A project of
Since 2017, the International Biennale of Glass has brought the many worlds of glass together in Bulgaria. Emerging and established artists, curators, institutions, students, and audiences meet across borders and generations, connecting diverse techniques, artistic traditions, and creative perspectives. Its motto—“Together”—expresses both an invitation and a way of working: through encounter, exchange, and collaboration.
Established in Sofia on the initiative of artist Konstantin Valchev—a graduate of Professor Stanislav Libenský and founder of the Glass Atelier at New Bulgarian University—the Biennale has grown into a dynamic international platform. Every two years, from September to December, exhibitions, lectures, educational programmes, and artistic encounters unfold across Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. At the heart of this activity lies a broader ambition: to advance glass as a contemporary artistic medium, broaden its public reach within the international glass-art landscape.
The IBG Collection is central to this mission. Created entirely through donations by participating artists, it now comprises more than 250 works and represents a remarkable collection devoted to international contemporary glass art. Bringing together artists from different countries, generations, and artistic traditions, it reflects the richness of contemporary glass practice while documenting its continuing evolution.
The Collection is conceived as a living resource rather than a static archive. Through exhibitions, educational initiatives, publications, research, and institutional partnerships, the works remain visible and accessible long after each Biennale has ended. They offer students, researchers, curators, and wider audiences direct access to artistic techniques, materials, creative processes, and the histories carried by glass.
Selected works are permanently exhibited at the Gabensky Gallery in Tryavna, while further partnerships are being developed with museums, municipalities, universities, cultural organisations, and communities connected to Bulgaria’s artistic, industrial, and glassmaking heritage. In this way, the Collection creates lasting connections between international contemporary creation and research, collective memory, local communities, and cultural institutions.