Baku, September 1, AZERTAC

"The Apollo Toxophoros Award at Apollonia is a significant accolade for BTA, for the efforts of all those who work there to promote Bulgarian culture in both Bulgaria itself and abroad through the English service," Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General said here on Thursday evening. He spoke in an interview for the Agency after receiving the Apollo Toxophoros Award of the Apollonia Festival of Arts for BTA’s overall contribution in covering the 40 editions of the Festival.

"Incidentally, so far this award has usually been bestowed on individual artists or occasionally on two. Collective awards have been given to musical groups or production houses. The town of Sozopol itself, as the host [of the Festival], has also received the award. But it goes for the first time to a public institution employing more than 300 people, and thousands of people have been part of BTA during Apollonia’s 40 years. This is the first time that such an institution has received a collective award," the BTA Director General noted.

Valchev pointed to yet another remarkable detail: "Apollo Toxophoros" translates as "the bearer of the bow." "This award has always been presented to those who bear the bow of the arts with talent and inspiration. And now, however, the award is going to those who send forth the arrows – the news about achievements, including those at this festival of arts. And this has been going on for 40 years now," he added.

Replying to a question from BTA’s Vanya Suharova, the BTA head said: "Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Beheading of St John the Forerunner and Baptist, a day on which requires a strict fast. One must meditate about one’s errors and avoid spiritual delusion, in the sense of arrogance and an inflated sense of self-worth. This is what we must keep in mind whenever we receive awards. Because the greatest award for our deeds is not the pride we take in them but the recognition they receive from others. Ultimately, the highest recognition of all comes when the Lord who acknowledges our actions. This is the truest reward. But the symbolic significance of this day goes beyond that: St John the Baptist lost his head because he told the truth to the ruler, King Herod," Valchev said.

He sees Apollonia as the forerunner of Bulgaria’s freedom in the 1980s. “At that time, this stage and the rest of the stages in Sozopol proclaimed truths through the arts for which heads rolled and tongues were pricked. This is a very powerful reminder to us all to consider how many among us are prepared to risk losing their head or having their tongue pricked in the name of the truth we tell?” he pointed out.

Addressing the opening of the festival, Valchev said that BTA presents everybody’s polyphony by granting everybody free access to the news feed that until three years ago was locked and paid.

"Precision and objectivity mark BTA’s dissemination of knowledge about Bulgaria and the world. The Bulgarian News Agency has been a media partner of the Apollonia Foundation ever since the inception of the Art Festival in Sozopol. For four decades now, BTA and Apollonia have been cooperating in the field of culture for the promotion and popularization of one of the country’s largest cultural events," the organizers state in the reasons for the conferral of the award.

The Apollonia Festival of Arts is organized by the Apollonia Foundation, which was established in 1991. The first edition of the Festival took place in 1984. Apollonia aims to preserve cultural traditions and to support new talents across the spectrum of arts, the organizers point out. BTA is a media partner of the event.