Kyustendil, Southwest Bulgaria, October 18 (BTA) - The Vladimir Dimitrov-Maystora Art Gallery in Kyustendil is hosting the ''Miracle-working Icons and Holy Relics in the Balkans'' from October 18 until 31. The event is organized on the sidelines of the 16th World Meeting of the Bulgarian Media organized by BTA at Rila monastery and Kyustendil (October16-18).

The exhibition ''Miracle-working Icons and Holy Relics in the Balkans'' is a new visual project dedicated to Christian culture in the Balkans and its symbol, the icon. Twenty-five panels (in Bulgarian and English) show churches and monasteries housing miracle-working icons and holy relics. The exhibition was prepared by a team of the State Cultural Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and medievalists from the Prof. Ivan Dujcev Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, the organizers from the Foreign Ministry said.

The team has used photos preserved at the archives of the Prof. Ivan Dujcev Centre, as well as such provided by the priors of the Rila, Bachkovo, Troyan and Bigor monasteries. There is also valuable information and photos from the medieval Athonite monasteries of Vatopedi and Iveron, Studenica in Serbia, Savina in Montenegro, St. John (Jovan) Vladimir by Elbasan and Bigor in the Republic of North Macedonia.

The exhibition is a narrative about each monastery, the legends about the miracle-working icons and the customs associated with the feast days of the cloisters and the saints whose relics they preserve.

The art gallery in Kyustendil was opened on May 24, 1959. Today it boasts a fund of over 3,600 works by more than 700 artists from Bulgaria and abroad, as well as the largest collection of works in Bulgaria by its patron, Vladimir Dimitrov - Maystora (The Master).

***

The gallery is also hosting another exhibition, "Bosilegrad in Colour", featuring works of eleven artists from Bulgaria, Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia.
Conceived a year ago, the idea of telling the story of Bosilegrad with brush on canvas was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but finally took the form of a plein air last summer, Aleksandar Dimitrov of the GLAS Association of Bosilegrad (Serbia), told BTA. Dimitrov was the initiator of the plein air. The St Kliment Ohridski Students Chitalishte community centre also helped by contributing materials and funds, he added. A total of 17 artists worked in Bosilegrad last summer.

RY/BR