country
activities

Country Director
Paul Elicker

Activities Summary

In November 1999, Paul Elicker conducted an exploratory visit to Bulgaria as a follow-up to earlier conversations with private sector contacts and with a non-governmental arts and cultural organization, the Values Foundation. Impressed with the work The Fund has done in other newly emerging free market countries, our Bulgarian contacts were interested in a preliminary Fund analysis of whether our expertise could be applied in that country. Some of the organizations visited include The Values Foundation, The Ministry of Arts and Culture and their Museums and Galleries Section, the National Museum of History and the National Monuments Commission.

Evaluation

Bulgaria has an especially rich cultural history but it is in the very early stages of adjusting to a free market approach to arts and culture. Although there is much work to be done to facilitate this transition, it is unclear whether the institutions in question are at an appropriate stage to benefit from Fund expertise.

Future Plans

In follow-up to these initial meetings, the Values Foundation has begun exploring the feasibility of a Fund seminar for cultural officials in Bulgaria. They have also requested input on several other projects under their sponsorship, the most compatible ones being "The Red House", a forum for young people interested in politics and the arts and "Education for All", a program designed to offer career guidance to students. The Fund, through Richard E. Quandt, has also provided guidance to the designers of the National Automated Library Information Network, which is intended to link all of Bulgaria’s libraries. A return trip to Sofia in April is scheduled to explore these and other ideas further.