We are debtors, and remain in debt to Sirak Skitnik! That exclamation came from a researcher of the life and works of Panayot Todorov – born October 22, 1883 in the town of Sliven. And one cannot disagree with these words. Siraka, as his friends by experience and profession named him, has left a number of most dazzling marks on the paths of his time – a huge heritage bequeathed to us – unfortunately long ago forgotten.

The words of Siraka – poetic, critical, scenic and graphic, have been washed away by the horrible masquerade of the mundane in this country. A significant part of the paintings of this master of color and line are still missing, scattered in private collections, and even those stored in the depots of public art galleries, rarely meet their viewers. Theatre work, poetry, prose, radio – although they are fragments of the artist’s creative profile, also remain poorly explored.

The current exhibition, set up in the halls of Sofia City Art Gallery, is an attempt to outline the development of the artist as painter, by tracing the various stages in his creative path and his own understanding of art. From the first bright scenic attempts of Sirak Skitnik during his training in St. Petersburg (1908-1912), through the works created in the troubled war years between the Balkan and First World War, to the brightest of works with which the author set up his two solo exhibitions (1933 and 1935), the public will meet the immense color skillfulness of the artist. The visitors of the gallery will view his most famous works, together with those almost never shown before.

In the halls of the gallery are sorted out also some of his bravest experiments in graphic art, to which Sirak Skitnik reached out – to become an illustrator of books: Poems by Edgar Allan Poe, Bulgarian ballads by Theodore Trayanov, Puppets by Chavdar Mutafov and many others.

The public will have the opportunity not only to face the creations of the artist, but also to use the specially designed by the Gallery team audio-guides with intriguing information about key works of the author.

As part of its strategy to expand the number of visitors, Sofia City Art Gallery provides access for people with impaired vision to the world of art, supplying for a second time an exhibition with tactile maps with whose help sightless visitors will be able to contact the works of Sirak Skitnik.

For the purpose of delivering an overall presentation of the man and artist within the scope of the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to watch the movies Sirak Skitnik – directed by Zunka Yankova, and Let’s ask Sirak – directed by Petar Petrov, kindly provided by the fund of Bulgarian National Television.

Media Partner of the project – Bulgarian National Radio.

The exhibition includes works and documents from Sofia City Art Gallery, National Museum of Bulgarian Fine Arts, State Agency of Archives, Dimitar Dobrovich – Sliven Art Gallery, Petko Zadgorski – Burgas Art Gallery, Boris Georgiev – Varna Art Gallery, Nikola Petrov – Vidin Art Gallery, Kazanlak Art Gallery, Stanka Dimitrova – Kardzhali Art Gallery, Vladimir Dimitrov the Master – Kyustendil Art Gallery, Kiril Petrov – Montana Art Gallery, IIiya Beshkov – Pleven Art Gallery, Svetlin Rusev Collection – Pleven, Gallery -museum Philippopolis – Plovdiv, City Art Gallery – Plovdiv, Ilia Petrov – Razgrad Art Gallery, Atanas Sharenkov – Haskovo Art Gallery, Elena Karamihailova – Shumen Art Gallery, National Literary Museum, Sofia Capital City library, and private collections.