A return with an inspiration

This is probably the most magnificent sunset I've ever seen from any point in Sofia. I guess the fireworks were a good finish of the celebrations for somebody's birthday. They've been something quite common these days.
Anyways, enjoy the sight. See you soon!!!

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, part II

As I've previously written, 21st and 22nd of May were open-door days at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAN). I went there and here's what I found.
First, the building looks as impressive from the inside as from the outside. It was built in the beginning of the 20th century, just opposite from the National Assembly building.
There is a permanent exhibition about the history of BAN and its predecessor, the Bulgarian Literary Association.
On the ground floor there was an exhibition of Orthodox Christian music notes and scripts, some of them dating as early as the 5th century A.D., others: from the late 19th century.
What stroke me when I spent some time inside was the atmosphere. It just smelled like state institution bureaucracy. I always have the same feeling when I enter buildings of state institutions. With all my respect to science and to the contribution of scientist from BAN to the Bulgarian society, every corner was screaming that the whole place was lacking liveliness. Most people there showed no interest at all about the few visitors in the late afternoon (I heard that earlier the building was visited by much more people).
But wait, in the darkness I saw a flash of light. Literary as well. The lights of the dark corridor were turned on and a grey-haired but lively man entered, motivating with words his colleagues to be more active and to show real celebration spirit. He came to me and my friend and started exlaining about the whole event around the temporary exhibition of Orthodox music. He even went back to his office then returned with a printout of the speech of a scientist who made the research and gathered the documents for the exhibition in question.

I don't know for sure who this man was, I presume he is one of the "big names" at BAN. There should be more people there like him at the places which are said to be the drivers of our society in general.

P.S. I hope it's not forbidden to take photos inside the building.

Open-door days at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

On 21st and 22nd of May there will be Open-door days of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAN).
As a part of the celebrations of 24th of May - the Day of Bulgarian enlightment and culture and Slavonic writing, BAN will present to the public its major activites, the laboratories, the library, its museums as well as the role of BAN in the country development.
Visit hours: from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m.

18 May International Museum Day - the celebration here

Yesterday (18 May) was the International Museum Day. Bulgaria joined in the celebration by announcing free entrance into several of the biggest museums and galleries in the country.
Half of them were in Sofia, including the National Museum of History, the National Museum of Archeology, the National Art Gallery, the Sofia Art Gallery and the National Gallery for Foreign Art.
From 5 p.m. till 12 p.m. entrance was free and visitors could see not only the traditional exhibitions but also dancers, plays, concerts, etc.
I went to the National Gallery for Foreign Art (see photos to the left) where one could see Japanese paintings, African masks and statues, Burman Buddhist statues and carpets, Western Eurpoean paintings, paintings by Nikolay Roerich. Interestingly, there were mostly young people, families with small children. Even after 12 p.m. people wanted to enter but weren't let. I presume some have tried to visit all venues... I also wanted to see another place: the National Art Gallery where one could watch a play with historical context (as far as I could understand): but in vain... It had already finished. The balcony in front of the main entrace was overcrowded by young people, some of them were trying to enter just like us, but it wasn't possible.

I guess one could make two major conclusions from the event.
First, it seems to me that there's definitely interest for places of art. Although the visitors might not have been statistically significant in number, one can be certain that the interest for such places has been increasing recently. Which is a very good indicator in my opinion...
Second, the rush for art aightseeing happens only when there's an attractive campaign for the event. In this case it was the free entrance and the working hours, and - of course - the fact it was the International Museum Day. In other cases: the publicity made about exhibitions of famous works of art or national treasures. Like the exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's scetches and models based on them, or the exhibition of the Thracian golden treasure in one of the few moments while it is back home in Bulgaria. At such events queues are hundreds of metres long and people come hourse before the opening in order to enter. The latter events are not free of entrance, but the ticket is ridiculously cheap: not more than 5 leva (worst-case scenario), or about 2.5 Euros.
So, the final conclusion is that people are interested in art and history. And it's not only about the money. It's only about publicity and/or content of the exhibition.