Cultural diplomacy can achieve the unachievable. A Bulgarian diplomat in Prague was convinced in the truthfulness of these words a century ago. His tough task being to restore the good name of his country after World War I, Dimitar Michalchev was Bulgarian ambassador to the then newly founded Republic of Czechoslovakia. Michalchev was a member of the Initiative Committee that organized an extensive exhibition with the works of over 70 artists, considered to be the crème de la crème of Bulgarian intellectual circles at the beginning of the 20^th century.

Among them were Alexander Bozhinov, Anton Mitov, Vladimir Dimitrov-the Master, Dimitar Gudzhenov, Sirak Skitnik, Nikolai Raynov. In addition to their works, the exhibition also included works from Bulgaria-based talented Czech authors - Jan Václav Mrkvička, Jaroslav Věšín, Josef Pitter and Otto Horeyshi.

Chief organizer of the memorable art event was Czech painter Alfons Mucha. The exhibition of 1926 had an impact that was unprecedented in the history of Bulgarian diplomacy. It showed a colossal number of artworks – nearly 500, most of which today are part of the fund of the National Art Gallery in Sofia.

In memory of this exposition of the works of the most distinguished Bulgarian artists of the 19^th-20^th century, in 2021 the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Prague printed a special edition – an album with copies of some of the paintings that are known to have been in the collective exhibition. The title of the album is “Sofia - Prague, 1926. 95 Years of a Memorable Exhibition”.

"We were able to print this album in memory of the 1926 show after we came across a brochure in an antique shop, which describes the content of the then exhibition," says Galina Todorova, director of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in the Czech capital. - This encouraged us to contact the National Gallery and prepare this luxury commemorative edition.

Since we cannot lock culture within the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, we have included a translation in English. From my own experience I know that this album evokes great respect in friends of Bulgaria and foreign diplomats, when we present it to them. They are impressed by our long-term relations with the Czech Republic and by the remarkable work of the Bulgarian painters. Events and anniversaries come and go, but the best part is that this print edition will stay as a document for the history of Bulgaria's diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic."

The Czech audience has the chance to get acquainted with another aspect of Bulgarian culture – the annual Bulgarian Film Festival. After two years of being held online, the organizers now hope to invite audience to the cinema theatre again. "We have reserved an emblematic building - Palác Lucerna, a cultural monument of the Czech Republic," says Galina Todorova and she adds:

"We have selected comedy films. A Czech study, published in the media, shows that people here prefer to watch comedy movies. They always rank comedy titles in top three. And so we decided that we could give the audience in Prague a dose of laughter. Among the titles are "Last Call" with Maria Bakalova, "The naked truth about the Zhiguli group"by Victor Bojinov, and "Uncle Claus" by Ivaylo Penchev. The screenings are 4 days and we hope that the cinema theatres will remain open until March, when the movie showings are scheduled.

English version: Elizabeth Radkova