The Department of Book, Illustration, Printed Graphics presented the exhibition "Letteralism" at Academia Gallery
2026.05.15
On 14 May, the exhibition Letteralism – typography, calligraphy and lettering experiments of the lecturers in the Department of Book, Illustration, Printed Graphics at the National Academy of Art was opened in the Academia Gallery. The exhibition was presented by the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and lecturer in the department Assoc. Prof. Regina Dalkalacheva, PhD. The event was attended by many students, lecturers, doyens of the department, and visitors.
The exhibition is part of the events, dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the National Academy of Art, and is also connected with the celebration of 24 May – the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture and of Slavic literature.
The artists' main idea focuses on the creative study of language and font. The project is a continuation of the exhibition presented last year at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Bratislava.
“The theme remains the same. Experiments with letter signs, experiments with the limits, possibilities and nature of verbal and visual readability,” noted Assoc. Prof. Dalkalacheva. Regarding literalism, she cited the dictionary meaning of the term – “an extremely flat, narrow and ... literal ... understanding, use and awareness of the text, of the verbal.” In her words, upon entering the Academia Gallery, the audience finds themselves in “a space that actually radiates anti-literalism in all senses and aspects.”
Assoc. Prof. Dalkalacheva paid particular attention to the teaching team behind the exhibition. “These are professionals, artists, professionals who master the beauty of letters, the beauty of the font, the beauty of typography, of calligraphy to an absolute degree,” she said. In her words, they prove that the art of typography is alive because they have retained their audacity and ability to create new works with the language of the font and letter signs. The upcoming publishing of a book, which is to present the artists' research and experiments, is the continuation of the project implementation next year.
Artists
Assoc. Prof. Iliya Gruev, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Regina Dalkalacheva, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Kapka Kaneva, PhD
Ch. Asst. Prof. Boyana Pavlova, PhD
Asst. Prof. Mila Yaneva, PhD
Asst. Prof. Emil Markov
Lecturer Krassimir Andreev
Part-time lecturer Dora Ivanova
The exhibition can be viewed until 30 May 2026 on every working day from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm, as well as on 23 May within the framework of the European Night of Museums from 10:30 am to 10:00 pm.
The exhibition is taking place within the framework of the 2026 Competition for Funding Projects on the Scientific Research and Artistic Activities at the National Academy of Art.