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Bulgaria's Sofia Launches Museum of Socialist Art

Monday, Sep 19, 2011

Bulgaria's capital Sofia is getting ready to open Monday the Museum of Socialist Art.

The ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, his Deputy and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, and the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova.

The museum, an affiliate of the National Arts Gallery, will have on display over 150 items created during Socialist times between 1944 and 1989, and will be adorned with portraits and statues of Communist leaders such as Lenin and Stalin, and of paintings glorifying the working class.

The indoor exhibit is on 550 square meters and has 60 paintings and 25 sculptures. There is also a sculpture park with an area of 7 500 square meters where there are 77 sculptures.

The museum has a video hall where documentaries from the times of the Socialist regime will be showed. There is a souvenir shop as well.

The museum is located across the building of the Sofia Traffic Police headquarters on 7 "Lachezar Stanchev" street and will open doors at 11 am.

The first idea, which got altered later, was to name it Museum of Totalitarian Art.

Bulgarian Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, says that the museum aims to teach the country's young generation about history. He points out many of the works have artistic value beyond the frame of common propaganda.

Bulgaria is one of the last former Socialist countries to have such museum, distantly following in the footsteps of Hungary and the Czech Republic. The investment is estimated at EUR 1.2 M.

The Museum has already stirred strong controversy in Bulgaria, dividing the nation to those who support having it and those strongly opposing it.

Source: novinite.com