Mariana Piskova graduated in 1977 in History with a specialization in Archivistics at the Sofia University. Between 1978 and 2000, she worked as a research fellow at the Archives and Documentation Research Center at the Archives Administration (today's Archives State Agency), as Senior Specialist and Deputy Director of the Central State Technical Archives. Meanwhile, she defended her dissertation at the Moscow State Historical Archives Institute (in 1984). M. Piskova has undertaken specializations at the Potsdam State Archive, the Berlin Film Archive, the Dresden Phototheque, the Austrian State Archive, the North Caucasian Federal University, Stavropol, Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and Batumi State University of Georgia. Since 2000 she has been Associate Professor of Archival Studies at Neofit Rilski South-West University - Blagoevgrad and a lecturer at Kliment Ohridski Sofia University.
As a leading archivist and documentary researcher, M. Piskova enriches the history of archival work, with a particular interest in audiovisual documents and special (technical) archives. Piskova has made important contributions to the analysis of visual propaganda through socialism; the detailed presentation of weekly movie reviews as propaganda materials; the viewing of specific films from the socialist period such as the Soviet-Bulgarian co-production The Heroes of Shipka in a wide international context. Piskova’s research also focuses on the policy of the Bulgarian archives regarding the documentation of women and minorities, looking for answers to the following questions, among others: is there special treatment for them? are the acceptance criteria different? are there thematic guides for facilitating the work with such archival documents? have archive documents for women / minorities been published in specialized periodicals?
M. Piskova leads and/or participates in numerous regional, national and international scientific projects such as Digital Archives - Science and Information Complex, Places of Shared Memory - Digital Map of Monuments - Projects to the Science Research Fund (NSF) to the Ministry of Education and Science; Building a Digital Roma Archives for Southwestern Bulgaria - Sofia, To Come Out of the Shadow, Supporting the Social Integration of People Threatened with Marginalisation Caused by Their Nationality (2011-2013, Grundtvig Program), Politics of Memory Cultures of the Russian-Ottoman War 1877-1878: From Divergence to Dialogue - Marie Curie 7th Framework Program Project (2012-2016, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IRSES Marie Curie Action International Research Staff Exchange Scheme), Knowledge Exchange and Academic Cultures in the Humanities: Europe and the Black Sea Region, End of 18th - 21st Centuries (2017-2020), Horizon2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Rise (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange, among others.
Having achieved much herself in archive theory, Piskova applies this knowledge to her teaching - leading thematic courses in Culture Studies, History, Archivists Studies as a lecturer at the North Caucasian Federal University in Visual Memory and History.
