site.btaInternational Council of Museums' Bulgarian Branch Honours People Who Helped Restore It

The Bulgarian National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) held an award ceremony to honour the people who 30 years ago restored Bulgaria's national representation in ICOM. Prof. Albert Benbasat, Engineer Aleksandar Valchev, Prof. Veselina Inkova, Mihail Maleev, Elena Nikolova, Zdravka Mihaylova were awarded with honorary certificates at Serdica ancient cultural and communicative complex here on Tuesday.

The awards of Valchev, Inkova and Nikolova were accepted by their relatives.

ICOM was established in 1946 under UNESCO. Today, ICOM's membership includes more than 45,000 professionals from 138 countries. The organization's guiding mission is to work for the benefit of society and its development through the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage. ICOM's core document, the Code of Ethics for Museums, was drafted in 1986. It sets minimum standards of practice and professional conduct for museums and their staff. In 1977, ICOM designated May 18 as International Museum Day.

The Bulgarian National Committee of ICOM was founded in 1967. It was first chaired by Prof. Hristo Gandev, head of the Ethnographic Institute with Museum under the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Bulgaria's membership was discontinued during the country's democratic transition in the early 90s. It was restored in 1995.

Today, the Bulgarian National Committee of ICOM is composed of more than 150 authoritative experts in the field of museum work and museology.