“Pearls of Bitola” Shine at Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Skopje

Valentin Evstatiev, BTA correspondent Marinela Velichkova

Antonia Veleva, Director of the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Centre (BCIC) in Skopje, and Slavcho Nedelkovski, President of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Children's Art Studio in Bitola, attend the opening of an exhibition at the BCIC featuring works of young artists from various countries awarded at the annual competition of the World Children's Art Colony in Bitola, which is funded by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, Skopje, September 4, 2025 (BTA Photo/Vladislav Tentov)

Skopje,

05.09.2025 20:15

(BTA)

An exhibition called The Pearls of the Small Montmartre of Bitola opened at the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Centre (BCIC) in Skopje on September 4. The show features a selection of 20 artworks by 15 young artists from various countries. They were awarded at the annual competition of the World Children's Art Colony, organized by the Saints Cyril and Methodius Children's Art Studio in Bitola on funding from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry under its Development Aid Programme for North Macedonia, said BCIC Director Antonia Veleva.

Over 150 school students took part in the World Children's Art Colony this year, creating graphic art works inspired by architectural motifs from buildings in Ohrid, the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery, and landmarks in Bitola.

The exhibition in Skopje includes works by young artists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, India, Israel, Malaysia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkiye, and Noth Macedonia.

Slavcho Nedelkovski, one of the organizers of the Art Colony in Bitola, along with Elena Hadjiantonovska, expressed gratitude to Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry and Culture Ministry and the Bulgarian Memory Foundation for their support, which has helped ensure the continuation of the oldest children's art colony in North Macedonia.

The BCIC also hosted the opening of the new school year at Zdravey Bulgarian Sunday School in Skopje. Bulgarian Ambassador to North Macedonia Zhelyazko Radukov and the school’s headteacher, Iliyana Atanasova, welcomed the young students and wished them success in their studies.

/RY/