LECTURE | ILIYA PETROV – Beyond the Native, Beyond the Other One
2024.01.07

15 January 2024, 6:00pm, Academia Gallery, National Academy of Art, 1 Shipka Street, Sofia
Lecturer: Ivo Raykov, curator of the exhibition "The Academy as Destiny. 120 Years Since the Birth of Iliya Petrov"
The lecture is one of the events accompanying the exhibition "The Academy as Destiny. 120 Years Since the Birth of Iliya Petrov" at the National Acadeny of Art.
The decade of the 1920s opened a new page in the Bulgarian artistic life. With the establishment of the Native Art Society in 1919, began a new modern interpretation of the Bulgarian tradition, culture and folk faith. The young Iliya Petrov did not remain blind to those processes, but as a representative of the new generation of artists actively participated in them. Along the winding path of his personal creativity, rebec-players, horsemen, shepherds, village women were portrayed. Even during the years of specialisation in Germany, Petrov was excited about the Bulgarian archetype – he searched for it, sensed it, turned it into synthesised images that unify the characteristic features of the Bulgarian. Together we will walk in the footsteps of the native and try to peek into the world of the other – a topic that greatly excited Iliya Petrov, turning him into a keen portraitist. From the lost portrait of Gustav Meyrink to the portraits of his relatives Svetoslav Minkov and Lyubomir Pipkov, closely scrutinising the image of beloved Vera and fellow students Sultana Surujon and Nevena Macheva-Piperkova, we will try to see that deeply felt image of the neighbour through the eyes of Iliya Petrov.
Ivo Raykov is a doctoral student in the Department of History of Art at the National Academy of Art. In 2021, he graduated with a Master's degree in Restoration. Raykov has taken part in numerous scientific forums and is the author of publications in a number of refereed publications. Also, he has participated in the realisation of various exhibitions as a curator and restorer. His scientific interests are in the sphere of Bulgarian art from the first half of the 20th century with a focus on the genesis of Bulgarian symbolism.
The lecture is open to the public.