I met Picasso on a hot summer day. In my art class, I shivered from the shock wave his painting Guernica (1937) sent through the room, projected on a screen from a slide. It was not only the subject matter, the horror of war and the suffering it inflicts upon all individuals that stunned me. What was even more painful was to face my own ignorance about Picasso's genius and his powerful voice as an artist. Before that day, I had a vague idea of who he was and what he had done. Some years later, I would stand face to face with this magnificent painting at the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art in Madrid, where in a special Picasso gallery Guernica is displayed. I had one less dream to realise.

Unfortunately, this painting is not travelling here for the upcoming exhibition of Picasso paintings in Sofia, but still, his admirers in Bulgaria can enjoy 86 of his works, starting December 17 2008. They will be displayed at the National Gallery for Foreign Art until March 15 2009.

Entitled "I do not search, I fund," the exhibition is brought to Bulgaria by Barouh and Partners with the financial support of mobile phone operator MobilTel, with the help of Spanish curator Marisa Oropesa.

The collection of 44 graphics, 18 ceramics, oil paintings, drawings, textiles and works with mixed techniques belongs to museums and institutions in Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga. Photos taken by French photographer and Picasso's friend, Lucien Clergue, will also be part of the exhibition.