The Balkan Heritage Foundation in partnership with the National Library of Greece and the National Library “Ivan Vazov” in Plovdiv and with funding from Erasmus + and the Municipality of Plovdiv organized a 5-day seminar on the preservation of historic bookbinding collections.

The “Documentation and Conservation of Historic Bookbinding Collections” training took place at the National Library “Ivan Vazov” in Plovdiv, Bulgaria between March 20 – 24. It was oriented towards professionals in book and archival material conservation and included visits to historic collections, with an opportunity to examine and discuss real-life challenges encountered in local libraries. The seminar was led by Dr. Nikolas Sarris, a book and paper conservator at the National Library of Greece with a PhD from the University of the Arts London (UAL). He has also worked as a conservator at the British Library and the monastery of St. John Theologian in Patmos, Greece, as well as in projects in Egypt, Iraq, Ethiopia, and Turkey. As part of the seminar, Dr. Sarris gave a public lecture  “North Iraq: Salvage of Manuscripts in Times of Peril” based on his experience in international manuscript conservation.

The National Library “Ivan Vazov” in Plovdiv also opened the exhibition “Plovdiv – City of Mosaics” on March 20th. The exhibition shows the ancient mosaics of Philippopolis and the modern mosaics of Plovdiv and was co-organized by the Balkan Heritage Foundation and “Ivan Vazov” National Library – Plovdiv.

Photos: Anton Chalakov