Bulgarian designer, illustrator and teacher. A graduate in Scenic Design (Scenography) from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, Silva Bachvarova worked as a designer at the Durzhaven kuklen teatur Plovdiv (State Puppet Theatre Plovdiv, 1980-1997), the Atelier 313 in Sofia (1997-2000), and the Burgas State Puppet Theatre (2000-2005). She also teaches at the Natsionalna akademia za teatralni i filmovi izkustva (NATFA),

(National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts) in Sofia.

Silva Bachvarova’s national and international fame is due to the creation of more than one hundred designs for the puppet theatre, which she has made in Bulgaria, Mexico (1991 and 1996), Yugoslavia (1986 and 2003), Croatia (2000 and 2004), Slovenia (2002) and in Bosnia-Herzegovina (2004). Her designs for the shows Puk (Puck, 1984) by Valeri Petrov, Don Kihot (Don Quixote, 1989), Snezhanka i sedemte dzhudzheta (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1990) mark a milestone in the evolution of Bulgarian puppetry arts. In particular, her collaborations for more than twenty-five years with influential Bulgarian directors such as Slavcho Malenov and Petar Pashov have decisively transformed puppet theatre in Bulgaria.

Her work as an illustrator has also contributed to her international recognition: her illustrations (more than fifty books) have been exhibited in Bulgaria and in other countries in Europe, as well as in the United States and Cuba.

Silva Bachvarova is the recipient of several national awards, including the Golden Dolphin for design, as well as international prizes.

(See Bulgaria.)