site.btaTaraclia Student Wins International Youth Biennale "Bulgarian Traces in the World"

Irina Panicherskaya, who attends the Taraclia District Children's Art School in Moldova, placed first in the International Youth Biennale "Bulgarian Traces in the World - with Palette, Camera, and Word". The competition was organized by the Asen and Ilia Peikov Bulgarian Sunday School in Rome and the Parallel 43 Cultural Association.

For the competition, Irina submitted a painting and an essay about Hadzhi Dinko's Fountain in Taraclia. She was mentored by art teacher Vladimir Derivolkov. She was awarded with a voucher to visit St Anastasia Island off the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas.

"We were supposed to choose a Bulgarian heritage site, paint it, and write a mini-essay in Bulgarian describing the historical facts about it," Derivolkov said.

All paintings submitted for the competition will be published in a book, which will let people around the world know about the Bulgarian heritage in various countries.

Irina and her mentor chose Hadzhi Dinko's Fountain because it has special significance in the dry area where it is situated. Derivolkov said: "We found many interesting facts about the fountain. We found archival photos of those old men, the Bakardzhiev brothers, who organized its construction. The photos were taken in Mt Athos 130 years ago. We learned that the water pipes were made in Hungary and it took two weeks to transport them on ox carts to Taraclia. It was a great moment for a small settlement like Taraclia, which consisted of just a few houses at the time."

The winner's award was presented by Sergei Berov, Headmaster of the Taraclia District Children's Art School. Dimitar Kaltachki, who heads the Taraclia chapter of the Association of Bulgarians Around the World, handed a special award to Irina.

The International Youth Biennale "Bulgarian Traces in the World" is held under the auspices of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and the Bulgarian Embassy in Rome.