Bulgarian treasures are the main focus of the exhibition "The First Rulers of Europe" in Chicago

The exhibition includes cultural and historical objects from 11 countries, shown together for the first time.

On March 31, 2023, the Field Museum in Chicago, USA will open a first-of-its-kind international exhibition tracing the development of some of the earliest farming communities in southeastern Europe through the emergence of tribal kingdoms and monarchies. The exhibition "The First Rulers of Europe" presents cultural values ​​from 11 countries of the Old Continent, preserved in 26 museums and is the first of its kind large-scale cooperation between North America and South-Eastern Europe, and three Bulgarian museums occupy a central place in it: National Museum of History, Regional History Museum - Ruse and Regional History Museum - Varna. The Bulgarian participation is realized with the financial support of the "America for Bulgaria" Foundation and includes 32 exhibits that have preserved the spirit of the peoples inhabiting our lands in the early eras of the development of civilizations.

"One of the most remarkable and special things that happened while we were preparing the First Rulers of Europe exhibition was the international collaboration we achieved," said Bill Parkinson, curator of the exhibition at the Field Museum.

The exhibition includes more than 700 objects of culture that date from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. The main highlight of the exhibition in Chicago are the unique Bulgarian treasures: the Borovo treasure from the first half of the 4600th century BC. and the finds from the barrow grave of a Thracian aristocrat from the Great Mogila near the village of Zlatinitsa, dated to the middle of the 4200th century BC, including: a unique gold wreath with appliqués, a signet ring, a kneeler and two rhytons of silver; a gold earring from the first half of the XNUMXrd century BC, found near Sinemorets, with the image of the ancient Greek goddess of victory, Nike. Part of the finds of the oldest worked gold in the world, discovered in the Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis and dated to the period between XNUMX and XNUMX BC. are included in the second part of the project - the traveling exhibition "The First Rulers of Europe", which is being realized at the Field Museum in Chicago. The exhibit aims to reveal to the American public the story of how humans gained power and influence through amassing wealth and controlling trade, technology, ritual and warfare.
Countries including Bulgaria that present their cultural heritage are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. American and global audiences will have the unique opportunity to see artifacts that are standing side by side for the first time, have never left the confines of their territories of origin, and others have never been exhibited in a museum setting.

"This project is a unique opportunity for Bulgaria to promote its cultural heritage among the general public in North America. We hope this exhibition will attract more American tourists to visit Bulgaria and get to know its rich culture, beauty and the opportunities offered by tourism in Bulgaria", says Nancy Schiller, president of the "America for Bulgaria" Foundation, with whose support the project is being implemented Bulgarian participation.

The beginning of the large-scale international project - the traveling exhibition "The First Rulers of Europe" at the Field Museum was set in September of last year, when the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York, USA opened an exhibition under the title: "Ritual and Memory: The Ancient Balkans and beyond", in which artefacts of the National History Museum and Regional History Museum - Ruse took part. The large-scale project is implemented in three of the most prestigious museum institutions in North America - the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York, the Field Museum in Chicago and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.
Among the initiators of the unique project is Dr. Petranka Nedelcheva, head of "Exhibition and International Activities" at the NIM, who spent two years in Chicago during her postdoctoral specialization at the "Field" Museum, realized with a scholarship from the "America" ​​Foundation for Bulgaria". In this period, the idea of ​​presenting our rich cultural heritage in Chicago, where the largest Bulgarian community is also born.
It is an interesting coincidence that with this exhibition Bulgaria once again impresses the American public in Chicago exactly 130 years after the first participation of our now free country in an international event. In 1893, Bulgaria was invited to participate with its stand at the World Exhibition in Chicago, also described in the emblematic work of Aleko Konstantinov "To Chicago and Back".