On 1 October 2020, the ceremony on awarding Victoria Vassilenko, the first holder of the ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ National Prize in support of young talent in contemporary arts and science, was held in the Palace Ballroom of the National Gallery.
Moderator of the event was the popular Bulgarian journalist and PR expert of NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’, Magdalena Gigova. The Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Dr Petar Nikolov; the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovakia, Mr Manuel Korčеk; members of the Fund’s Management Council, and the jury of the competition, as well as all nominees for the award, were present. Among the guests were: Prof. Joanna Spassova, Scientific Secretary at BAS; Dimitar Vladimirov, Chairman of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad; Yavor Koynakov, Head of Cultural Policy Department at the State Institute for Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Atanas Kapralov, Director of National Literary Museum; Iaroslava Boubnova, Director of the National Gallery, and journalists.
The Executive Director of the Fund, Slava Ivanova, welcomed those present, and stressed the importance of the sui generis prize, newly established by NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’. She presented the jury members, thanked them for their responsible work and wished success to the nominees.
The nominees’ diplomas of Ivalina Trendafilova, Rosen Georgiev, Liliya Pangelova, Denitsa Todorova and Viviane Vassileva, were presented by the Deputy Minister of Education and Science Dr Petar Nikolov; Assoc. Prof. Georgi Lozanov and Mr Rashko Mladenov, Assoc. Prof. Dr Ventsislav Velev, members of the Fund’s Management Council; the Executive Director of the Fund. For all of them, the Fund’s team had prepared gifts—award-winning drawings from the ‘Together in Art for a Better Future’ National Youth Competition, launched by NEF jointly with UNICEF Bulgaria. The first winner of the grand prize, Victoria Vassilenko, received her diploma from Assoc. Prof. Dr Ventsislav Velev, Advisor to the Minister of Culture and Chair of the Jury. She was also awarded the Fund’s ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ Honorary Crest, which was exceptionally bestowed on her by the Management Council.
All nominees, as well as the actual prizewinner, thanked the NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ for the initiative to support young, talented and educated people in Bulgaria in their quest for professional development and innovative achievements in the arts and science.