26/11/2025
Where can you study professional glass on the Balkans?
There aren’t that many places —
at least not if you don’t want to move very far.
Probably the most serious place for a future glass artist is in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Porcelain and Glass Design - National Academy of Arts Sofia
There the teaching is truly rigorous — disciplined, strict,
and delivered with those slightly frowned, very professional brows —
by masters such as the unique glass artist Elizar Milev, for example.
And what’s surprising is that the students not only don’t complain —
some of them even love those long hours in the academy.
There is also an academy in Romania, though it’s a bit farther away.
And there, too, they have their own unique glass artist — Ioana Stelea.
But I’ll write about that academy later — that’s a separate story.
At the Sofia Academy they take teaching seriously:
glass, porcelain, and ceramics all run in parallel,
interacting and developing alongside one another.
It’s not just a “touch of the material,”
but a full artistic school:
drawing, design, technology, kilns, experiments.
And all of this happens under the guidance of masters
who not only know how to inspire,
but—when necessary—can also do something else.
Here are a few photos from the Sofia Academy —
just to show what one of those rare places looks like
where glass is studied seriously, and not “in passing.”
