Minister Nayden Todorov also participated in the official ceremony for the presentation of the “Ziva” awards at the House of Culture in Gabrovo. Bulgaria, precisely through the Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum “Eter”, is hosting the tenth edition of the awards of the “Forum for Slavic Cultures” foundation. “Eter” Museum and Gabrovo have been preparing for it since 2022, when the first steps were taken to receive the household. Organizers of the “Ziva” awards ceremony in 2024 are the “Forum for Slavic Cultures” foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Municipality of Gabrovo and the “Etar” Regional Open Air Ethnographic Museum.
“First of all, thank you for the very existence of the Forum for Slavic Cultures.” Because today all of us, in our curiosity, are interested in peoples and countries that exist far away from us, but we forgot to be interested in those that are closest to us,” said Minister Todorov in his speech during the award ceremony . According to him, the Slavic culture is not only a culture, but the Slavs carry common genes that make us brothers. “The interesting thing is that at the same time we don’t know much about other Slavic traditions. Thanks to the forum, we can become much closer, learn much more about each other,” stressed Minister Todorov. He recounted how earlier in the day they had spoken with Ms. Richter about the origin of the awards’ name, “Ziva,” which is a symbol of life itself. “But what is most important about this award is why museums should be honored with this name. Today, museums are more alive than ever, they make us seem to participate in the history we see in them. That is why I am happy that these awards, this year, are in Gabrovo, where “Eter” is located. Ether is a living museum, this is one of my dozens of visits here. And every time I feel like a child, I want to hear and see everything all over again,” shared Minister Todorov. According to him, after the recent renovations of “Eter”, Minister Todorov has seen a completely new meaning of the museum. “People today don’t just want to see something in a museum, we want to feel it. And all museums that have realized this are the museums of the future,” pointed out Minister Todorov. He added that the “Ziva” awards are for museums that work to make us feel the past with our hearts and translate it into the future. “We live in a time when life seems to have lost its meaning. And culture is that thing that should help us remember the meaning of life again. And the cultural heritage, and in this sense – the museums, are the ones that remind us how great we were and how we can be great again,” said Minister Todorov categorically. He made an appeal to all museums – with their activities to help and in the future to feel alive.
Minister Todorov presented the Grand Prize “Best Museum” to the director of the Regional History Museum in Ruse, Prof. Dr. Nikolay Nenov.
At the ceremony in Gabrovo, the candidacies of two more Bulgarian museums were announced – the History Museum in Oryahovo and the Natural History Museum in Cherni Osam.
REMO “Eter” is the winner of one of the two major “Ziva” awards for 2020, and RIM-Ruse and RIM-Shoumen have won in different areas in different years. The choice of which museum to be nominated is taken very seriously. At the first stage, the institutions themselves apply, and it is necessary to meet certain criteria. The jury familiarizes itself with the forms and visits each candidate on the spot without prior notice. The unique fine sculpture “Ziva” that the winners receive was created by Ljubica Ratkaec Kočica, a Slovenian slave artist from Rogaška Slatina. Her works have been successful in solo and joint exhibitions and have been awarded numerous national and international awards.
Source: Ministry of Culture (with abbreviations)
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