site.btaBTA Director General Presents New Issue of LIK Magazine on Bulgarian National Television

The appearance of LIK magazine is the work of the National Academy of Arts (NAA), said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev on the Kultura.BG programme of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT). He presented the February issue of the magazine, dedicated to the 130th anniversary of higher education in fine arts in Bulgaria, together with NAA Rector, Prof. Georgi Yankov.

Valchev explained that in 2022 he invited the National Academy of Arts to propose ideas for the new look of the magazine. Three students - Viktoria Dimitrova, Elisaveta Dragomirova, and Teodor Mirchev - proposed the new graphic design, developed under the supervision of Prof. Yankov.

“I, being rather conservative, had doubts about suddenly breaking away from what we had been used to since 1965,” said Valchev.

This happened thanks to the bold ideas of the students, and the LIK typeface used on the cover was also created by the National Academy of Arts, Valchev added.

The new LIK typeface was presented on February 16, 2025, on the occasion of the 127th anniversary of the first bulletin published by the agency. BTA Director General Kiril Valchev noted that the name of the typeface was chosen so that it would not belong solely to BTA and could also be used by other institutions.

Valchev added that the typeface is now used by more than ten institutions, including the Ministry of Culture, the National Library, and even municipal administrations such as Tundzha Municipality. “The idea is to have a unified appearance, using a typeface for our letters as they were originally created, with elements dating back to the 9th century, from the students of Saints Cyril and Methodius. BTA does not sell this typeface; any institution that wishes to use it can do so free of charge,” he emphasized.

Valchev pointed out that the first BTA news about the National Academy of Arts dates back to 1907, nine years after the agency was founded. He added that BTA and NAA are among the oldest institutions in the country and are historically linked to Prince Ferdinand.

Valchev also raised the issue of investments in cultural infrastructure, noting that it has been difficult for years to make decisions on various projects.

NAA Rector Prof. Georgi Yankov emphasized that the institution has never been just a higher school for painting, but also a cultural institution. “We have continued to uphold this for 130 years,” he said.

Observing the cultural sector amid institutional and state decline, Dimitar Stoyanovich, the host of the programme, remarked: “I can say that your institutions are growing, their prestige is increasing, and thanks to the connection between your institutions, the new edition of LIK has been created.”

“For years we have been promoting the Academy and creating proper Bulgarian Cyrillic typefaces. Finally, the institution that understood the enormous significance of this was BTA,” Prof. Yankov said. He called on all institutions in Bulgaria to use the correct Bulgarian typefaces developed by the Academy. “They are more beautiful,” he added.

Prof. Yankov also outlined the three priorities of the Academy: the reconstruction of the central building in Sofia, the development of the Burgas branch, and international positioning, including a joint programme with the oldest academy in China, located in Hangzhou.

“We conduct exchanges with more than 100 academies in Europe. The confidence of our students is high and well-deserved,” said the NAA Rector.