Institute of Art Studies – BAS and the Department of Korean Studies at Sofia University: Partners in Research on Bulgarian–Korean Cultural Relations

The Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was an active partner in two initiatives within the framework of the international jubilee conference “30 Years of Korean Studies at Sofia University – Korea: One Peninsula, Multiple Dimensions (Connectivity, Challenges, Perspectives)”, held from 12 to 14 October 2025 at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski.” The forum brought together more than 80 scholars from 21 countries. It was officially opened by H.E. Dong-bae Kim, PhD, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bulgaria, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the university’s academic leadership, and other institutions, attesting to the high international prestige of the event.
The two initiatives of the Institute were carried out under the National Scientific Programme “Development and Strengthening of Bulgarian Studies Abroad” (Work Package 3 “Topoi of Memory: Cultural Heritage, Visual Archives and Contemporary Representations”, Contract No. D01-205/07.04.2022, Ministry of Education and Science).
The programme included an exclusive screening of the French documentary Pyongyang S’amuse (Having Fun in Pyongyang, ARTE France, 2019) and a round table “(Im)possible Korean Distances: Strategies of Screen Representation between Self and Other.”
The screening took place on 11 October at Odeon Cinema and was introduced by Prof. Emeritus Patrick Maurus (INALCO, Paris), Prof. Andronika Martonova, PhD, Deputy Director of the Institute of Art Studies, and Assist. Prof. Rayna Beneva – Department of Korean Studies, Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology, Sofia University. During the subsequent discussion, participants explored the Bulgarian film and documentary archives that preserve valuable evidence of historical and cultural ties between Bulgaria and Korea.
The topic continued during the second initiative – the round table – moderated by Prof. Martonova, held on 14 October in the “Egg” Hall at Sofia University. Participants from abroad showed strong interest in Bulgaria’s documentary heritage, while Korean scholars expressed intentions to study the image of Bulgaria in Korea. This mutual interest opened new perspectives for sustainable academic collaboration and exchange in the fields of art history and cultural memory.
Through its initiatives within the jubilee conference, the Institute of Art Studies – BAS reaffirmed its role as a reliable and long-term partner of the Department of Korean Studies at Sofia University in researching, preserving, and promoting the cultural relations between Bulgaria and Korea.
© Photos: Mariana Angelova – Bulgarian National Film Archive; Julia Staneva – Institute of Art Studies, BAS.