Minister of Culture Nayden Todorov and Marina Ludeman, Director of Goethe-Institut Bulgarien, discussed joint projects between the Ministry of Culture and the German cultural organization.
Hristo Bakalski, the Smolyan Documentary Cinema Festival organizer, also participated in the meeting. It was this festival that was one of the highlights of the meeting.
Minister Todorov pointed out that he highly valued the excellent cooperation with the Goethe Institute and the positive experience we have gained over the past three decades.
He pointed out that Bulgarian artists feel the active support of the Institute in many areas of culture, as well as in joint creative projects. For her turn, Mrs Ludeman pointed out that thanks to her talented creators, Bulgaria is well represented on the cultural map of Germany.
She also shared some successful examples of realized and upcoming events in our country – the exhibition “Mrs Architect, FRAU ARCHITEKT”, tracing the path of female architects in Bulgaria and Germany (2022), musical projects aiming to popularize Bulgaria and German music among students (2023), and also those related to presentation in an innovative way of Bulgarian folklore (2023).
Minister Todorov and Mrs Ludeman also discussed cooperation in the field of literature through our country’s participation in the European program for Literature Support and Translation “Traduki”. Minister Todorov informed that with the assistance of the Ministry of Bulgaria and Bulgarian writers will perform at the traditional Book Fair in the town. Leipzig.
Regarding the International documentary “Rhodope Film Fest”, which will be held from July 6 to July 9 t. g. in Smolyan, Hristo Bakalski pointed out that they felt support from both the state and the Goethe Institute, for which he expressed his gratitude.
Participants in the meeting united around the opinion that with support for such festivals, they are successfully working for broad access to culture in the country.
The Goethe Institute Bulgaria was established in 1989 and has been housed since 2003 in a building of the Ministry of Culture in the city centre.
Highlights of the cultural program are meetings between Bulgarian and German artists and intellectuals, presenting contemporary German culture and promoting German-Bulgarian and European cooperation in the cultural and spiritual field.