The Institute of Balkan Studies with Center for Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Ministry of Culture and in institutional partnership with the State Cultural Institute to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Gallery organized an international conference on “Cultural Diplomacy and the Balkans: achievements and challenges in the present time”. It took place on 23 October 2024 in the Panorama Hall of the National Gallery – Kvadrat 500. The event was realized within the framework of the project “Cultural Diplomacy in the Balkans in the 20th and 21st Centuries: achievements, challenges and the way forward “, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria. The official media partner is BTA / Bulgarian News Agency.
“The topic of cultural diplomacy is extremely important in our time. We are living in a time when diplomacy is obviously experiencing severe difficulties. This is evident from the conflicts all around us at the moment. If we think about it, however, these conflicts begin within us. And the best way to combat them is to raise our own culture. With more culture, we guarantee less conflicts.”
This was said by Minister of Culture Nayden Todorov who took part in the official opening of the conference. “Culture is about accepting differences, being able to work, live and move forward with them. When we can do that, then diplomacy will always be successful,” Minister Todorov noted.
“Each one of us usually imagines the place we are in to be the centre of the world. This is somewhat normal but at the same time, because of the balloon concept, everyone is equally distant from the center. Indeed, state borders are in a sense artificial since art and culture do not deal with them. They are the only spaces where we can interact, dialogue even if we disagree.” This was said by Dr. Alexandra Milanova – scientific coordinator of the Institute of Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology at BAS.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nevyana Miteva welcomed the conference on behalf of the caretaker Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov. “Cultural diversity and communication in the European and global perspective strengthen multilateral cooperation to promote common human values and goods as opposed to competition and rivalry, threats of disinformation, false propaganda, malicious hybrid actions, economic inequality and climate change,” emphasised Nevyana Miteva.
The conference brought together participants from four continents, distinguished speakers, specialists in the field, including the Director of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), the Secretary General of the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet), the Director General of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) of the Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representatives of the academic community and the cultural sector.
