also connect with Ivan Vazov. An audio guide will also be introduced – something entirely new for our institution,” added the deputy director of the National Literature Museum.

In conclusion, she announced that the National Literature Museum is preparing to establish a literary history and memory award, Slovoslov, which will be presented to individuals who have dedicated their lives to literature.