site.btaAthens Hosts "Holy Mount Athos in Drawings and Photographs” Exhibition, Showcasing 20 Years of Expeditions

The exhibition Holy Mount Athos in Drawings and Photographs, a joint project by painter Andrey Yanev and photographer Prof. Miroslav Dachev, Rector of the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, opened to a full hall at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens on Thursday. The works, created over more than 50 expeditions to Mount Athos across two decades, will remain on display until December 4.

Greetings were delivered by Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Greece Valentin Poryazov, the Museum’s Director-General Kalliopi-Phaidra Kalafati, and artist Andrey Yanev.

Ambassador Poryazov said the exhibition reflects the deep spiritual bond between Greeks and Bulgarians spanning more than a thousand years, rooted in Christianity, Orthodoxy, and shared cultural heritage. He noted that Mount Athos has long been a place of faith and spirituality, with Bulgarian monks leaving a lasting mark, and highlighted the historical role of the Zograf (Zographou) Monastery as a symbol of Bulgarian presence on Athos.

Poryazov emphasized the strong partnership, friendship, cooperation, and shared values that characterize today’s relations between Greece and Bulgaria. He added that the exhibition is held under the patronage of President Rumen Radev, who sent congratulatory letters to the museum director and both authors.

Museum Director-General Kalafati described the exhibition as the result of fruitful cooperation and expressed hope that it will continue in the future.

Andrey Yanev is an artist whose name is associated with numerous painting exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad, as well as a range of national and international creative projects, and prestigious awards in the field of art. Athos is one of the central themes of his work, through which he is recognized both in Bulgaria and in various European countries, the USA, and China.

Miroslav Dachev is a professor of art semiotics at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts and a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). He is the author of nine volumes in the “Athoniana” series, published with the blessing of Mount Athos and included in the collections of all Athonite monasteries, various world libraries, and the Vatican Library.