On November 22 in the Crypt of the monument church St. Alexander Nevsky the exhibition of the Israeli photographer Dafna Tal took place.

Her project "Eternal Faith: Orthodoxy in the Holy Land" is realized in our country thanks to the Embassy of the State of Israel and the National Gallery - Museum of Christian Art.

The exhibition was opened in the presence of the author by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the State of Israel in our country - H. E. Mrs. Irit Lillian and Mrs. Slava Ivanova - Director of the National Gallery. Among the many guests at the event was the Mayor of Sofia - Mrs. Yordanka Fandakova.

Dafna Tal lives and works in Jerusalem as a professional photographer. Her project "Eternal Faith: Orthodoxy in the Holy Land" was implemented between 2013 and 2015 and is the result of close cooperation with the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches. The highly artistic photographs that she creates open the door to the world of Orthodoxy and give tribute to the power of eternal faith in its natural environment: Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

At the opening of the exhibition H. E. Mrs. Lillian Irit presented the photographer and her exhibition in person:

"For thousands of years Israel is the holy land, the cradle of Judaism and Christianity and a holy place for Muslims, as well as the cradle of eternal faith.

The first churches in the world were synagogues, like the one that we all know in Privateer Nahum, on the shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee where Jesus Christ taught his disciples.

The exhibition, which opened today, takes us into the beauty and tranquility of these places so well known from the Bible and the New Testament, the same way that the pilgrims have been walking from around the world over the centuries.

At the same time the exhibition transports visitors into the bosom of the Orthodox Church and its clergy. The inner world of the characters of the exhibition goes deep beyond what can be visually depicted. It is a world of deep faith and values ​​which are checked several times daily in our region and in other parts of the world.

Here in Bulgaria we will always mention the special role of the church and its leaders - the bishops Cyril and Stephen, who have an important role in saving the Jewish community in Bulgaria from the horrors of the Holocaust.

Dafna Tal spent four years watching priests, monks and nuns. It was necessary to meet them in person together with their works, in order to present in an artistic way their faces, to understand their inner life and spiritual world. Ms. Tal uses photography and modern techniques as an instrument of traditional artistic language. It gives the exhibition a sense of entering the classical world and the universe of the great masters of painting from the 16^th century. The exhibition is a form of dialogue between classic and modern, between modern life and old traditions.

In a special way, Dafna Tal questions that stand as a challenge to modern society: the place of faith, religion, traditions and values ​​in our lives. The changes in life outside the church and the challenges posed to those who have chosen to remain inside.

These questions are asked not only by the people of the church, but they are important for all of us, believers, non-believers, religious or secular people. Understandably she conveys a message of love and tolerance for all and to each one of us. She encourages us to observe not only the details of images and emotions that they create, but to understand more deeply in our hearts and ask ourselves how we look to others, so close and so far ... "

Dafna Tal’s exhibition was successfully presented in several cities in Bulgaria, in the crypt of the Alexander Nevsky it will remain until Christmas.

Pictured above: The opening of the exhibition: Ms Slava Ivanova - Director of the National Gallery, Mrs. Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia, the artist Ms. Dafna Tal , H. E. Mrs. Irit Lillian, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel in our country, Ms. Ralitsa Ruseva, chief curator of the Museum of Christian Art, National Gallery.