site.bta"Great Artists Cure Culture of Provincialism, Complexes, Xenophobia," Magazine Editor Says

"Great artists cure culture of provincialism, inferiority complexes, xenophobia, and poor taste," Assoc. Prof. Georgi Lozanov, Editor-in-Chief of LIK, said during the press launch of the magazine's June issue, dedicated to the 85th birth anniversary of world-renowned Bulgarian soprano Ghena Dimitrova. The Richard Wagner Club of the Sofia Opera and Ballet hosted the event.

The Editor-in-Chief pointed out that Bulgaria's great operatic voices are a source of national pride, but talent alone is not enough.

"They are a gift from God, but that gift requires cultivation and culture. It is through this process of cultural refinement that people with exceptional talent become truly great performers," Lozanov said. In his view, this is the point at which an artist ceases to belong solely to a national culture and becomes part of world culture.

"The same is true of Ghena Dimitrova - she belongs not only to Bulgarian culture but also to the world's musical heritage," Lozanov pointed out. He argued that great artists belong both to their own people and to everyone capable of understanding and appreciating their art, regardless of nationality. In his view, figures such as Ghena Dimitrova fulfill a far more important mission than simply creating great art.

"These great performers cure our culture of provincialism. They cure it of its inferiority complexes. They even cure it of occasional xenophobia. And they cure it of poor taste," the Editor-in-Chief of LIK said.

"I very much hope that this issue will be read as a lesson in how a person becomes an artist of world stature," Lozanov added.