The speakers in the discussion, which will be held in Bulgarian and English, are Prof Dr Daniela Koleva - historian and anthropologist, Prof Dr Venelin Shurelov - visual artist, Dr Valentin Kalinov - clinical psychologist and philosopher, and Elza Jermanova, whose mother was in the Lovech political prison camp in the 1960s.

Of course, Nadezhda Dzhakova, the commissioner for the participation of Bulgaria in the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2024, the curator Vasil Vladimirov and the authors of the project "The Neighbours" Liliya Topuzova, Krasimira Butseva and Julian Chehirian will also take part in the discussion, the organisers said.

And as we pointed out at the beginning, on 24 May, two events of contrasting emotions will come together at the Venice Biennale. After the unsettling theme of memory, testimony and trauma, the Bulgarian Pavilion will be filled with youthful exuberance with the creative workshop for schoolchildren "Stranoprijemnitsa". 

Italian youngsters from the Dante Alighieri State Primary School in Venice will learn little-known facts about the Bulgarian alphabet and how it spread around the world, such as the fact that 252 million people in 23 countries write in Cyrillic. The students will also find out what a Biennale is, explore the Bulgarian pavilion with the project team of The Neighbours and, last but not least, create. 

"The studio is a metaphor of a dinner table. It aims to draw attention to tolerance, to explore the opposites of home - foreign, familiar - unfamiliar - says its organiser Teodora Baharova, adding:  - "Earth and people, nature, traditions and herbs, colours and customs from all over the world will meet at a welcoming common table in two distant and parallel realities, two lands at the crossroads - Bulgaria and Venice...".