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The Sacred Tree Exchange prints were exhibited at the Gallery of the Municipality of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria in late 2000. The prints were on display from October 6th - 30th November 2000.

The exhibition was organized as part of “Veliko Turnovo Ecofestival 2000” and is part of its program for this year. According to early impressions of many local art critics and artists, the exhibition was one of the most important events of the festival.

The purpose of the festival is to promote the idea of harmonic development between humans and the environment by means of art. The international Ecofestival has been held since 1996 in cooperation with international non-governmental organisations. Only through united efforts can we solve the serious problem concerning the preservation of our home - the Earth.

The festival has the motto “CLEAR SOUL FOR CLEAN EARTH”.

Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water Dr. Evkodia Maneva opened the exhibition on the 6th of October 2000 at the City of Veliko Turnovo Art Gallery.

Along with the organizers of “Veliko Turnovo Ecofestival 2000” sponsorship was found for printing a promotional catalogue of the exhibition which ontains artist information and reproductions of artworks. Each participant will receive a catalogue of the exhibition and an honour diploma of art for participating on the activities of “Veliko Turnovo Ecofestival 2000”.

More than 1200 people have attended the exhibition and the 1000 exhibition catalogues have sold out. A PDF format version of the catalogue will be published on the Internet for downloading beside some pictures from the opening.

The sacred tree print exchange exhibition in Bulgaria incorporates print works of artists' printmakers from four continents. This is a project of prints exchange realized by means of global communication. The mean idea is to make it possible for artists from different countries to communicate, exchange experience and prints based upon the theme of the "Sacred Tree" print exchange.

The myth of the Sacred Tree is present in many religious and folklores in different versions. The tree, which marks the center of the universe, is the theme of one of the myths. It is the axis that connects the levels of the Universe - the underworld - that of humans, and the heaven.

Being the center of the Universe, Sacred Tree is the contact with the divine. All this unites the graphic works of this exhibition. This is why different interpretations and graphic manipulations are presented around this axis.

I've chosen this myth for interpretations of each graphic work and probably every artist has found his own code for decoding and key for the selected text. In our days mythology has a great influence and every individual finds his expressions toward the Universe.

26 artists from 4 contents take part in this exhibition. The exhibited works show different printmaking techniques from woodcut to etching.

This is an untraditional form of expression in the field of visual arts, which makes it possible for artists from different parts of the world to communicate, exchange experience and art works.

The initiator of this exchange is the Australian artist Josephine Severn, and the exchange was organisied through the Print Australia website and discussion forum. The exhibition is organized with cooperation with Veliko Turnovo Ecofestival 2000 and the exchange member Arafat Al-Naim.

This is the first exhibition in Bulgaria and Europe of this kind and is a premise for future projects.

I'd like to conclude with the words

" the transfer of myths from culture to culture and the artists' meeting on the exhibition is a dialogue and personal interpretation despite of all the differences."

Diana Draganova
National Art Gallery Sofia, Bulgaria