The National Gallery presents its unique collection of Western European textile panels (tapestries) for the first time. The tapestries dating from the 16th to 18th centuries—the golden period of the two most significant schools, the Flemish and the French—were added to the collection in the 1960s through the Bulgarian National Bank, in the depository of the then National Gallery of Decorative and Applied Arts. The exhibition in Hall 19, Kvadrat 500 is the result of several years of iconographic and attributional research of the artworks, along with restoration and conservation procedures.
Tapestries, these handwoven panels, extremely expensive to produce, with their colourful images, were used as both decoration and wall insulation in palaces and castles. In their splendour and as trappings of power and prestige, they adorned private and public spaces and became the exclusive property of the elite. The 16th century was the golden age of Flemish art, and Brussels emerged as the leading centre for tapestry manufacture. Series of frieze-like monumental thematic compositions with scenes from the Old Testament and Christian doctrine, as well as landscapes and allegorical images, were produced. The use of sources from ancient mythology was frequent, as exemplified in the exhibition by the ‘Romans and the Sabines’ set. By the middle of the century, tapestries were to become true woven paintings.
The 17th and 18th centuries saw the rise of the French tradition. During the reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIV, and by virtue of the initiative of the Minister of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the Royal Manufactories of Tapestry of Gobelins, Aubusson and Beauvais were founded. At that time, the best representatives of all the arts and crafts were recruited to glorify the absolute monarchy and to fulfil assignments for aristocrats, taking as their models works by artists such as Rubens, Simon Vouët, Charles Lebrun, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, François Boucher and Charles-Joseph Natoire. The themes were inspired by religion, history, and mythology. One example of this is the tapestry titled ‘The Race of Atalanta and Hippomenes’, based on a tale from Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’. The fashion of the time shaped entire salon furnishings with armchairs with woven upholstery depicting anthropomorphic animals based on the moralistic fables of Jean de La Fontaine, conveying timeless lessons on human nature and society. The taste for Orientalism was also apparent in the art of weaving, as illustrated here by two of Claude-Joseph Vernet’s tapestries.
The exhibition programme includes lectures, specialist tours and workshops dedicated to the technique of making tapestries, the restoration and conservation of ancient textiles, as well as activities targeted mainly at children and young people. A mobile digitised version of the exhibition is envisaged, to be presented by the State Cultural Institute of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Bulgarian diplomatic missions, to the Bulgarian Cultural Association in Brussels, as well as to the Museum of Textile Industry in Sliven, a branch of the National Polytechnic Museum, and to the history museums in Panagyurishte and Strelcha.
The study and preparation of the tapestries for this exhibition took more than a year in the Conservation and Restoration Laboratory of the National Gallery, through funding from the Ministry of Culture and in partnership with the French Institute in Bulgaria and the National Academy of Arts.
Curator: Yoana Tavitian

Kvadrat 500
Opening on 19 June (Thursday), from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM With the special participation of NASHTA.VERSIA – an audiovisual means of transport, probing the infinity of perceptions in risky impro acceleration
Having launched in 2020, the long-term project of the National Gallery ‘The Wall’ aims to present contemporary masters of mural painting and graffiti artists. On a specially designated wall in the atrium of Kvadrat 500 (with impressive dimensions of 2.40 x 27 m), the artists create monumental works in harmony with sculptural pieces by Alexander Dyakov, Pavel Koychev, Galin Malakchiev, and others, which are part of the representative museum exhibition.
Ivo Iliev Yeto is well known for a number of emblematic large-scale murals at key locations in Sofia. Through them, he creates stories in which nature, man and symbols interact in surreal situations, carrying multi-layered meaning and interpretation. With a pronounced interest in comics and graffiti since his childhood, Yeto still maintains his preference for magical subjects. His works have been realised far beyond the borders of the country – in Austria, Germany, Greece, France, etc.
In the space opposite the atrium, selection of small-format landscape compositions will also be displayed (June–August 2025), in which reality, magic and dream bring a special sense of timelessness. They are part of a larger series entitled ‘No Snooze Mornings’, in which the artist presents his searches and reflections on the fleeting moment between the end of dreaming and the moment of awakening – when human consciousness experiences a special kind of frustration at the inability to determine what is real and what is not.
Media partner: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency.
Martin Kostashki, curator of the exhibition

The exhibition is dedicated to Prof. Valentin Startchev’s 90th anniversary and, albeit retrospective, presents only a portion of his impressive and multilayered output. The carefully selected artworks follow the sequence and progress of his formal and conceptual searches over the years: from small sculptures, through sculptural compositions and monuments at key locations in the urban and cultural topography of Bulgaria and beyond, to the latest works specifically conceived and produced for the Kvadrat 500 galleries. They not only develop those themes that have preoccupied the sculptor, but prove that artistic energy can be vital and explorative, while independent of the changing spirit of the times. His oeuvre is marked by exceptional plastic might, aesthetic insight and uncompromising inner discipline, assigning him a permanent place in the historical context of Bulgarian sculptural and monumental art.
‘Through Time’ is a journey—not only in the chronology of the years gone by, but also in the depths of the authorial artistic consciousness, which never ceases to explore the boundaries of matter, spirit and, above all, form. The exhibition is an invitation to meet an art that bears the marks of different eras, but never loses its voice. It documents part of the rich and multifaceted oeuvre of an emblematic artist, focuses on his luminous presence in our Bulgarian artistic life, and poses the question of the significance of Bulgarian art beyond time and transience.
Media partner: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency.
Boryana Valchanova, PhD, exhibition curator

The Palace The National Gallery in Sofia is pleased to present Облъчване (Irradiation), a solo exhibition by Anton Vidokle, curated by Martina Yordanova and Vasil Vladimirov.
Installed in the historic Royal Palace, the exhibition brings together six of Vidokle’s films made over the past decade in dialogue with a special installation of twenty-four Himalayan landscapes by Nicholas Roerich, created between the early and mid-20th century.
The exhibition includes Immortality for All! (2012–2017), a trilogy that introduces the central themes of Cosmism through a polyphonic montage of voices and images. Citizens of the Cosmos (2018), filmed in Tokyo, enacts a manifesto by the anarchist-cosmist poet Alexander Svyatogor. Autotrofia (2019), filmed in southern Italy, interlaces a prose poem by artist Vassily Chekrygin with a scientific treatise by Vladimir Vernadsky. Gilgamesh: She Who Saw the Deep (2021), co-directed with Pelin Tan in Kurdish in southeastern Turkey, revisits humanity’s earliest tale of the quest for eternal life.
Scored with fragments of music by John Cale, Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai), Laurie Spiegel, Éliane Radigue, Else Marie Pade, and Vidokle’s own voice and field recordings, the films resonate with hypnotic sonic intensity.
Presented alongside Roerich’s radiant Himalayan landscapes—long revered for their spiritual and healing qualities—the exhibition proposes an encounter between moving image, sound, historic collection, and the museum itself as a site of memory, preservation, and potential resurrection. Installed as a therapeutic array, Roerich’s paintings are conceived as more than images to be viewed: their vibrational color fields are believed to irradiate the body, fostering psychological and physical healing simply through presence and exposure. The dialogue between Roerich’s luminous visions and Vidokle’s cinematic meditations opens a speculative space where earthly and cosmic time converge.

The National Gallery (Sofia, Bulgaria) is opening its first exhibition dedicated to the legacy of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, marking the 90th anniversary of the artists’ birth. The museum’s first acquisition of Christo’s iconic work Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Berlin) from 1986, along other original collages, will be officially presented to the public. Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95 will be on view from November 4th, 2025, to March 22nd, 2026.
The realization of this monumental project spanned a total of 24 years, during which Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed eight other projects, also featured in the exhibition. These include The Gates, Central Park, New York City (1979–2005); The Umbrellas, Japan–USA (1984–91); The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris (1975–85); Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida (1980–83); Wrapped Walk Ways, Jacob Loose Memorial Park, Kansas City, Missouri (1977–78); Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California (1972–76); Ocean Front, Newport, Rhode Island (1974); The Wall – Wrapped Roman Wall, Via Veneto and Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy (1973–74); and Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado (1970–72).
The archival video materials, photographs, and documents from the wrapping of the Reichstag—an enduring symbol of democracy—provide a unique historical insight into the realization of this remarkable project.
With this exhibition, the National Gallery also commemorates three major anniversaries of the artists’ visionary projects celebrated in 2025: 20 years since The Gates in New York City, 30 years since Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin and 40 years since The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris.
These milestones represent not only significant moments in the artistic journey of Christo and Jeanne-Claude but also landmark events that transformed the cultural history of Europe. « Christo and Jeanne-Claude always referred to their projects as a scream for freedom. Coming from communist Bulgaria Christo would not make any concessions at any cost to go back on that freedom. More than in any other project that is relevant in the Wrapped Reichstag», reminds Vladimir Yavachev, nephew and director of projects of the artist couple. « The mission of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation is to promote their vision, it is essential that their legacy finds its place also in Sofia, as it does in the world’s major capitals that are paying tribute to them in this year marking the 90th anniversary of their birth. I thank the National Gallery in Sofia for making this acquisition and exhibition possible, and we hope that it will be the first of many more in Sofia and Bulgaria. »
The exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971–95, curated by Gergana Mihova (National Gallery), is a collaboration between the National Gallery and the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. The opening of the exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95 will take place on November 4th at 6PM and the Institut français de Bulgarie, Goethe Institut Bulgaria, SOF Connect and BTA / Bulgarian News Agency are partners of the show.
About Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Marie Denat were born on 13 June, 1935 respectively in Gabrovo (Bulgaria) and Casablanca (Morocco). Christo studied under the Communist regime at the National Academy of Art, Sofia, from 1952 to 1956, when he fled Bulgaria. His escape to the West took him through Prague and Vienna before relocating to Geneva. In 1958 he finally moved to Paris, where he met Jeanne-Claude, who became his wife and his life partner in the creation of large-scale environmental artworks. Jeanne-Claude passed away on 18 November, 2009. Christo died on 31 May, 2020 in New York City, where he lived for 56 years.
From early wrapped objects to monumental outdoor projects, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s artwork transcended the traditional bounds of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Some of their work included Wrapped Coast near Sydney (1968–69), Valley Curtain in Colorado (1970–72), Running Fence in California (1972–76), Surrounded Islands in Miami (1980–83), The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris (1975–85), The Umbrellas in Japan and California (1984–91), Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin (1972–95), The Gates in New York’s Central Park (1979–2005), The Floating Piers at Italy’s Lake Iseo (2014–16), The London Mastaba in London (2016–18), and L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped in Paris (1961–2021).

Chamber Hall
Solоist/s
Ensemble
Sofia Quartet
Program
Joseph Haydn – String Quartet No. 59 “Horseman” in G minor, Op.74, No. 3
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – String Quartet No.1 in e-flat major, Op.12

Bulgaria Concert Hall
Conductor
Viliana Valtcheva
Solоist/s
Antonio Serrano
Ensemble
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra
Program
Manuel de Falla – “El Sombrero de Tres Picos”, First and Second Suites (arr. Antonio Serrano)
Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No.6

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi
Duration 3:00 Intermission 2
Main Hall
It is performed in Italian, with Bulgarian and English subtitles

Musical fairy tale /Premiere/
Chamber hall

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi
Duration 3:00 Intermission 2
Main Hall
It is performed in Italian, with Bulgarian and English subtitles