site.btaUPDATED Vice President Iotova Presents Slavic Studies Collection

A collection of academic papers, “Alphabet. Language. Identity.”, was presented on Wednesday by Vice President Iliana Iotova in the Coat of Arms Hall of the Presidency.

Attending were Bulgarian News Agency Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva, and Prof. Dr. Vasya Nikolova Velinova, Director of the Center for Slavic-Byzantine Studies “Prof. Ivan Duychev.”

The collection contains the papers from the Second International Forum on the Cyrillic script, held in 2024 at the initiative of the Vice President and with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science.

During the forum, more than 30 renowned Slavic scholars from 11 countries, together with their Bulgarian colleagues, gathered in Sofia and Plovdiv to discuss the significance of the Slavic heritage, its preservation and dissemination in the modern world, as well as Bulgaria’s key role in the creation of the third Christian civilization, the Slavic one.

Among the guests at the presentation were Sofia University Rector Georgi Valchev, and Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev.

BTA's LIK typeface

The collection “Alphabet. Language. Identity.” includes information about a new original Cyrillic typeface created at the National Academy of Arts and commissioned by the Bulgarian News Agency. According to the edition, the new font combines Bulgarian aesthetic standards and criteria with contemporary design trends in the world and within the European Union.

BTA Deputy Director Evgenia Drumeva explained that the font has two versions: LIK and LIK-IX, the latter referencing the century of Cyrillic’s creation. LIK-IX reflects Bulgarian medieval typography from the First Bulgarian Empire under Tsar Simeon I (893–927), inspired by the Krepcha Monastery inscription—the oldest known Cyrillic inscription in Bulgarian lands, dated 921, reading: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here rests the righteous Father Antoni. Whoever builds a granary in the church shall answer to God. Written by the unworthy Michael. Amen.”

The font is named “LIK” after the emblematic cultural magazine published by BTA since 1965, which, after a hiatus, was revived in 2022 as a monthly publication. BTA is making the LIK typeface freely available to public institutions, including the National Library St. St. Cyril and Methodius, Ministry of Culture, National Institute of Justice, State Cultural Institute, Diplomatic Institute of the Foreign Ministry, and the University of National and World Economy. 

Developed under Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetlin Balezrov at the National Academy of Arts with a team of specialists, the typeface is now registered with the Patent Office and used in all of BTA’s print and digital materials.