site.btaExhibition on Bulgarian Connection to Antarctica Opens at Sofia University

A photo exhibition entitled Antarctica and the Bulgarians was opened in the central foyer of Sofia University on Monday. It includes photographs from the twenty-year experience of photographer and journalist Iglika Trifonova as a participant in Antarctic expeditions. The exhibition will remain on display until March 5.

"I am delighted that in this exhibition you can see photographs from the romantic years of the Bulgarian base, from the time when nature was wilder and there was more snow," Trifonova said at the opening.

The exhibition is organized by the university jointly with the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute and the National Centre for Polar Studies. The State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs is a partner of the exhibition, which after March 5 will join the Travelling Exhibitions Programme of the State Institute for Culture and will be presented in other cities across the country as well as abroad. Trifonova added that she has received an official invitation for the photographs to be exhibited in Slovakia.

Bulgarian Antarctic Institute Director Christo Pimpirev highlighted the importance of Antarctic research and of the exhibition as an ambassador of Bulgaria around the world. He said that the exhibition will be shown in Argentina and Brazil, where sizeable Bulgarian communities live.

State Institute for Culture Cultural Policy Department Head Nia Tabakova described Antarctica as an important continent for cultural diplomacy. "It is a place where different nations participate as a community that works and acts together," she said. Tabakova noted that the Institute will promote the photographs not only in Europe but worldwide.

The host of the event and Beautiful Science Foundation co-founder, Lyubov Kostova, underlined the significance of Bulgaria’s achievements in Antarctica. "If this is not a reason to be proud of the scientific research taking place on Livingston Island and at the Bulgarian Antarctic base, I do not know what could be a reason for pride," she said.