The Union of Bulgarian Artists grants the Art History and Criticism Award in the name of Nikolay Raynov

In 2026, the Union of Bulgarian Artists and its Criticism Section will resume granting of the prestigious Art History and Criticism Award in the name of Nikolay Raynov.

 

The large-scale exhibition project “The Academy in the Principality and Kingdom of Bulgaria. The First School of Art Making and the Monarchs' Patronage”, presented with great success last year at the Academia Gallery, is among the nominees in the Curatorial Project category (Retrospective/Research Exhibition subcategory). The exhibition, curated by Dr. Milena Balcheva-Bozhkova, is the result of an in-depth two-year research. It presented a previously unexplored topic–the historical development of the Academy from signing of the decree on its founding in 1896 to the mid-20th century, with a focus on the key role and patronage of the Bulgarian royal family. Through a rich and previously unseen array of archives, photographs and artifacts from the royal collection, the project highlighted the importance of the Bulgarian higher education institution as the main centre of artistic life in the country. It was implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the Competition for Funding Projects on the Scientific Research and Artistic Activities at the National Academy of Art.

 

The Academy’s contribution is also complemented in the Scientific Work category (New Art – XX, XXI Century subcategory), in which two of the most significant theoretical publications of the past year by two Academy's established lecturers, have been nominated – the monograph “Transtemporal Aesthetics” by Prof. DSc. Peter Tsanev, which represents an in-depth study in the field of contemporary aesthetics and was also implemented within the framework of the Competition for Funding Projects on the Scientific Research and Artistic Activities at the National Academy of Art, and the monographic publication “Art: Theory and History” by Prof. DSc. Chavdar Popov–doyen of the Department of Art History at the National Academy of Art–which synthesises his vast experience as a researcher and is a key contribution to Bulgarian art historian thought.