CORR. MEMBER PROF. ELKA BAKALOVA AND CHIEF ASSIST. PROF. STANISLAV STANEV, PHD, RECEIVE AWARDS FROM THE UNION OF BULGARIAN ARTISTS

On 23.04.2026, the awards of the Union of Bulgarian Artists for art history and criticism in the name of Nikolay Raynov were presented. Corr. Member Prof. Elka Bakalova, PhD – one of the most important Bulgarian art historians and medievalists, a scientist who has made a fundamental contribution to the study of Byzantine and medieval Bulgarian art and played an outstanding role in establishing high scientific standards in the Bulgarian humanities in recent decades – received a life achievement award. The professional biography of Prof. Elka Bakalova spans many years of research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and active teaching at the New Bulgarian University, the National Academy of Arts, the University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”, and other academic institutions. Of particular importance to the Bulgarian scientific community is her long-standing activity as editor-in-chief of the Art Studies Quarterly journal. Under her leadership, the publication established itself as an authoritative platform for publishing significant research and maintaining high standards in the field of art history and art criticism.

At the official ceremony at the UBA, the award was accepted by Prof. Elka Bakalova's daughters.

Chief Assistant Professor Stanislav Stanev, PhD, from the Institute of Art Studies, received the award for scientific work in the subcategory Old Art – Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance. He was awarded for his monograph ‘Mesembrian Churches in the Studies of Architect Pyotr Pokryshkin’ (2025). The book is the result of many years of in-depth and enormous research by the author of archival funds in St. Petersburg that contain materials on the activities of the famous Russian architect P. Pokryshkin (1870-1922). 

© Photographer: Ivan Vanev