site.btaInternational Forum in Sofia to Showcase Digital Solutions, Innovations for Cultural Heritage

Experts, entrepreneurs and creatives from 10 countries will take part in the fourth edition of the international forum “Digitalisation and Innovation for Cultural Heritage”, which will be held at the Biad concert hall of the Federation of the Scientific and Technical Unions in Bulgaria on April 16 and 17 in Sofia, the organisers from the Buzludzha Project Foundation announced on Thursday.

Participation is free following prior registration, and the working languages are Bulgarian and English with simultaneous interpretation, the team explained.

They noted that the event is dedicated to the International Day for Monuments and Sites and will bring together 35 speakers from Bulgaria and across Europe, who will present contemporary approaches to the preservation, communication and digital presentation of immovable cultural heritage.

The forum will open with an introductory lecture by architect Graham Bell, a member of the Board of Directors of Europa Nostra. During the event, the digital twin of the Buzludzha Monument will also be presented - an interactive 3D virtual environment through which visitors will be able to explore the building in its current and original state, learn more about its history, and propose ideas for its future. There will also be a storytelling workshop, in which participants will be able to present their own visions of how the monument is interpreted nowadays.

The afternoon will begin with a presentation by Dr Riin Alatalu, Vice-President of ICOMOS – the International Council on Monuments and Sites. The panel will examine innovative approaches to communicating sites with complex histories from Estonia, Italy and Spain. Professor Patrick Leech, long-time head of ATRIUM – an association and cultural route of the Council of Europe, will also deliver a presentation, the team noted.

The final panel of the first day is dedicated to digital solutions for museums and will be opened by Alison Bearley, Digital Collections Specialist at the House of European History. Bulgarian examples of digitalization will also be presented, including Heraclea Sintica, Hisarya and the Magura Cave.

The second day of the forum will begin with an opening address by Prof. Jorg Haspel, Honorary President of ICOMOS Germany and recipient of the highest distinction for lifetime achievement of the German Prize for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Three Bulgarian projects will present innovative preservation practices – the Cultural Centre in Vratsa, the Thracian tomb Ostrusha, and Provadia-Solnitsata, the second Bulgarian site awarded the European Heritage Label.

The programme also includes panels on presenting cultural heritage through interactive formats, tours, games and artificial intelligence, as well as discussions on digital databases, registers and maps. Among the participants are representatives of EuroClio and Europa Nostra, the organisers announced.

They noted that the forum will present the final results of the two-year project Developing an Inclusive Process for Communicating Contested Heritage under the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme, led by the Buzludzha Project Foundation in partnership with the University of Bologna, Faculty of Architecture; the European Observatory on Memories EUROM, Barcelona; ATRIUM – an association and cultural route of the Council of Europe; and EuroClio – the European Association of History Educators. The event is organised with the support of the Federation of Scientific and Technical Unions in Bulgaria, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sofia, the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation Bulgaria, Baumit Bulgaria and PERI Bulgaria, the team further said.

The Project Buzludzha Foundation was established in 2015 by Dora Ivanova and works towards turning the Buzludzha Monument into a cultural destination for art, education and sustainable tourism. Among its most recent projects are the stabilisation of the mosaics in the building and the preparation of a project for a new roof and windows for the monument.