On 25.04.2023, in a Botany Hall of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia was presented a temporary exhibition “Notes on Bulgarian Orchids”.
The exhibition was officially opened by Prof. Pavel Stoev, the Director of the museum and by Prof. Ina Aneva, scientific secretary of the “Biodiversity, Bioresources and Ecology” Department at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Congratulation to the author and organisers was offered by Assoc. Dr. Antoineta Petrova, the longest-standing researcher of orchids in Bulgaria and until recently the Director of the Botanical Garden of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
During the opening of the exhibition, Luben Domozetski presented to the Herbarium of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia a specimen of the Gymnadenia rubra, observed by him for the first time in Bulgaria on the Rila Mts, and specially collected and prepared for the museum’s collection.
The exhibition is a result of a book “Orchids in Bulgaria. Notes and Drawings by Lyuben Domozetski”. The book is a phototype edition of a manuscript created in the period 2022—2023.
The inspirations behind this contemporary manuscript were the scientific journeys and exotic expeditions that scientists in the 19th and early 20th centuries undertook to different parts of the world. Often, their observations are documented in vivid and fascinating language in handwritten journals, and the drawings — the work of the scientists themselves or made by an accompanying artist — reflect and recreate what they saw.
Today, when there are so many possibilities to document one’s observations and verbalise knowledge, the author of the manuscript turns to this archaic model to introduce us to an exciting and interesting “territory” — the wild orchids in Bulgaria. As he follows up-to-date research on the subject and relies on leading publications and database, Lyuben Domozetski — the art critic, artist and naturalist, expands his interests in the field of botany, gathering personal observations and experience in exploration and identification of these interesting plants.
With a pencil and paints in hand, he next compiles his observations in a manuscript, which presents all wild orchid species existing in our country, each complemented by a brief description and drawings. The discoveries are not far behind. Apart from the published species already known to exist in the country, the author includes several other orchid species discovered in Bulgaria for the first time. It is in the field journal he kept that they are presented for the first time and publicly announced in the book for the first time. Their official presentation will take place at the event organised at National Museum of Natural History, Sofia (NMNS). The exhibition in the Botany Hall of the museum will show reproductions of journal pages the author selected himself. It is at the exhibition opening that the phototype edition of the manuscript will be officially presented as well. The journal itself will be shown as an exhibit, with various additional materials and works revealing the author’s interests in natural history rendered in a series of scientific illustrations.
The project is organised by Little Bird Place Gallery in partnership with NMNH-BAS and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture.