Pencho Milkov awarded a gold badge to sculptor Zukhtu Kalit for his 70th anniversary

Wednesday, 13 September 2023

An exhibition of the prominent sculptor Zukhtu Kalit was opened in the Ruse Art Gallery on the occasion of his 70th anniversary. During the opening of the exposition, Mayor Pencho Milkov awarded the artist with a gold badge for his overall creativity.

"Zukhtu Kalit puts a part of himself into each of his works and no matter how many times one looks at them, one will always see different things," the mayor said. He expressed his gratitude to the artist and the community he created in Ruse, filling with meaning the notion of "city of the free spirit".

The exhibition "SATYAGRAHA" was opened by Nina Madjarova, a close friend and collaborator of Zukhtu Kalit. She told what is behind the name of the exposition. The peaceful march, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, has become a symbol of the artist's creed as a way of protesting against convention and condescension in art.

The exhibition contains stone compositions representing the human path as part of the magic circle of life. His pencil and mixed media drawings of prominent Bulgarian and international personalities are also shown. Particularly impressive are the portraits of Zyukhtu Kalit  Kalit's parents, which he drew in pencil while he was a schoolboy. The violin his father played and his mother's Koran were also displayed.

The exhibition will remain at the Art Gallery until 8 October.

Zyukhtu Kalit was born in the village of Golyamo Vranovo in Ruse. In 1975 he graduated from the Art High School "Dechko Uzunov" in Kazanlak. In 1980 Kalit graduated in sculpture at the University of Veliko Tarnovo. He is a student of the sculptor Atanas Mindov.

He has worked as a freelance artist since 1981. He mainly creates cavallet sculpture, his preferred materials being marble, granite, rhyolite, diorite, black basalt, flint and limestone. He has participated with small sculptures in international exhibitions and plein air paintings in Romania, Turkey, France, Italy.

Zyukhtu Kalit is also a long-time archery coach in Ruse and a master of bows. He has won awards in numerous tournaments and competitions at national and international level. He was also a coach of the national team of Bulgaria, and in 2004 he was nominated as the coach №1 of Ruse.

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