Discover culture in the city!
We continue our city walk with journalist Beloslava Dimitrova, this time focusing on cultural life. Where in the city we can enrich ourselves with interesting events and locations and how art is actually looking at us from almost every corner of the city, and our task is to discover it.
Follow us as we tell you the stories behind some of the city's best-known cultural venues...
The Galleries
In Sofia, one can visit a variety of exhibition spaces concentrated in one place. The former royal palace, which now houses the National Art Gallery, is home to some of the largest and most important exhibitions in Bulgaria. Literally a stone's throw from this institution, again in the City Garden, is the Sofia City Art Gallery.
I will tell you in more detail how the realization of a separate building for the city art gallery came about.
Back in 1928, the first serious steps were made in this direction. The occasion was the celebration of the half-centenary of the Liberation of Bulgaria and the 1000th anniversary of the Golden Age of Bulgarian literature. The then mayor - the famous General Vladimir Vazov, assembled a special commission to point out the ways and find the means to build a Capital Museum. Its task was to perform three functions - museum, library and archive. The socialists explicitly mentioned the following: "to collect, preserve and study those objects of the material cultural heritage of Sofia that have or will have significance for the history of Sofia". Immediately the collection of various valuable objects such as sculptures, paintings, graphic works began in order to create a picture gallery.
The museum inhabited various buildings from 1929 to 1941. The Sofia City Library and Museum was built on Banski Square, but its buildings were destroyed during the bombing. Thanks to the "Sofia in Books and Pictures" award, many works of art are collected that reflect the appearance and spiritual shape of the capital.
In 1952, the Sofia History Museum and the City Gallery were declared independent institutions by decision of the Sofia Municipality. It took quite a long time, over 21 years, for the gallery to get its own separate place on ul. "Gen. Gurko" 1. It officially opened its doors with an exhibition in 1977, when the building itself was architecturally arranged for its purpose.
As early as the 1970s, the collection numbered nearly 2 607 works, with significant works of art that are still included in various large-scale exhibitions. Over the years, the SGHG has established itself as one of the most significant cultural spaces.
The branch gallery Vaska Emanuilova, opened in 2006 and named after the famous artist and sculptor, is one of the most curious gallery spaces, nestled next to the Zaimov Park.
Theatres
And Sofia has its Broadway - Rakovski Street, with a theatre on almost every corner. I'll focus on one of the capital's most beloved venues - Theatre 199, also known as "the prestigious and cosy theatre basement of the centre". besides the number 199, the theatre also bears the name of its long-time director - Valentin Stoychev.
The theatre was founded in 1965, and the number 199 comes from the seats in the auditorium.
By the way, they are now 169 for the sake of spectator comfort. The theatre does not have a theatre troupe, as all the teams are visiting. The Artistic Dungeon is known for the wide range of plays staged and the interesting and daring approach to work. Just think of Eve Ensler's cult classic The Vagina Monologues, The Old Woman of Calcutta or the late Andrei Batashov's celebrated one-man show Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, performed nearly 700 times.
Cultural institutes
Having mentioned the emblematic Rakovsky Street, I must note the presence of one of the most interesting and meaningful cultural centres, namely the Czech one. In fact, the Czech Centre is one of the longest running foreign cultural organisations in Bulgaria. It all started back in 1949, when a representative shop for cultural goods from the then Czechoslovakia was opened at 100 Rakovski Street, and a Bulgarian one in Prague. In 2019, the Czech Centre will celebrate 70 years of activity in Bulgaria.
From the very beginning, the people of Sofia and visitors to the city became great admirers of the shop and its goods, so a branch was opened. The Czech Republic is famous for its objects and works of glass (also called Bohemian glass), as well as for its achievements in jewellery. Terms such as 'Bijoux de Bohème', 'Jablone goods' or 'Jablonex' are a symbol of quality and satisfy the tastes of customers from all over the world.
Eventually, the centre grew from a shop into a gathering place for cultural exchange. Sofians still tell legends about the cultural events and meetings that have taken place over the years. Even today, the centre welcomes the younger generation with interesting and alternative cultural events, especially in the field of music.
The other cultural institutes, such as the Hungarian one, which is located very close by on ul. "The other European cultural centres in Sofia, which are always open and eager to present the culture of their countries in the best possible way, are not far behind.
Beloslava Dimitrova, journalist
Beloslava Dimitrova is a journalist and loves to tell stories. She writes and edits for the platform Seen. She has her own show "Urban Legends" on Radio Sofia and is part of the team of the radio show "Moleskine".