At the end of March 2025 a delegation from the National Library of Bulgaria “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” (NLB) including Assoc. Prof. Kalina Ivanova, Bojidara Ilieva, Stanimir Dimov and Boyan Avramov visited Iceland within the project “Bilateral Cooperation for the Socialization of Literary and Documentary Heritage through Digital Technologies”.

The delegation had the opportunity to visit key cultural institutions such as the Vigdís International Centre for Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding, the National and University Library of Iceland, the Reykjavík City Library and the Arni Magnússon Institute of Icelandic Language. During those visits, much was learned about the innovative approaches and methods for presentation of cultural heritage, with opportunities to experience how those approaches work in practice.

The delegation also explored the award winning interactive exhibitions Living Language Lab, World in Words, Heart of Iceland and Lend Me Wings – all considered amongst the best practices worldwide in using digital storytelling and interactive technologies for attracting new audiences through engaging approaches.

Vigdís International Centre for Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding in Reykjavik was the Icelandic partner and host of the exchange. The Centre has a well-established reputation as the leader in innovative presentation of cultural heritage and linguistic diversity. Workshops were held with the creative teams behind two of the key exhibitions at the Centre – the Living Language Lab installation and the Lend Me Wings exhibition.

The incredible story of the life, work and influence of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world’s first democratically elected female president (1980–1996) was presented to the delegation by Ms. María Theódóra Ólafsdóttir, director of the exhibition Lend Me Wings. In 1999 Vigdis became a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for languages with the idea to promote the cultural diversity and the preservation of endangered languages. The exhibition featured carefully selected visual elements, connected in striking narratives that bring history to life, in the spirit of social justice, cultural diversity and sustainability, making the visitor more empathetic.

Sofiya Zahova, PhD and Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir, Professor Emerita and Leader of the exhibition team presented the Living Language Lab with six interactive installations dedicated to languages and inspired by Vigdis vision. The exhibition aimed to encourage conversations about the coexistence and development of languages as well as provoke interest in linguistics in general.

The group visited the landmark Edda building of the Arni Magnússon Institute of Icelandic Language and was welcomed by Guðrún Nordal, director, and other experts from the Institute. They talked about the most priceless Icelandic historical manuscripts that are part of the exhibition World in Words, which presents the Old Norse myths in the modern world.

Especially fruitful for development of future partnerships was the meeting at the National and University Library of Iceland. The delegation met with the newly appointed director Örn Hrafnkelsson, the director of the manuscript collection Bragi Ólafsson, and Sigríður Jónsdóttir – a performing arts specialist at the Theatre Museum. Assoc. Prof. Kalina Ivanova mentioned that it would be beneficial for both libraries in the near future to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for exchange of library specialists, information resources, including exhibitions as well as joint design and development of partnership projects for European finding. The Bulgarian delegates toured the building, the repositories and the reading rooms of the library, viewed valuable documents from the library collections and learned more about their history and significance.

The meeting at the Reykjavík City Library with Ms. Pálína Magnúsdóttir, Director of the Library and Ms. Martyna Karolina Daniel, the project manager responsible for Intercultural Affairs was quite informative and insightful. They shared with the NLB delegates more about the City Library’s activities related to accessibility, participation and the process of co-creation in multilingual and intercultural environment.

The workshop with the creative team and the managers of the exhibition The Heart of Iceland at the Þingvellir UNESCO National Park was held on the last day of the visit. Mr. Einar Á.E. Sæmundsen, Director of the National Park and Torfi Stefán Jónsson, Interpretative planner, were very honest in their account of the challenges faced in the process of creating the exhibition – how to involve the visitors in an interactive experience, making them part of the story, in this particular case the creation of the nation. The Bulgarian delegation “travelled” around Iceland via the installations and felt the spirit and the ideas of the time through the eyes of the people of those bygone times.

The exchange of experience and the established cooperation with Icelandic colleagues will surely enrich and diversify the educational and cultural program of the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”.

The project „Bilateral Cooperation for the Socialisation of Literary and Documentary Heritage through Digital Technologies” is financially supported by the Fund for Bilateral Relations under the “Cultural Entrepreneurship, Heritage and Cooperation” Programme within the EEA Grants 2014-2021.

More information about the project is available here (only in Bulgarian language).