The Jubilee Collection in Honour of Prof. Biserka Penkova was presented at the Sofia City Art Gallery

The collection ΡΗΤΟΡΙΣΣΑ. Research in honour of Prof. Biserka Penkova was officially presented on 8 May 2026. The event was held in Hall 1 of the Sofia City Art Gallery, with increased interest, and gathered representatives of the academic community, cultural institutions, and a wide range of fans who paid well-deserved attention to the contributions of Prof. Biserka Penkova to the Development of the Bulgarian Humanities.

The event moderator was the Deputy Director of the Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Assoc. Prof. Margarita Kuyumdzhieva. She emphasised the importance of Prof. Penkova's long-standing work and scientific achievements as one of the few prominent Bulgarian art historians, well known in the international medieval community.

Neda Zhivkova, PhD, welcomed the initiative on behalf of the Director of the Sofia City Art Gallery, Adelina Fileva. As part of the gallery’s team, Neda Zhivkova highlighted the essential role of Prof. Penkova as a tutor and a dear teacher of many currently active Bulgarian art historians working not only in the field of medieval art.

In her welcome speech, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Art Studies, Prof. Andronika Martonova, highlighted Prof. Penkova as one of the leading figures in the scientific and publishing activities of the academic institution over the last few decades.

The scientific editor of the jubilee collection, Prof. Anna-Maria Totomanova, DSc. (Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski) presented in detail the structure and content of the volume. She outlined the thematic spheres of the texts in the collection. She examined each of the 20 articles and studies by 21 authors – art historians, philologists, archaeologists, and restorers from Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

The two reviewers of the collection also paid tribute to the jubilee with brief addresses as colleagues and representatives of leading scientific institutions. Prof. Alexander Nikolov (Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski) welcomes the publication, and Prof. Biserka Penkova, who is an honorary member of the Association of Byzantinists and Medievalists in Bulgaria. Historian Srdjan Pirivatric (Byzantine Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts), Chairman of the Serbian Committee for Byzantology, emphasised Prof. Penkova's significant contributions to Balkan medieval studies.

Chief Assist. Tsveta Kuneva – one of the compilers of the collection, together with Chief Assist. Prof. Maria Kolusheva talked about the preparation of the edition, carried out by a team of specialists from the Institute of Art Studies.

The official part of the event ended with a thank-you speech by Prof. Biserka Penkova and her brief lecture on the meaning of the Mother of God's epithet “Rhetorissa”, borrowed for the title of the jubilee collection.

The book is available in electronic form on the website of the Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and can be downloaded freely from here.