site.btaKazanlak Art Collection to Celebrate 125th Anniversary with Exhibition in Skopje on January 22

A series of events dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Kazanlak art collection will begin with an exhibition in Skopje opening on January 22, Kazanlak Art Gallery Director Dr. Plamen Petrov told BTA in an interview Friday.

The Kazanlak art collection is the country's oldest outside the capital Sofia, preserved to this day in its entirety, Petrov emphasized.

Visitors can see the exhibition at the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Centre in the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The exhibition goes beyond the framework of a protocol cultural event and becomes a process of sharing memory in a different cultural and geographical environment, Petrov commented. It will give the audience a rare opportunity to trace the continuity in Bulgarian art through works by authors from different eras, beginning from the year 1901, when the Museum of Antiquities and Arts in Kazanlak was founded, and with it, the Kazanlak art collection began. The art gallery director noted that the team of the cultural institute annually organizes numerous temporary exhibitions that not only reconstruct the past, but also actively intervene in contemporary artistic debates, turning Kazanlak into an attractive place for researchers, curators and art connoisseurs.

The entire 2026 will pass under the sign of the 125th anniversary of the Kazanlak art collection, Petrov pointed out, noting that numerous activities are planned in Kazanlak and across Bulgaria, including the art gallery's first participation in the Apollonia Arts Festival in Sozopol, as well as an exhibition at the Union of Bulgarian Artists gallery in Sofia. On the occasion of the anniversary, the art gallery has already started work on the project entitled 125 Dialogues with Art under the Cultural Heritage 2025 programme of the Culture Ministry and the National Culture Fund.