site.btaChristo Javacheff - Christo Is Forever A Bulgarian from Gabrovo, Says BTA Director General

Christo Javacheff is forever a Bulgarian from Gabrovo, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said on Wednesday during the presentation of LIK's June issue, dedicated to the pioneering artist Christo (1935–2020) and his wife Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009). The event took place at the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Centre in Gabrovo (North Central Bulgaria).

“The presentation of LIK magazine today is a suitable occasion for the formal settlement of the status of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Centre," he emphasized, adding that the centre has the support of BTA. He recalled that the first publications about Christo Javacheff in BTA are not many from the early years, but still the oldest one is from 1968 about an exhibition New York featuring works by the artist.

Valchev pointed out that the next publication about Christo in BTA is from 1985 and is about the wrapping of Pont-Neuf in Paris. After the 90s, the publications became much more numerous, and in 1991, BTA published information about Christo's umbrellas in Japan and the USA, while the Paraleli magazine had a special article entitled Christo - A Modern Don Quixote. In 1993 BTA's correspondent in Berlin tells about the debates in the Bundestag about Christo, the Bulgarian-American artist, wrapping the Reichstag.

"I have also pulled out the news related to Christo and Gabrovo. They start from 1993, which is the earliest news in BTA in which Christo is connected with the town", Valchev said, adding that another publication in BTA tells that in 1997, on May 17, Christo was declared an honorary citizen of Gabrovo.

Valchev also noted that in 2017, BTA wrote about two new exhibitions in Gabrovo related to Javacheff. In 2022, BTA informed that the Gabrovo House of Humor and Satire hosted an innovation camp for the second time, with one of the two parallel working groups focused on the construction of the Centre for Contemporary Art named after Christo, which marked the first appearance of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Centre in BTA.

Valchev also stressed that since there are many debates about whether Christo is Bulgarian, BTA called LIK's June issue "Christo and Jeanne-Claude at 90 in Eternity", so that it is clear that Christo is in eternity a Gabrovo resident, with Jeanne-Claude a companion of a Gabrovo resident. "Everyone can make social choices, but you cannot choose where to be born and you remain that way forever. You can't choose what kind of person you are, you remain a person forever," Valchev emphasized.

He noted that it is better to like yourself as you are, as God has destined you to be born, because happiness is living in harmony with yourself, which Christo has demonstrated as well. "Freedom and unfreedom have no nationality," Valchev said, adding that fences are temporary, like the running fences near San Francisco.

"There is an important message that we find more difficult to say, which is that a Bulgarian can be successful and his success can make him world-famous," he said, adding that Gabrovo could become the cultural capital of Europe, as it is Christo's hometown.

This year also marks three major anniversaries related to their work - 40 years since The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris, 30 years since Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and 20 years since The Gates installation in New York’s Central Park. 

BTA's LIK magazine has been free to access since January 2024. All issues from 2022 to present day are available in electronic format at the BTA website.