On June 13, the Municipality of Gabrovo celebrates 88th birthday of Christo (Gabrovo) and Jean-Claude (Casablanca). The Christo and Jean-Claud Center in Gabrovo announced its first public event, which will take place on July 1 in the courtyard of the Bulgarian pavilion in the Venice Architectural Biennial.
In the summer of 2022, the Municipality of Gabrovo received technical support from the European Commission within the New European Bauhaus initiative for institutional and business planning of the Center and preparation of an architectural competition.
The process is entrusted to Rambol Management Consulting, an international firm with over 17,000 employees and experts. Their most notable cultural projects are completing the Tate Modern Museum in London (2016) and the new Helsinki Library (2018).
The Rambol Consultancy team has been working with a local group of curators, experts, architects and financiers from December 2022 to date. The architectural contest for the Center is expected to be announced later this year.
Until then, a significant portion of the Center’s functions and programs will be prototyped and tested within the building in its current state.
Artists workshops and residency programs are coming as a summer school for architects, curators and artists, and on August 26 and 27, the Center will open its doors to visitors with a two-day event.
Crafting the Center’s concept is maximum open and relies on the input of both experts and local communities and groups. In the last year alone, more than 15 work meetings have been made with Bulgarian and foreign curators, artists, architects and urbanists, museum experts, business representatives, educational institutions in the city and region, hoteliers and restaurants in the town and others (a total of over 240 people).
On January 14, 1992, on its pages, the Gabrovo newspaper Sto Vesti offered a permanent exhibition of the works of Christo and Jean-Claude in the city.
Gabrovo”, with Decision 113 of June 19, 2008, of the Gabrovo Municipal Council, received support for its initiative to create an Art Center named after the artist.
With a contract signed with Hristo, Stefan and Anani Yavashevi in 2013, the Gabrovo Municipality donated 50 posters and is committed to creating a Christo and Jean-Claude Contemporary Art Center.
On the initiative of the Association “Our Greater Gabrovo” and the Museum of Humor and Satire in 2017, the Municipal Council allocated the amount of BGN 29,220. to present the donation posters at the exhibition.
As a result, the exhibitions “Born in Gabrovo” and “Christo and Jean-Claude” were realized—projects at the Museum of Humor and Satire.
The first exhibition, which tells the story of the Yavashevi family in the city and follows the first steps in the art of little Christo, was later presented in Sofia at the Credo Bonum Gallery in 2019 and 2021 during the “Packaged Arc of Triumph” its extended version titled “Christo”. From Gabrovo to the Arc of Triumph” is presented at the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Paris.
In the summer of 2022, the Municipality will receive technical support from the European Commission within the New European Bauchas initiative for institutional and business planning of the Center and preparation of an architectural competition.
At the end of 2022, the ownership of the building was transferred by the Ministry of Education of the Municipality of Gabrovo.