A Platform for Arts Institute of Art Studies, BAS 1 Content ARCHITECTURE TWO CONGRESSES DEALING WITH ANTIQUITY: SEPTEMBER, 2017 Stela Tasheva, Sasha Lozanova page: 04 THEATRE FESTIVALS THE 25TH EDITION OF VARNA SUMMER INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL: GATHERING A VARIETY OF THEATRE VOICES Kamelia Nikolova page: 10 FINE ARTS AN EXHIBITION OF THE ATHENIAN TECHNI (ART) GROUP ON THE OCCASION OF ITS CENTENARY Irina Genova page: 16 MUSIC HIP-HOP AND BREAK IN “EQUILIBRIUM” DANCE PERFORMANCE Anelia Yaneva page: 22 SCREEN ARTS “OPEN-MOUTHED” BY CRISTINA GARCÍA RODERO Yosif Astrukov page: 29 ARCHITECTURE THE RETHINKING OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF IN THE MAKING OF MODERNITY, BLAGOEVGRAD, 2017 Stela Tasheva, Sasha Lozanova page: 33 MUSIC THE SLEEPING BEAUTY ONSTAGE IN BURGAS Rosen Metodiev page: 37 MUSIC THEATRE PARSIFAL: A BRILLIANT OPENING OF A SUCCESSFUL SEASON Stavri Angelov page: 41 MUSIC PRINTED MUSIC AND SONGS OF THE DAYS OF PETER DEUNOV’S SCHOOL Anelia Yaneva page: 48 ARCHITECTURE TWO CONGRESSES DEALING WITH ANTIQUITY: SEPTEMBER, 20171 Stela Tasheva, Sasha Lozanova of Tracology, BAS; National Archaeolog- ical Institute with Museum, BAS; New Bulgarian University and Iskra Kazanlak History Museum. Though, of course, the efforts of colleagues from Kazanlak Municipality and the city’s cultural insti- tutions should not be underestimated, it was UNESCO that provided the bulk of the funding. The thematic scope of the congress- es of Thracology is consistent with the broad time, regional, ethnic and cultur- 1.The Thirteenth Internation- al areas of research in this field. Thus al Congress of Thracology: Ancient historians, archaeologists, linguists, Thrace: Myth and Reality, Kazanlak, numismatists, art historians, etc., dis- 3–7 September 2017 cuss the problems of Ancient Thrace A congress of Thracology was first locally (with respect to the Balkans) held in Sofia, in 1972, coinciding with and/or globally (Europe-wise). the founding of the Institute of Thracian The number of the participants in Studies, BAS, now within the Institute of the recent thirteenth congress was im- Balkan Studies and Centre of Tracolo- pressive: a total of 180 researchers de- gy, BAS. The following congresses were livering 140 papers and exhibiting 40 held in such capitals as Sofia, Moscow, posters with such significant figures and Vienna as well as in such cities as Is- and pioneers in the field of Thracian tanbul, Rotterdam and Constanţa. This studies among them as Maria Chichik- year, Kazanlak joined in: a very good ova, as well as representatives of the choice made by the organisers of the middle and the younger generations congress: the University of Sofia; Centre of researchers. Such an age diversity 4 of scholars trained in different schools growing interest in Thracian studies inspires hope. The presence of col- and their promotion among wider cir- leagues who have completed their cles of specialists. MRes or doctoral studies abroad and Genre diversity is inevitable at such have come back to live and work in events: from extensive plenary lec- Bulgaria, e.g. Dr Hristomir Hristov (Na- tures to communicating individual val Museum, Varna) and Dr Vessela fieldwork; from strictly scientific re- Atanassova (NBU, Institute of Balkan ports to interdisciplinary papers in Studies) was also gratifying. different archaeological fields, incl. Among the participants from Eu- anthropology and geophysics. Every rope, Asia and Africa, the most nu- attendee could derive useful informa- merous were the authors from Balkan tion from the variety of viewpoints and countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, theses. That was the reason why dis- Turkey, Macedonia). The official lan- cussions went beyond the halls of the guages of the congress were English, parallel sessions and the procedure. French and German. Such a high re- Very impressive was the visit to and search activity was indicative of the in situ familiarization with a series of 5 religious sites in the so-called Valley of between the arts in the synchronical- Thracian Kings. Sightseeing of ancient ly developing Roman provinces (e.g. burial mounds and complexes (in Al- in the field of sculpture by Dr Marina exandrovo, Strelcha, Hissar, Starosel, Koleva, Institute of Art Studies, BAS). etc.) was a highlight in the programme The choice of the venue, in the par- of the event, piquing the visitors’ inter- ticipants’ onion, i.e. of the city hosting est after the closing of the congress. the event, was very good due both to Diana Dimitrova nd Mitko Madjarov, its location right in the heart of the an- researchers and archaeologists who cient Thracian lands and the riches of have participated in the excavations, the local culture, architecture and sce- took care of the high quality of the pro- nic landscapes. Kazanlak boasts fine vided information. buildings and complexes, churches Some comparative analyses of and mosques of the period of Bulgari- Thracian artefacts of material culture an National Revival; elegant residential and their equivalents from more ‘re- and public buildings of the late nine- mote’ civilisations in Egypt, Palestine, teenth and the early twentieth centu- Scythia, etc., aroused discussions dur- ries. Constructions in the style of the ing the sessions. There were also clas- late Modernism in the centre of the sical viewpoints on studying parallels city such as Arsenal Community Cen- 6 tre and Kazanlak Hotel and even the recently built Museum of Roses were of great inertest to the historians of ar- chitecture and art. Some of the guests succeeded in visiting sites outside the programme such as, for example, the abandoned and crumbling (unfortu- nately) Buzludzha Monument that has become a hallmark of a kind of Bulgar- ia’s late twentieth-century architecture. 2. The Sixth International Con- gress on Black Sea Antiquities. The Greeks and Romans in the Black Sea and the Importance of the Pontic Re- gion for the Graeco-Roman World, 7th BC – 5th AD): 20 Years On (1997–2017), Constanţa, Romania, 18–22 Septem- tion of posters as a collateral event. ber 2017 The congress was held at the Ovidius Prof. Gocha Tsetskhladze, affiliat- University of Constanţa in September, ed to Linacre College, Oxford is the when there are no classes. The hosts main figure behind both this and the organised visits to the National Histo- previous congresses (e.g. in Istanbul ry and Archaeology Museum of Con- in 2009 and Belgrade in 2013). The stanţa and its exterior expositions with event became possible once again fortresses and ancient mosaics. Archi- owing to his initiative; activity; exten- tecturally, the numerous churches of sive contacts and global cooperation different confessions, the mosques with colleagues both form the East of the late nineteenth century and the and the West, incl. Australia. ruins of the Grand Synagogue and the The Congress was dedicated to the Casino piqued the visitors’ interest. th 90 anniversary of Prof. Sir John Board- Over the last decades, Constanţa has man (University of Oxford). There were seen a rapid growth increasing its im- 145 registered participants, the con- portance of a seaport and a cultural gress proceedings being traditionally hub. The city boasts significant collec- published by Archaeopress (Oxford). tions, kept at the Art Gallery and the A programme of successive papers Folk Art Museum. without parallel sessions was offered Informative for the participants for five days with a permanent exhibi- 7 were the trips to Central and North with new ethnoarchaeological topics. Dobrudja, a region with unpolluted na- Discussions did not ebb away both ture and rich cultural heritage, home in the hall and the lobby, housing the to nineteen ethnic groups from Antiq- exhibition of posters in front of it. Tra- uity to the present day. Many derived ditionally, Bulgarian archaeologists pleasure from the journey onboard a demonstrated high standards in re- ship to the Danube Delta. search. As for art historians, they were Some of the participants in the Con- especially interested in the posters gress of Thracology (mostly archaeol- featuring the discoveries of: ogists) delivered papers on their re- Maria Reho, Margarit Damyanov search at the Congress on Black Sea and Krastina Panayotova: Cold case Antiquities. The reason for this was in reopened: a Late Classical tomb in the partial concurrence of the prob- Apollonia Pontica; lematic and regional areas as well as Teodora Bogdanova, Margarita Pop- in the closeness of the historical peri- ova, Dimitar Nedev and Milena Kru- od as set by the topic of the congress. mova: Hellenistic Family Tomb from Studies on the Black Sea region pre- Apollonia Pontica sented in Constanţa were though en- Zdravko Dimitrov’s paper on Anato- riched with additions to zooarchaeol- lian stonemasons and the western Pon- ogy, maritime archaeology as well as tus region: imported models and tech- 8 niques in the architectural decorations ers from different countries in these of the early Principate and Mila Chache- events dealing with Antiquity and the va’s poster Ward off evil? Anthropomor- Black Sea region, are indicative not phic rod-formed glass pendants and only of the evolution and enrichment beads from West Pontic Greek colonies of these fields, but also of the poten- presented art material related to ar- tial for future finds and discoveries. chitectural decoration and glass arte- We believe that in such a context, the facts worn next to the skin. We’d note studies undertaken by the Bulgarian here their participation for the huge college would be given yet another im- amount of their finds of high art qual- petus and deserved recognition. ity. The rare finds and analyses of an- 1The authors of this article took part cient glassware performing apotropaic in the congresses with collaborative and decorative functions in their texts posters themed respectively: Archi- were also worthy of attention. tectural Images on Antique Coins from The next Congress has already been Bulgarian Lands (Roman Empire) and timed for 2021, in Thessalonica, at the Ancient Pottery from the Balkans: Archi- International Hellenic University.