The youth Biennale is a touring festival that takes place consecutively in different countries in Europe and Asia that are connected with the recreation of the ancient Silk Road. Initially a road of transportation and exchange of goods between different regions of Asia, the Silk Road has become a way of spreading ideas, texts and knowledge. Its contemporary recreation is accomplished by means of art, exchange of scientific and philosophical ideas and educational practices, as well as by different forms of intercultural dialogue. In this way, young people from different countries get to know foreign cultures and our common cultural heritage.

The youth Biennale is part of the transcontinental project „The Live Youth Book of the Silk Road: our live recreation of the Roads of knowledge, creativity and dialogue“. The project has been developed by the Ikuo Hirayama Centre – Sofia and partner NGOs from Bulgaria and Japan, and has received the patronage of the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova.

The main goal of the Biennale is to serve as a bridge in deepening the contacts between the Bulgarian schools of art and cultural dialogue Ikuo Hirayama, and their partner schools abroad - in Japan, Kazakhstan and other countries. A survivor of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima, Ikuo Hirayama devoted his life to the promotion of cross-cultural understanding and the recognition of the common ground of all humankind, regardless of nation or creed. In the Silk Road, Hirayama, who was a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, found a model for his vision of a world in which cultural interchange acted as the foundation for mutual understanding, as well as historical evidence for the common elements that linked the civilizations of Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia.

Ms Bokova welcomed the exhibition of Bulgarian and Japanese children's drawings at the Biennale, extending her support to the young artists as messengers of creativity, culture and peace.