Irina Bokova

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have the pleasure of welcoming you today to UNESCO’s headquarters to the launch of an exhibition on the topic of Letters of Bulgaria – Alphabet of Europe. This exhibition of posters is organized by the Permanent Delegation of Bulgaria to UNESCO as part of the International Mother Language Day (21 February) and the International Year of Languages (2008).

The International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO’s General Conference in 1999 and its goal is mostly promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity as well as multilingualism. The 10th edition celebrated this year is an occasion to remind member states and ourselves that every language is unique and that no language is superior to the rest.

Today’s celebration coincides nicely with the closure of the International Year of Languages proclaimed by the UN General Assembly. It mobilized lots of positive energy around the world to protect and develop all languages and endangered languages in particular.

I hardly need to highlight the close link between cultural and linguistic diversity because this link is clearly shown in UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the ensuing Action Plan (2001), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

Today I am particularly happy to open our exhibition featuring works of artists around the world. It includes 30 posters, a number equal to the number of letters in the Bulgarian alphabet. Each artist created a poster/letter assigned via raffle draw by an International Board of Judges of the Fifth Triennale held in October 2007 in Sofia. It is my pleasure to introduce the renowned Bulgarian artist, Bozhidar Ikonomov, presiding the Organizational Committee of the Fifth Triennale in Sofia, and Ms. Albena Spasova, member of the Committee, who came specifically to attend tonight’s exhibition opening.

This is a display of the talent of 30 artists from 20 countries who worked together to make a collection of posters devoted to Bulgaria and Bulgarian culture from the perspective of the Bulgarian alphabet’s uniqueness and universality. Poster artists come from the following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The history of each country is marked by extraordinary events, each of them representing a victory of the spirit and creative genius. These events transcend time and political development; they have helped create and furthermore strengthen cultural and national identity. This is the case of the appearance of the new Slavic alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet, in the 9th century on the territory of the young Bulgarian state, as well as the creation of a national literature written in the Slavic/Old Bulgarian language.

The alphabet was worked out by two brothers, Cyril and Methodius whom the Bulgarian people and the entire Slavic world are indebted for the major written texts in Slavic literature. Cyril (a.k.a. Constantine the Philosopher) was born between 827 and 828 in Thessaloniki and died on 14 February 869 in Rome. He was buried in the basilica of San Clemente in Rome. His elder brother, Methodius, was born between 815 and 820 in Thessaloniki and died on 6 April 885 in Great Moravia. The two brothers are known as the two Slavic Apostles because their mission was to disseminate the Gospel among Slavic peoples in Central Europe. Their translations of key texts from the Bible and liturgical texts in a «simple popular» language were at the time an unprecedented endeavour in Europe, where religious sermons were performed only in Latin, Greek or Jewish. Praising God in your own language was only short of revolution. This had historical significance not just for shaping the Bulgarian nation but also for the development of Bulgaria for 1150 since.

Shall I say that Cyril and Methodius anticipated the cause of the International Mother Language Day? The Catholic Church which commemorates the two saints on 7 July proclaimed them Patrons of Europe in 1985 thus recognizing the fact that Cyril and Methodius as it were made Slavic people full-fledged members of the Church. The Eastern Orthodox world commemorates St. Cyril on 14 February.

Allow me to remind you that upon Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union in 2007 the Cyrillic alphabet became one of the three official alphabets of the EU together with the Latin and the Greek alphabets. The Cyrillic alphabet has strong millennia long traditions; it is the writing alphabet of more than 250 million people in the Slavic cultural area and is playing an ever important role in today’s world.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to quote the great Bulgarian poet, Ivan Vazov, in the premises of UNESCO, which is the Home of all cultures. Ivan Vazov exclaims in all legitimacy and pride that ‘We have also given something to the world and to all Slavs books to read’. The fact that the Cyrillic alphabet is the third official alphabet of the European Union makes my compatriots proud because they realize this alphabet may be the most original part of Bulgaria’s specific contribution to cultural diversity. Because the alphabet is a tool serving language and each language around the world gives a chance to read the universe differently.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This exhibition is a way for Bulgaria to demonstrate its cooperation in developing language policies, which enable each and every community to use their mother tongue as much and as frequently as possible including in education, in parallel to the command of one national or regional language and one international language. In the long run, Bulgaria is a multiethnic and multicultural country which is part of the Balkans, Europe, and the world.
Thank you for your attention.