The first session of the resumed seminar: ‘Art Studies, Archives, and the Internet. History and Prospects’ took place

On 31 March 2026, with a lecture by Prof. Goritza Naydenova, PhD, entitled ‘Documenting and Archiving Traditional Music in Bulgaria up to the End of the 1940s’, the activities of the regular seminar ‘Art Studies, Archives, and the Internet. History and Prospects’. The seminar forms part of the team's activities on the topic ‘Cultural Heritage in the Archives of the Institute of Art Studies: Interactive Map of the Arts in Bulgaria II’ (part of the project Sustainable Development of the “Heritage BG” Centre of Excellence, BG16RFPR002-1.014-0011).

Prof. Naydenova briefly presented the main results achieved by the scholars and specialists from the Institute of Art Studies during the first phase of the project. In the main part of her lecture, she demonstrated how the relationship between music-theoretical perspectives, fieldwork, and the technical possibilities for documentation was decisive for the development of music folklore studies up to the mid-twentieth century. Understanding the stages of this process is essential for today's interpretation of the documents from that period held in the Music Folklore Archive of the IAS, many of which are also available in the database https://archive.artstudies.bg/FolklorMusicArchive/List, which was created and developed as part of the project.

The lecture was held in person, with the option to participate online, and the audience included, in addition to team members, guests and colleagues from various departments of the Institute of Art Studies, the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, lecturers and students from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts – Plovdiv, and others. 

© Photographer: Yulia Staneva