When it comes to remembering and preserving one nation’s past, it will be somewhat logical to say that if we talk to a man about history and culture, he will be interested in it for a while. But if we bring a man to history and culture, he will be captivated by it for life. This is what pretty much the richest man in Bulgaria Vasil Bojkov is going to do by building a never seen before type of a museum in the Bulgarian capital city Sofia.
Back in 2017, Bojkov was announced as the new owner of the emblematic Telephone hall with the intention to transform it into a museum that is very similar to the Louvre Abu Dhabi. For those of you who don’t know or are not particularly familiar with the scope of the Louvre located there, it is considered to be the biggest art museum in the Arabian peninsula. It is about 24,000 square metres in size and has around 8,000 square metres of galleries. Its architecture is rather spectacular on its own as it represents what seems to be a floating dome structure. With an impressive metallic ceiling, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is designed in a way that allows it to reflect light into the museum through date palm fronds.
Even though the Telephone hall does not have this extravagant architecture, its visual identity is still as impressive and symbolic as to attract seekers of cultural value, meanings, and representations from all around the world. Having the potential to be turned into one of the most visited places of art and culture and Sofia, the future museum will undoubtedly spark a much larger tourist interest and response to the Bulgarian capital.
But what is going to be presented there? What’s going to be the core and the synthesis of Vasil Bojkov’s museum? First and foremost, it will have the goal to bridge the gap between past and present, thus, enabling every visitor to get to know more closely the way of life, beliefs, rituals, habits, quests, and the world of Thracian people. This, of course, will be achieved by exhibiting over 3000 pieces of Vasil Bojkov’s own collection of Thracian treasures and artefacts. The archeological items consist of a good number of bronze, silver and golden artifacts, metal ware, adornments, and harness parts produced between 8th century BC and 6th century AD by workshops across the Middle and Near East, Anatolia, major centers like Laconia, Corinth, Ionia, Western Greece, as well as Thrace, Scythia, Macedonia, the North Black Sea steppes, and others.
However, this is not all. Usually, the name of Vasil Bojkov goes hand in hand with plenty of information and perceptions about his collection of antiques but what few people know is that he also has an impressive number of other art pieces. With the idea to establish the upcoming museum as an institution of both civilization and art, Vasil Bojkov is also going to present at least 500 of the pieces included in his private collection of paintings, statues, and sculptures created by famous artists across time. This way, apart from viewing and exploring different antiques, people will have a chance to admire a variety of original masterpieces and visual arts.
The museum is still in progress but even now the interest is growing. Having something even slightly resembling the scope of greatness of Louvre Abu Dhabi on local grounds is truly amazing. For sure, a walk through the museum at the Telephone hall will reveal many works that contain historical significance, cultural implications, conceptual connotations, and artistic inventions. But what is more, it will be something to combine notions of art and civilizations; culture and tourism; There is not really anything else to ask from a place like this.