Ancient Messages

In 2017 Bulgaria was preparing to take over the rotational Presidency of the Council of the European Union in January – June 2018. Amateras Foundation was an active participant in the accompanying cultural programme, clearly aware it had the task to present Bulgaria’s positive outlook, rich cultural heritage and potential. The preparation for this mission was a challenge to the Foundation.

Ancient Messages was one of the three projects approved on the occasion of the forthcoming Presidency. The project focused mainly on the enormous contribution of Bulgaria’s ancient culture with its symbolism and treasures, presented using the means of contemporary art. To organize a project combining history, spirituality and tradition presented through visual art proved fertile soil for exhibitions, lectures, films and presentations of centennial Bulgaria.

The strategy to present the project in different countries, organized in conjunction with the State Cultural Institute in the summer of 2017, was presented before 30 ambassadors from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. As a result, in 2018 the project was distributed in three travelling formats for Argentina, Brazil, Georgia, Japan, Finland and China. In 2019 and 2020 Ancient Messages was invited by the partner countries to be a part of Bulgaria’s presentation in new locations. The project was an emblematic presentation of Bulgaria at travelling formats of Amateras Foundation.

Curator: Daniela Todorova

Organisers:
Amateras Foundation: Daniela Todorova and Todor Todorov
Nexus: Kakuko Ishii, Ichiro Matsuo, Mitsuru Kuroki, Toru Kurita, Jeoong Moon
JSEEBA: Kihachiro Nishiura and Yumiko Ueno

The events in the Ancient Messages project were held under the auspices of:
H.E. Plamen Bonchev, Ambassador of Bulgaria to Georgia
H.E. Valery Yotov, Ambassador of Bulgaria to Brazil
H.E. Borislav Kostov, Ambassador of Bulgaria to Japan
H.E. Martin Ivanov, Ambassador of Bulgaria to Finland
H.E. Masato Watanabe, Ambassador of Japan to Bulgaria
H.E. Alberto Trueba, Ambassador of Argentina to Bulgaria
H.E. Ana Maria Sampaio Fernandes, Ambassador of Brazil to Bulgaria

The twenty events organized so far were held in cities and spaces on the territory of Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Georgia, China, Finland and Japan:

2020

• Exhibiton “Ancient Messages”, Urbano Gallery, Mendoza, Argentina (February 27th – March 27th).

2019

• Presentation “Ancient Messages”, Fashion and Design Department, Fengxian University, Shanghai, China (September 8th – 9th).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, Global Arena Gallery, Munakata, Japan (September 13th – 23rd).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, CA Gallery, Munakata, Japan (September 5th – 23rd).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, City Cultural Centre, Munakata, Japan (September 3rd – 16th).
• Presentation “Ancient Messages”, City Cultural Centre, Munakata, Japan (September 15th).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, El Espacio le Parc Art Centre, Mendoza, Argentina (June 6th – 29th).
• Lecture “Ancient Messages”, Visual Arts Department, University of Mendoza, Argentina (June 9th).

2018

• Exhibition “Ancient Messages” organized by the Department of Arts at Kyoiku University, Caso Centre for Contemporary Art, Osaka, Japan (March 6th – 11th).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, installations and sculptures by Daniela Todorova and Todor Todorov, Sofia Paper Art Fest, National Palace of Culture, Sofia (March 9th – April 2nd).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, Museu de Artes e Ofícios, Belo Horizonte (May 25th – June 25th).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, Wakita Museum, Karuizawa, Japan (June 7th – August 29th).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages” within the initiative “Art Sauna” on the occasion of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of EU, The Embassy of Bulgaria in Finland, Helsinki (October 15th – 30th).

2017

• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, installations and sculptures, Finesse Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria (March 9th – April 2nd).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages” with presentation and screening, Sofia Paper Art Fest, The Mission Gallery, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sofia, Bulgaria (May 18th – June 16th).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, intallations and sculptures by Daniela Todorova and Todor Todorov, Museum of Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation, Sao Paolo, Brazil (October 2nd – November 30th)
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages” and lecture “The Cultural Heritage of Bulgaria”, University of Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation, Sao Paolo, Brazil (October 5th).

2016

• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, Vivacom Art Hall, Sofia (May 11th -21st).
• Exhibition “Ancient Messages”, installations and sculptures, National Museum of Georgia, History Museum Karvasla, Tbilisi, Georgia (June 3rd -15th).
• Presentation “Ancient Messages”, 30th Congress of IAPMA, Institute of Arts, Brasilia, Brazil (September (12th – 16th).

Amateras Foundation expresses its gratitude to all the participants in the project:

Argentina: Leticia Burgos, Marina Ramazzi, Dino Andrada, Esteban Grimi, Cristóbal Farmache, Rodrigo Barroso, Sergio Rosas and Martin Villalonga;

Brazil: Angela Barbour and Eliana, Anghinah;

Bulgaria: Todor Todorov and Daniela Todorova;

Japan: Kakuko Ishii, Ichiro Matsuo, Mitsuru Kuroki, Toru Kurita, Jiyoung Moon, Atsumi Murata, Noriko Amano, Kendji Sato, Mikii Nakamura, Koko Shimumura, Mami Idei, Yoshio Ikezaki, Miyuki Tanyama, Kiyoshi Yunohara, Mitsue Ito, Sumiko Tasaka, Junko Siziki, Kazunobu Yanagi, Yoshinobu Suzuka, Mayumi Tsukuda, Shoko Fukuda, Wakako Ishisone, Yoshiaki Kajikawa, Yoshiaki Kajikawa, Yuki Tsuboyama, Tsuruko Takinawa, Nobuko Ueda, Katsuhito Ito, Kazuyoshi Morita, Nobuyoshi Kano, Iyonaga Takahiro, Ritsuko Jinnouchi and Yasuko Iyanaga.