site.btaMay 18 Named International Museum Day on Bulgarian Proposal at 1977 ICOM Assembly

Bulgaria celebrates International Museum Day on May 18, a date selected following a proposal from the Bulgarian delegation at the ICOM General Assembly in 1977.

On May 18, we mark International Museum Day. The decision was made in 1977 during the General Assembly of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), held in Moscow, Russia. The date was chosen following a proposal by the Bulgarian delegation. Each delegation had proposed a preferred date, linking it to either a national or international occasion, and passionately defended their choice, recalls Alexander Valchev, Director of the National Polytechnic Museum, member of ICOM, and its chair between 2005 and 2011.

"A proposal to designate May 24 as a special day was considered, but it was later decided that a neutral date would be better suited to reach an agreement with other delegations," Valchev recalled in an interview with 24 Chasa. "The meeting took place on May 18, and it was then suggested that this day be recognized as International Museum Day," he Valchev.

International Museum Day seeks to convey the message that museums play a vital role as instruments of cultural exchange, the enrichment of cultures, and the development of mutual understanding, cooperation, and peace among nations.

Day and Week of the Museums

Sofia, 16 May 1978 /BTA/ By decision of the General Assembly of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), held last year, 18 May has been established as International Museum Day. In our country, this celebration has been held in November for the past twelve years. This year, the first Museum Week will also take place, starting on International Museum Day. Museums and art galleries in the capital and throughout the country will host various events and review their activities.

There are currently 207 museums and art galleries across the country, along with more than 450 museum collections connected to community centers, factories, and schools. The state provides significant funding for conservation, restoration, maintenance, protection, and research of cultural monuments.

More than 25,000 cultural monuments are registered, including 8,500 from the National Revival period. Each year, 650 to 750 sites are processed, and regular, or rescue archaeological excavations are carried out at about 200 locations.

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International Museum Day

Sofia, 17 May 1978 /BTA/ — A formal gathering was held in the capital to mark International Museum Day, celebrated on 18 May, as well as Museum and Cultural Monuments Week.

The Deputy Chair of the Committee for Culture, Peyo Berbenliev, gave a speech. On behalf of the Committee's leadership, he congratulated museum professionals and spoke about the importance of preserving the nation’s historical and cultural heritage. Although the concept of cultural and historical heritage is broad, it is most strongly connected to museums, which act as their caretakers. Your work supports peace and progress by building understanding and communication between nations. Good examples of this are Bulgarian travelling exhibitions, such as the treasures of the Thracians, Bulgarian icons, and ancient manuscripts, which encourage international art historians to reconsider their views on Bulgaria. In line with the National Party Conference, Peyo Berbenliev said that the motto Quality and Efficiency should guide our work.

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International Museum Day

Sofia, 18 May 1978 /BTA/ There are currently 207 museums and art galleries in Bulgaria (compared to only 13 in 1944), as well as approximately 500 museum collections established in cooperation with cultural centers, schools, factories, and collective farms. The total number of museum exhibits exceeds three million. The museum network is considered to be almost fully developed. Each year, the state allocates more than 16 million leva for the maintenance of museums and approximately 10 million leva for the conservation and restoration of cultural monuments.

These figures were presented at a press conference held here and organized by the Committee for Culture on the occasion of the International Museum Day, 18 May. Traditionally, the Museum and Cultural Monuments Week is also inaugurated on this date in Bulgaria.

Journalists were informed that archaeologists from museums and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences conduct excavations at more than 200 sites each year. In the past year, their efforts focused on medieval sites in connection with the forthcoming 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian state (1981).

When asked about the most significant archaeological discoveries from last and this year, the Preslav gold treasure was mentioned first, described as unique. This find from the old Bulgarian capital comprises gold diadem plaques, two gilded silver spoons, more than 50 gold appliqués, a large gold ring, and over ten coins dating from the reigns of Emperors Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus and Romanos II. These items are attributed to the end of the tenth century.

It was also reported that, in the past two years, prehistoric sites have been discovered in Varna, Kabile, Strelcha, and Nova Zagora.

Special attention was given to international initiatives in the museum sector. Bulgaria is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) under UNESCO, and Professor Velizar Velkov, Chair of the National Committee of ICOM, has been elected to the Council’s Executive Committee. Eight Bulgarians currently hold leadership roles in various ICOM committees. In the coming year, Bulgaria will host the meeting of the International Committee of Historical and Archaeological Museums.

Bulgarian museums organized several thematic exhibitions that were well received abroad. Notable examples include: Thracian Art and Culture on Bulgarian Lands, presented in the USSR, Cuba, the United States, Austria, England, the the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Poland, Yugoslavia, and Mexico; A Thousand Years of Bulgarian Icon Painting (Austria, Belgium, GDR); Bulgarian Manuscript Book, 10th–18th Century (USSR); and an ethnographic exhibition (Cuba and Syria), among others.

During a press briefing, concerns were raised about the rising number of Bulgarian icon thefts in recent years. Each year, Bulgarian customs officials intercept between 400 and 500 icons at the border, taken by foreign tourists. The specific countries where these smuggled Bulgarian icons are illegally sold were also named.

According to the website of the Bulgarian National Committee (BNC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the committee was founded in 1967. Its first chair, from 1968 to 1972, was Professor Hristo Gandev, Director of the Ethnographic Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). From 1972 to 1987, Professor Velizar Velkov, Deputy Director of the Archaeological Institute with Museum at BAS, served as chair. The secretary was Engineer Alexander Valchev, Director of the National Polytechnic Museum.

 At the end of the 1980s, the committee was discontinued. In 1995, the National Centre for Museums, Galleries and Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture began efforts to restore Bulgaria’s membership in ICOM.

 In 2025, International Museum Day will focus on the theme The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities.