BKI stands for the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Bratislava, one of the network of Bulgarian state cultural centres abroad, which has mounted exhibitions and concerts in Slovakia since the 1980s. Its partner here is the Academy of Performing Arts, founded in June 1949 and the largest arts university in the country; its Faculty of Music and Dance covers composition, orchestral conducting, voice, opera direction, sixteen instrumental majors and dance, and its halls take visiting student orchestras.