The Other Museum

The exhibition name “The Other Museum” is the first public activity of the Private Collectors’ Union in Bulgaria, established in March 2010 and chaired by Prof. Dr. Valeri Stefanov. Thrace Foundation was actively involved in organizing and displaying the exhibition.  It was opened on 07.06.2010 in one of the biggest halls of the National Gallery of Foreign Arts in the city of Sofia. This was a unique event in our exhibition and museum practice so far. It was made especially for the occasion.  The exhibition was unique as to its content and variety. The unique pieces of art, property of Bulgarian private collections, were grouped in the following sections: archaeology, fine arts, numismatics, faleristics, stamp collecting, arms and related accessories, ethnography.  The exhibits show the specific interests of the private collectors to various artistic and historical values. Many exhibits were displayed in the exhibition for the first time.

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Vassil Bojkov Collection and the Foundation participated in the exhibition with two ancient historical records and a picture. One is a silver rhyton representing the fore-part of a horse.  The vessel has wonderful proportions, fine cannelures and is an example of the fine arts of Ancient Thrace dated from IV century B.C.  The other historical record was the remarkable marble bust of Emperor Traianus Decius (249 – 251). The picture “Naked Body”, which is the diploma project of Prof.  Iliya Petrov, was displayed too.

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The exhibition lifts the curtain as regards valuable items, which are kept by private collectors and indisputably proves that they take great care of these pieces of art and other items. The chief curators of the exhibitions were acad. Svetlin Rusev and Prof.   Ivan Marazov, PhD.

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“The Other Museum” aims to prove that the past is not a terra incognita. It presents collectors as people that bring the past closer and make it understandable. “The Other Museum” is the versatile museum.  It brings together several basic directions of the collectors’ zeal – archaeology and numismatics, fine arts and sculpture, stamp collection, arms, orders and medals, ethnography.   The exhibition “The Other Museum” was organized to reveal a small part of the wealth kept in private collections. “The Other Museum” is the best proof that the civil society is a good husband of the cultural heritage of Bulgaria. “The Other Museum” is an expression of our deep belief that the cultural heritage, preserved in the private collections, should be shared rather than hidden. This is the only way for it to become a true guarantor of our nation’s spirituality.

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This exhibition enjoyed more visitors than any other temporary exhibition in the capital city in 2010.