Celebrating 60 Years of BTA's LIK Magazine: Bulgaria’s Cultural Legacy on Display in Parliament

An exhibition titled "LIK at 60" opened in the Marble Foyer of the National Assembly, Sofia, December 3, 2025 (BTA Photo/Vladimir Shokov)

Sofia,

03.12.2025 16:43

(BTA)

An exhibition titled "LIK at 60" opened Wednesday in the Marble Foyer of the National Assembly to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bulgaria's best known magazine of literature, art and culture. The exhibition is a reminder that Bulgarians have always had people of high culture, open to the achievements of the world, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said in his opening remarks.

The display is bilingual, in content in Bulgarian and in English. It features 24 panels showcasing key moments in the magazine’s development across its three distinct periods. During its first period (1965–1992), LIK was described as a “window to the world”; in its second period (1999–2013), it served as a “mirror of change”; and since its revival in 2022, it has been recognized as a “guardian of memory”.

The exhibition team includes Yanitsa Hristova, senior editor of LIK, and graphic designer Danail Aleksiev, with translations by Momchil Rusev from BTA’s English Service Directorate. Photographs from BTA’s archives are also featured.

"LIK at 60" illustrates BTA’s efforts to preserve cultural memory, said GERB–UDF MP and member of the Culture and Media Committee, Dimitar Nikolov. He praised Kiril Valtchev as a true reformer for transforming BTA into a strong national news agency, and said that he has acted more as a chief operational manager than just a director, emphasizing the agency’s human resources as its greatest asset. Nikolov also thanked Valtchev for his contribution to preserving and enhancing the credibility of the journalistic profession and stressed the importance of public media not only to inform but also to educate and cultivate audiences.

In the words of fellow GERB–UDF MP and Culture and Media Committee member Lyuben Dilov Jr., LIK magazine played a huge role for his generation and was for it what Facebook is now. "We read there what was happening across the world. It was our window to the world," Dilov Jr. added

Among the attendees were MPs Yablenka Traykova (GERB–UDF ); Nikolay Denkov and Tatyana Sultanova-Siveva (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria); Husein Hafizov (MRF - New Beginning); Nina Dimitrova, Mariana Boyadzhieva, and Nataliya Kiselova (BSP - United Left); Tsvetan Predov (There Is Such a People); the Rector of the National Art Academy, Prof. Georgi Yankov; BTA Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva; and BTA Secretary General Julia Sokolova.

/NF/