Multimedia exposition dedicated to 150 years since the death of the Apostle of Freedom, Vasil Levski.
Using holographic technology on a large-scale video wall, a re-enactment of the trial of the Apostle of Freedom is displayed, and significant moments of his life are brought back to life. Veselin Plachkov portrays Vasil Levski. Actors Ivan Trenev, Lyubov Pavlova, Rumen Ivanov, Alexander Georgiev, Biser Marinov and Nikola Dodov are also participants. Nelly Dimitrova is the screenwriter; Dimitar Gochev, the director; Simeon Parashkevov and Dimitar Gochev, cinematographers; Atanas Gendov, composer; Pirina Veselinova, Evgeni Gospodinov and the Svetoglas Quartet, musical performers; sensor studio, animation and mapping; Hristo Karagyozov, audio mixing and post-production; Ivo Milev, creative producer; and Tsvetoslav Borisov, executive producer.
The National Gallery and the Vasil Levski All-Bulgarian Committee created the exposition, with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and donations by the Lachezar Tsotsorkov Foundation, Kaufland Bulgaria EOOD, Aurubis Bulgaria JSC, Vazovski Machinery Works JSC – Sopot, and patriotic Bulgarians.
Kvadrat 500, entrance at 95, Vasil Levski Blvd., Sofia
Opening hours:
Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.– 6 p.m.
The screenings are 30 minutes away, starting at 10 am
Bookings for groups of up to 20 people: +359 879 834 025
FREE ADMISSION

The Vera Nedkova House Museum ‘In the Home of Vera Nedkova’, the programme launched in 2019, continues to present contemporary artists along with Nedkova’s paintings. Displayed in the cosy atmosphere marked by Vera Nedkova’s intellectual and creative presence, the six photographs by Yana Lozeva show images of women with a strong and memorable individuality. Despite the apparent incompatibility of the two artists in their creative pursuits and concepts, the photographs correspond in an elegant way with the paintings in the museum’s interior. ‘We were looking for expressiveness, not so much external as internal,’ Vera Nedkova stated in her memoirs about her own art. In her early works, she was moved by the portrait and its depiction in a non-standard style in a space devoid of details.
Taken over the past two years, the photographs have captured brief and elusive moments and states of the subjects portrayed. The female images seem to sink into space in the manner of a watercolour, with their blurred contours and transitions between black and white. With her keenness of observation, Yana Lozeva is intrigued by the mysteriousness of the ordinary, by the moment of lost control and that specificity of the ‘out-of-hand’ framing, which sneaks inexplicably and imperceptibly in to lie at the base of the ‘Anacrusis’ exhibition.

In the summer the birthday kids will be able to invite their friends to their special day with our exciting Outdoor Explorers program and have fun in the Museko courtyard.
Museco is kicking off its Summer Outdoor Explorers birthday program. The program offers extremely fun and educational activities that take place outdoors in the courtyard of Muzeiko.
The duration of the program is 1 hour and 45 minutes during which children embark on an unforgettable journey through the mysteries of science. Anyone born during the summer months can get involved in this exciting activity.
One of the most interesting parts of the program is the adventure with secret missions. Sunny little explorers will have to solve puzzles, discover hidden objects and follow the footsteps of scientific geniuses. It is an exciting challenge that helps them develop their logical thinking and observation.
Children will be encouraged to use their observational and scientific skills as they solve puzzles and explore the nature around them. The Muzeiko team will be on hand to support and encourage children in their research skills.
Don't miss the opportunity for your child to have an unforgettable birthday party with the Outdoor Explorers program.
Birthdays in Muzeiko are also held in English.
Follow our monthly program and other offers for birthday programs on our website - www.muzeiko.bg.

Kvadrat 500
The fourth edition of ‘The Wall’, the National Gallery’s project launched in 2020, welcomes artist Mihaela Mihaylova – Misha Mar to the Kvadrat 500 Atrium. At one of the areas designated for contemporary art and located at the heart of Kvadrat 500—home of the National Gallery’s permanent exhibition—there rises a monumental structure titled ‘The Wall’. The idea of creating this facility was largely prompted by the need to present mural and graffiti artists in the gallery. After showing the works of Nikolay Petrov GLOW (2020), Alexi Ivanov (2021) and BILOS (2022), the project now introduces Mihaela Mihaylova – Misha Mar. She presents ‘Portrait of the Moon in Black’, a composition representing the eight phases of the Moon in black and white, painted over more than a month. As a true selenophile, Mihaela examines the theme in detail and conceives a particular affection for the subject of her studies—marks visible on the surface of the exquisite portrait she creates.
‘My Moon,
‘My faithful friend in the night, this is a love letter to You, painted with the calligraphy of my soul on Your surface. All the words I never told You, fixed upon the layers of our unspoken secrets that glow with the reflected light of the burning desire of the day.
‘This is for You…’
Misha Mar
The eight faces of the Moon—the full moon cycle—‘rises’ on ‘The Wall’ in the Sculpture Garden of Kvadrat 500, to the accompaniment of MUSICAL STATUES. Guests will be able to enjoy special summer cocktails with MALFY GIN.
The project is made possible through the support of the Lachezar Tsotsorkov Foundation.
About the artist In 2008, Mihaela Mihaylova graduated in Iconography from the Tsanko Lavrenov National Secondary School in Plovdiv. Later, she was awarded a Bachelor’s Degree in Painting and, in 2014, she graduated from the Photography Master’s Programme at the National Academy of Arts. The artist has held several solo exhibitions and been included in many group exhibitions. In 2023, she presented to the public her first photo book, ‘MAR’, with black-and-white photographs depicting the parallel worlds ‘between the mountain and the sea, between birds and firebugs.’

Emilia Nikolova-Bayer’s oeuvre presented in the current exhibition brings to our attention the under-researched synthesis of the monumental arts and architecture in Bulgaria in the period between 1956 and 1989. The decorative reliefs the artist sculpted for two iconic theatres − Sofia Theatre in the Bulgarian capital (1973 – 75) and the Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin (1982 – 84) − are featured. The exhibition seeks to cast a critical eye over the general perception of the female creator in Bulgaria during the second half of the twentieth century − as avant-garde, strong, and brave; it gives us the opportunity to delve for the first time into the colourful world of the artist, to become acquainted with her new visual language for that time, and to appreciate a novel experience of the public architectural space.
The stone reliefs of the Sofia Theatre and the concrete reliefs of the Friedrichstadt-Palast form elements playing a lively rhythm in the architectural ensemble. With her use of bas-relief in harmony with the proportions of the façade, Emilia Nikolova-Bayer has left her original mark on contemporary architecture.
Photographs from Emilia and Rainer Bayer’s personal archive are on display, ranging from decorative reliefs, ceramic panels, stone inscriptions and drawings to sculptures of various sizes in a range of materials. Current photographs of some of the sites, by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning Berlin and the artist Kalin Serapionov, are included.
Awards and honours
1958 Distinction for best work of art at the International Art Exhibition in Vienna.
1984 Award at the International Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics in Faenza, Italy.
1984 Sts Cyril and Methodius Bronze Medal.
Artworks by Emilia Nikolova-Bayer are to be found in the collections of the National Gallery, the Yambol Art Gallery, and the Museum of Humour and Satire in Gabrovo.
Her works are also owned by private collections in New York, Boston, Seattle, Paris, Hanover, Berlin, Leipzig, Wiesbaden, Munich, Moscow, Warsaw, Sofia; and museums and collections in Berlin, Poland, and Faenza (Italy).

Photography exhibition by Konstantin Vulkov
Kvadrat 500
Try, fall down, get up, try again. Make friends with pain.
Smile. You’ve made friends with your body. Now you know more about yourself. This makes you confident to continue, take risks and reach a new level you had only dreamt of. You now look at yourself and the world around you with new eyes. You never laugh at the amateurish efforts of others and light-heartedly share your knowledge. This is what nobility means. In skateboarding the little ones can also be great. Every person to take off from the ground in flight for even seconds has overcome their fears and knows what it means to rely on nobody but yourself.
The photo series of skate parks by Konstantin Vulkov is a major lesson in social photography. Not sports, nor portrait, but documentary – a visual story of street culture with locations in Cape Town and Barcelona, Manchester and Burgas, Sofia and Tsarevo. The images are extraordinary encounters with people from different generations who all practise this sport. They were taken in social environments that fought to be recognized by society – transitioning from a “delinquent bunch” into “Olympic hopefuls”. From thug appearances with skateboards in public spaces to training in purpose-built skate parks.
Accelerate-soar-land. Konstantin Vulkov does not neglect any of the three stages. He does not use effects. He documents this environment with its culture. He has gained the trust of everyone at the ramp; nobody is posing. This exhibition is an account of skateboarding – a sport used to solve social problems in different societies. A sport where there are no social boundaries and which, in its democratic essence, resolves psychological issues. A sport where freedom is personal, yet also shared with anyone with the courage to stand up for it.
Marieta Tsenova - Exhibition curator

“Sandro – Prince Alexander von Battenberg. A European Destiny” is an exhibition with unknown facts and photos from the life of the first Bulgarian ruler after the Liberation from Turkish occupation in 1878. It is the result of three years of research through the archives and family collections of the Heiligenberg Jügenheim Foundation (the name of the prince’s family castle).
In Bulgaria, the Values Foundation of Antonina Stoyanova, wife of President Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002) presents the exhibition. With the sponsorship of the Sofia Municipality 28 panels with photos and texts in Bulgarian will be displayed in the Ballroom on the second floor of the Palace . (The English and German versions of each can be read via QR codes.)
The exhibition will be opened on September 5 at 6 p.m. and will remain at the National Gallery until October 29.

Chamber Hall Soloist/s
Martina Dimova
Ensemble
Classic Art
Program
Dmitri Shostakovich - Viola & Piano Sonata, Op. 147 (arr. for Violin & String Quartet)
Edvard Grieg - String Quartet No.1 in G minor
Slavy Dimov - "Poem of Silence" for Violin & Wind-String Sextet