The National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMBH-BAS) and the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators (DAFNI) present the first Bulgarian participation in the largest international botanical art event Botanical Art Worldwide with the opening of the temporary exhibition “Gifts of the Garden, Field and Forest”.
The event is organized by the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) under the motto “More Abundant Future: Diversity in Garden, Farm, and Field”. Associations from 30 countries from all over the world have applied for participation. For the first time, there is a Bulgarian participant among them – the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators (DAFNI), established in 2016 at the NMH-BAS.
In each of the participating countries, on May 18, 2025, events dedicated to botanical art will be held simultaneously - exhibitions with the works of artists from the respective countries and the works of participants from all other countries, which will be presented on screen, in electronic form.
Prof. Pavel Stoev, Director of NPM-BAS and Mr. Georgi Pchelarov, Manager of DAFNI, will open the exhibition at 5:00 p.m.
In the showcases in the lobby on the 4th floor of the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, you can see the works of Aneliya Pashova, Asen Ignatov, Ana Sokerova, Ventsislav Krastev, Denitsa Peneva, Dina Rogatnykh, Georgi Pchelarov, Ekaterina Kozhuharova, Eric Daniel, Zlatozar Boev, Zornitsa Garkova, Lilyana Alexandrova, Natalia Stambolova, Maria Krumovska, Neli Drumeva and Snezina Popova.
The goal of the organizers is to draw attention to the diversity of plants used and closely related to humans for thousands of years - from those grown for food and medicine, to those used for making and dyeing textiles, in construction and chemistry.
In a time of rapidly occurring climate change and habitat loss, the ASBA initiative directs the impactful power of art to the problems related to the protection of genetic diversity and the preservation of local plant varieties.
Thus, International Museum Day, May 18, 2025, will also become a world celebration of botanical art.
On May 18, 2025, by tradition, entrance to the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is free for everyone.
In the works of the florists from DAPHNI you will see traditional crops that are not used in modern monoculture agriculture: wild plants related to agricultural crops, which can be crossed with cultivated plants to give them new characteristics, and ancient agricultural crops cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years in the same form.
The species presented in the exhibition were selected after consultations with scientists and botanists from Bulgaria.
The artists' consultants are: Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Kozhuharova (Medical University, Sofia), Prof. Siika Angelova, Assoc. Prof. Desislava Dimitrova and Ch. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mila Andonova (IBEI-BAS), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Maria Sabeva (Institute of Plant and Genetic Resources "Konstantin Malkov", Sadovo), Senior Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sulza Palpurina (NPM-BAS), Senior Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Kunev and Senior Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Grozdanov (SU "St. Kliment Ohridski").
The texts were compiled by: Assoc. Prof. Dimitar Uzunov and botanist Nadezhda Apostolova-Stoyanova from NPM-BAS for plant species and Assoc. Prof. Boris Asyov from the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Studies of BAS for fungi. The exhibition can be viewed until September 28, 2025.
Opening: May 18, 2025, 5:00 PM
Place: National Museum of Natural History – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Closing: September 28, 2025
Source: FB event
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