The exhibition "First Kings of Europe", which toured North America from 2022 to 2025, is in its final stages. The exhibition featured Macedonian archaeological objects for the first time in North America, presenting cutting-edge artistic achievements in the domain of social and religious forms, characteristic of various stages of prehistory.

The exhibition "The First Kings of Europe" is the result of the initiative of the Field Museum of Chicago and the cooperation with the Institute and Museum - Bitola, the Museum of Gevgelija and the Institute and Museum - Prilep. The national coordinator of the exhibition is Dr. Goce Naumov, and a selection of several objects from the Neolithic, Eneolithic and Iron Age, found at the sites of Vrbjanska Čuka, Šuplevec and Milci, has been made.

These objects, along with hundreds of other artifacts from 23 Balkan museums, depicted the gradual social development of prehistoric communities, which gradually transformed from egalitarian tribal organizations in the Neolithic into the first European kingdoms in the Iron Age in the Balkans.

The Field Museum in Chicago organized the exhibition "The First Kings of Europe" in the form of a tour that presented Macedonian and Balkan archaeological objects in several museums in New York, Chicago, and Gatineau-Ottawa, in the period from 2022 to 2024. This exhibition of Balkan prehistory to date was seen by about 400.000 visitors and allowed many to become acquainted with some of the most representative artifacts from the Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages in the Balkans.

The exhibition tour began in 2022 at the Institute of Ancient Studies in New York, and then continued to the Field Museum in Chicago (in 2023) and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau-Ottawa (2024). The exhibition is accompanied by an outstanding collection and catalog, published by the prestigious publishing house of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In order to highlight this significant event for the Macedonian cultural heritage, a small exhibition has been set up at the Institute and Museum – Bitola with the objects that were presented at the “First Kings of Europe”. This exhibition plays an important role not only in the international promotion of the Macedonian cultural heritage, but also increases the interest of the world public in Macedonia and its (pre)history. It also highlights the good diplomatic relations of Macedonia with the USA and Canada and confirms the excellent cooperation between Macedonian, American and Canadian institutions, emphasized Dr. Goce Naumov, national coordinator of the exhibition “First Kings of Europe”.