country
activities

Country Director
Paul Elicker

Consultants
Jillian Poole, Julian Spalding

Activities Summary

The Fund conducted a four-day management seminar for cultural leaders in Sofia, October 10–13, 2000. The seminar was made possible by the active support of The Soros Center for the Arts, The Values Foundation and the American Centre in Sofia. Paul Elicker, Jillian Poole and Julian Spalding conducted the program. Thirty-two museums from Sofia as well as other regions of Bulgaria were selected to participate. The seminar was structured along the lines of The Fund’s regional museum seminars that have proven so successful in Russia, but adapted for the Bulgarian museums’ needs and interests. Topics covered included: the role of the museum director, a museum’s mission statement, the importance of integrating the financial officer into management decisions, making a museum more user friendly, the importance of knowing your audience and reaching new audiences, annual budgets, long range financial planning and fundraising.

The Soros Foundation had translated The Fund’s handbook, Managing for Money, and distributed this to seminar participants who used it as a resource during the seminar and for distribution within Hungary to cultural organizations and libraries. Both the English and Bulgarian versions of the handbook as well as a more detailed report on the seminar are available on The Fund's website, www.fundforartsandculture.org.

According to the Bulgarian organizers of the program, the seminar was successful in helping this Bulgarian audience understand that:

1) The problems of the museum community in Bulgaria are not unique.
2) The Bulgarian museum community must invest resources in educating its government that museums play a vital role in the development of cultural tourism, and thus economic development.
3) Many of the problems museum professionals face in Bulgaria could be greatly helped through collective efforts.

Future Plans

The Soros Foundation plans to poll seminar participants midyear to determine what lasting effects the seminar may have had on their activities. Future fund activity will be determined on the basis of this review.

Reports:
Trip Report: Bulgaria, October 2000