Zahari Zograph’s Revival-Era Masterpieces Brought to Life in Immersive Show 2025

Balgarianovinite.com The National Gallery offers visitors a new experience with its first immersive art exhibition. The show is dedicated to Zahari Zograph, one of the most significant figures in Bulgarian art of the National Revival Period (18th-19th centuries), the organizers said. The project, created by Sensor Studio and based on the possibilities offered by new technologies, runs for 20 minutes and includes reproductions of the painter’s religious and secular masterpieces and a visualization of elements of his creative process.
The exhibition will be held in the Kvadrat 500 building of the National Gallery at 95 Vasil Levski Boulevard in Sofia. It will open at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, and will be on view until January 30, 2027.
An immersive art exhibition is a type of display in which the visitor does not simply observe the works of art but fully sinks into the experience through a combination of light, sound, movement, digital technologies and sometimes even scents or interactive elements. The aim is to create a sense of being inside the work itself rather than merely viewing it from the outside, the organizers explained.
The idea stems from the desire to popularize the art of the Bulgarian Revival, a time of economic, social and cultural upsurge inseparably linked to the struggle for church and national independence. The beginning of this period dates to the mid-18th century, when Paisii Hilendarski wrote Slav-Bulgarian History in 1762, a work that played a pivotal role in the spiritual awakening of the Bulgarian people by boosting their national awareness.
The exhibition includes icons, drawings, tracings, letters and documents, as well as the artist’s early secular portraits. A large number of murals are also presented, from the earliest ones created in 1838 for the chapel of St John the Baptist at the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in Asenovgrad, to his distinctive swan song, the murals in the narthex of the Great Lavra Monastery in Mount Athos, created in 1851–1852.
The project is supported financially by the National Culture Fund under the 2024 Creation Programme. The media partners are the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and Sof Connect.
Zahari Zograph (1810–1853) of Samokov is a central figure in the transition between church and secular painting on the path towards the Europeanization of Bulgarian art. Researchers describe him as an unconventional personality, distinguished by a propensity for artistic experimentation and a bold approach to professional challenges. He painted portraits, plants, animals, nudes, landscapes and ancient ruins from life, and in church mural ensembles he introduced the images of Bulgarian and Slav saints, placing alongside them self-portraits and portraits of his contemporaries. He took an active part in the struggle for church and national independence, supported the publication of books and backed initiatives to establish Bulgarian schools. Zahari Zograph’s Revival-Era Masterpieces Brought to Life in Immersive Show 2025 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-12-10 09:27:44 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law