Mina Megalla

Biography

Mina works as a curator for the Boyana Church Museum, which is part of the National History Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria. Boyana Church is the only UNESCO World Heritage site in Sofia, with its oldest sections dating back to the 11th century. In this role, Mina enjoys giving educational tours to visitors, presenting academic talks and papers on the iconography and art history of the Boyana Church at international forums, as well as maintaining the environment inside of the church in order to preserve its 13th century frescoes. The church has a small exhibit which displays objects that were found close to the church including coins, jewellery and tools.

Mina’s academic background is as an archaeologist and cultural heritage expert. He has worked at many sites around the world which has helped him widen his interests when it comes to cultural heritage and museology. Mina is currently a PhD student in the Department of Archaeology at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. His research focuses on the late antiquity to early medieval periods and the transition from a Classical world to a Christian world. He has previously studied Egyptology and classical archaeology and is also interested in art history and painting techniques.

At the British Museum
During Mina’s time on the International Training Programme he was based in the Middle East Department and spent his UK partner placement at Glasgow Museums.

As an ongoing project throughout the six-week programme, fellows were asked to use their existing skills and experience, and the knowledge gained throughout the annual programme, to create, develop, and propose a new interpretation for an object currently on display in the British Museum. Working in his departmental group, Mina used their object, a baked clay figurine of a woman and child, to explore motherhood and religious devotion in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Mina’s participation on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.