MODERATOR: Ivana Murdzheva

Ivana Murdzheva is a legal professional with extensive experience in legislation concerning the vine and wine sector, intellectual property and agriculture. She graduated in Law from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and holds a Master’s degree in Art History from the National Academy of Art. From 2022 to 2025, she was a doctoral researcher in Social Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia University, with research interests in the philosophy of law, particularly at the intersection of law and the lifeworld.

Her career began in 1997 as a lawyer and continued at the Executive Agency on Vine and Wine, where she participated in the initial harmonisation of national legislation with European rules governing the wine sector. She has worked as a legal adviser to the National Vine and Wine Chamber and several regional vine and wine chambers. Until February 2026, she practised as a lawyer with the Burgas Bar Association, maintaining her specialisation in agricultural law, the wine sector and industry associations. In 2026, she served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food in the caretaker government.

The invisible cultural and philosophical aspect of wine in the age of AI

Wine has accompanied human societies for millennia. It has been woven into cultural traditions, rituals, art, stories and human relationships. It has become part of collective memory, community identity and the ways in which people experience belonging to a place and a culture.

What makes wine such an enduring and meaningful cultural phenomenon? Why do we continue to attach value to it beyond its material qualities? What human needs does it fulfil, and how might its role evolve in a world where technology increasingly mediates our decisions, communication and relationships?

This discussion will explore wine through the philosophical dimensions of culture, memory, identity, communication and human choice. It will raise questions about authenticity, the significance of rituals and face-to-face encounters, and the preservation and reinterpretation of traditions amid technological change.

Conceived as an open philosophical dialogue, the panel welcomes differing and potentially conflicting perspectives. Its purpose is to broaden our understanding of wine’s future and to explore which aspects of human culture and our relationships with one another are worth preserving.