Guests at Nayden Petkov’s exhibition ‘validated’ their envelopes with the Minister of Culture’s signature
The more imaginative guests at the closing ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ National Endowment Fund lent extra value to the stamp that had been specially issued for the occasion. It was jointly validated by Atanas Atanasov, the Minister of Culture; Deyan Daneshki, the Chief Executive Officer of Bulgarian Posts; Slava Ivanova, the Fund’s Executive Director; and Dr Svetlin Balezdrov, the stamp’s creator, who all together held the special seal. They were then surrounded by guests wishing to obtain their autographs on their envelopes.
In this way, the stamp gained additional numismatic value. With a denomination of 0.65 BGN, it had a print run of 10,000, but with 15,000 officially registered philatelists in Bulgaria, it is hardly likely that it will even reach post offices.
In his speech leading up to the evening’s culmination at the Ministry of Culture’s Sredets Gallery, Deyan Daneshki, the Chief Executive Officer of Bulgarian Posts, praised Dr Svetlin Balezdrov, Chief Assistant at the National Academy of Arts, for his outstanding graphic achievement. He refashioned the lion of past master Stefan Kanchev through applying a new perusal. Svetlin is the creator of a number of new fonts, which, as aesthetic achievements, differ from the ‘ready-mades’ of software packages. Dr Balezdrov is also the author of the book, ‘Naked Logo’.
Prior to the philatelic item’s validation, the event, held under the patronage of Bulgaria’s Vice President, Iliana Yotova, was brimming over with emotional moments. Atanas Atanasov and Slava Ivanova opened an exhibition of canvases by Nayden Petkov from the most inspired period in his oeuvre, personally donated by the artist to NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’. They also presented Assoc. Prof. Mihail Maleev, D.Sc., with NEF’s Honorary Crest as one of the founders and the long-standing director of the ‘Earth and Man’ National Museum, as well as the generous donor of a collection of minerals and semi-precious gems.
Milena Dimitrova, Senior Expert at the Administration of the President, read an inspiring congratulatory address on behalf of the Vice President.
You can watch Tsvetan Ignatovski’s video footage of the event here: