Prof. Svetoslav Kokalov will be awarded the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the National Academy of Art
2025.11.13
On 18 November 2025 (Tuesday), 4:30 pm, in Academia Gallery, Prof. Svetoslav Kokalov will be awarded the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the National Academy of Art for his exceptional contribution to the development of the contemporary visual art and the establishment and activities of the National Academy of Art. Also, the short film about Prof. Kokalov within The Doyens of the National Academy of Art documentary series will also be presented for the first time during the official awarding ceremony.
SVETOSLAV KOKALOV (b. 1955, Balgarene, Pleven District) graduated from the High School of Arts in Sofia (1974) and the Academy of Arts with a degree in Scenography (1981). His academic career began at the Department of Scenography in 1990 as an assistant professor. Subsequently, he became a senior assistant professor (1993), associate professor of scenography (1996), and professor of scenography (2009). In the period 1997–1999, he was the head of the department, from 1999 to 2002 – the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, and from 2003 to 2007 – the Vice-Rector for Academic, Scientific and Artistic Activities. Immediately afterwards was elected as Rector of the National Academy of Art and served for 2 consecutive terms, as well as a member of the Managing Board of the Council of Rectors (2011–2015). At the National Academy of Art, he teaches the academic disciplines "Scenography and Costume Design" and "Visual Composition", and leads the Master's degree programmes in Scenography for Dramatic Theatre, in Scenography for Musical Theatre, and in Authorship Visual Performance. He is the co-designer and leader of the Master's degree programme in Digital Arts, as well as co-founder and team leader of the International Digital Art Festival DA Fest (2009–2013).
He has been a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists since 1989.
In his professional career, he has held the positions of designer or chief artist at the Adriana Budevska Theatre – Burgas, Vassil Drumev Theatre – Shumen, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, and the Sofia Opera and Ballet. He has made expert contributions as a member of the Specialized Expert Council for Fine Arts under the Minister of Culture (2011–2015) and Chair of the Expert-Artistic Council of Sofia City Municipality (2015–2016).
Prof. Kokalov has implemented numerous scenography projects for dramatic and musical performances in theatres in Sofia, Bulgaria and abroad. He experiments with video art and the application of new media in scenography.
The artist has participated in dozens of collective exhibitions in Bulgaria, Prague, Berlin, Moscow, Belgrade, Zagreb, Bucharest.
Prof. Kokalov has authored the publications “On Moving Pictures” (2005, essay), “Film Screening in the Theatre Performance 1909 – 1969” (2013, monograph), “Shakespeare in a Circle and a Diagonal” (2022, article), numerous expert opinions, interviews in electronic and print media and specialised editions. He has been member in international juries, has participated in creative workshops, presentations, theatre and video festivals and tours in Bulgaria, Armenia, France, Turkey, Macedonia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Poland, China.
Winner of: the Union of Architects in Bulgaria award "Best Young Set Designer" (1987), Askeer award for scenography design (1994, "Don Quixote") and Scenography Designer of the Season award (1994, after a poll by Culture Newspaper among 43 theatre critics and journalists), Askeer award for scenography design (1997, "The Storm" 2), Scenography Designer of the Season award (1997, after a poll by Culture Newspaper), Union of Bulgarian Artists award from the General Exhibition "Scenography 99" (1999), Award for scenography design from the Theatre Festival – Blagoevgrad 2000; Golden Age – Star of the Ministry of Culture (2015); Award for scenography design from the New Bulgarian Drama Festival – Shumen 2018; Askeer award for overall contribution to the theatre art (2023).