On the occasion of the 70th birthday of the chairman of the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators - DAPHNI - Georgi Pchelarov, in November 2025, his solo exhibition entitled "Kunstkamera" was presented for the first time at the Sofia Press Gallery-Bookstore of the Union of Bulgarian Artists.
Georgi Pchelarov was born in 1955 in Ruse. His early childhood was spent in Razgrad, where he attended various schools of fine arts. In 1982, he graduated with a degree in zoology from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". Even then, he began to paint. In 1987, he was engaged in illustrating Volume Birds, part I of the series "Fauna of Bulgaria". The definitive "Birds of the Balkan Peninsula", published in 1991 with 1992 color and 211 black-and-white author's illustrations, is another one of the most significant publications of its kind in our country, illustrated entirely by him. Georgi Pchelarov works for both strictly scientific publications and popular science ones, such as "Magazine 8", where his illustrations were published from 2015 to 2019. In recent years, he has also prepared a series of botanical illustrations for the Museum of Medicine in Plovdiv. Georgi Pchelarov is among the initiators of the establishment of a professional organization and became the first chairman of the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators (DAFNI) in 2016. Another well-deserved recognition for the artist is the award for lifetime achievement from the "Biennale of Illustration 2022". In 2023, a retrospective exhibition of Georgi Pchelarov was organized at the Regional History Museum - Sofia, displaying selected works from his participation in numerous scientific and artistic projects, publications and exhibitions.
The title of the current exhibition – "Kunstkamera" – comes from the German term for a cabinet or art room, used for private collections that bring together valuable objects related to art, history and natural sciences. These are also the topics that excite and inspire Georgi Pchelarov.
Unlike most anniversary exhibitions, this one will not feature selected old works, but quite the opposite. The artist has prepared about 30 new works that have not been published, have not been presented in exhibitions so far, and were created over the past year especially for the occasion.
All new illustrations are drawn with precise attention to detail, executed in the author's characteristic recognizable style. Over the years, he has continued to adhere to rigor and discipline in terms of the pictorial approach, as well as to exceptional scientific reliability.
The "Kunstkamera" exhibition presents illustrations that are to be included in subsequent thematic scientific publications and popular science projects.
The curator of the exhibition is Hristina Grozdanova.
Opening: January 5, 2026, 6:00 PM
Place: Petrich Historical Museum - Petrich, 80 Rockefeller Street
Closing: February 5, 2026
Source: Petrich Historical Museum
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