Gabrovo is preparing a centre for contemporary art named after Christo and Jean-Claude

Its location has already been decided

The Municipality of Gabrovo has received the support of the town council to acquire from the Ministry of Education and Science a building for the establishment of the Centre for Contemporary Art "Christo and Jean-Claude", as announced by the local authorities on Monday.

According to the Bulgarian Municipality, the characteristic architecture of the former textile technical school, as well as its proximity to the House of Humour and Satire, make it ideal for presenting contemporary art as part of a greater cultural complex.

In search of a permanent home for the works of Christo and Jean-Claude in Gabrovo

The idea for a permanent exhibition of the world-famous artistic couple Christo and Jean-Claude in Gabrovo was first proposed in 1992. In 2008, the local parliament supported the establishment of a Centre for Contemporary Art named after the artist.

In 2013, Christo himself donated 50 posters to his hometown, under the condition that the Christo and Jean-Claude Centre for Contemporary Art became a reality within 10 years. In the following years, several local exhibitions were organized, which attracted serious interest. However, the question of the permanent home for the works remained open.

In the end, an idea was reached to renovate the former school, using the terrain and the buildings of the Textile Technical School. According to the Municipality, the total built-up area of the campus is about 10,700 square meters.

This space will make it possible to create several exhibition halls, storage rooms, an event hall, studios, workshops space for children, a shared workspace and a cafe.

Christo - from Gabrovo to New York

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, better known as Christo, was a world-famous sculptor and artist. He was born in 1935 in Gabrovo. He fled the Communist regime in Bulgaria in search of artistic and personal freedom at the age of 21.

After a year as a political refugee in Europe, he arrived in Paris in 1958, where he met his future wife, Jeanne-Claude, a French woman born in Morocco. They later had a son, Cyril, and relocated to New York which became their home, and where Jeanne-Claude died in 2009, followed by Christo in 2020.

Their joint projects, including the Iron Curtain (1961-62), the wrapped Reichstag building (1995), the Floating Piers (2016) and dozens of others, have brought them worldwide fame. The long-awaited temporary artwork "L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped" in Paris is expected to take place this autumn.

It is interesting to note that the artists financed the projects themselves and provided them with free access to the public.