The Graphic Arts Biennials in the 1950s and 1960s: The Slim “Cut” in the Iron Curtain— The Bulgarian Case

The biennials were initially created with the aim of promoting the national states—similar to the international exhibitions of the second half of the nineteenth century, but in a specialized art field. The first of these was the Venice Biennale, which started in 1895. The Biennial in San Paolo (1951) was based on the same principle, however, in combination with international curators’ exhibitions, which were later introduced in the Venice Biennale.