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 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).

The National Gallery presents one of the most iconic figures in the history of Bulgarian art – Zahari Zograph. This first immersive exhibition introduces a new way of experiencing the masterpieces of the the museum’s collection. Harnessing new technologies, the 20-minute project, created by Senzor Studio, brings his religious and secular masterpieces to life, revealing essential elements of his creative process.
The initiative promotes Bulgarian Revival аrt, a period characterized by economic, social, and cultural growth, closely tied to the pursuit of ecclesiastical and national independence. The period traces its origins to the mid-18th century, when Paisius of Hilendar wrote Istoriya Slavyanobulgarskaya (History of the Slavs and Bulgarians) in 1762—which profoundly shaped the spiritual awakening of the population and contributed significantly to the development of national consciousness…
The exhibition features a selection of icons, drawings, copies, letters, documents, and secular portraits from the artist’s early period. It also showcases a substantive collection of murals, ranging from his earliest works—created in 1838 for the Chapel of St John the Baptist at the Church of the Holy Virgin—Annunciation in Asenovgrad—to what is considered as his “final masterpiece,” the murals adorning the narthex of the Great Lavra Monastery on Mount Athos, completed between 1851 and 1852.
Zahari Zograph emerged as a defining figure of Bulgarian Revival art. His relentlessly inquisitive artistic spirit was ahead of its era, and his extensive body of work reflects the vitality of the approaching modern age, the artistry of traditional imagery, the strength of line, and the emotive power of color.
The project is realised with the financial support of the National Culture Fund of Bulgaria under the Creation programme 2024.
Media partners: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency and SOF Connect.

Sofia Arsenal – Museum of Contemporary Art
In the unprecedented temporal flux of our present age, contemporary sculpture has undergone profound transformation. It seems to have lost the slower, contemplative time once essential to its creation, evolving instead into a phenomenon of the “now”—an art form defined by innovation, material experimentation, 3D printing, video, light, and interactive media. As a result, sculpture today often exceeds its own traditional definitions.
Their work challenges prevailing assumptions about sculpture, while resisting the clichéd “topicality” of contemporary doctrine. Their artistic position is not tied to any specific geographical site but unfolds as an inner, mental space—a rethinking of tradition and its contemporary resonance.
The Island of Sculpture is therefore not a physical location. It is a state of mind: an understanding, a sensibility, a belief. It is a sacred terrain of form, memory, pathos, and the intimate exhilaration of creation. A place that inherits the modern sculptural tradition while conceptualizing it through time, yet retaining its purity.
In this way, Donov and Minchev remain contemporary without becoming an illustration of contemporaneity. They are at once classical in their treatment of form, where aesthetics is guided by personal ethical and moral convictions. They construct their own sense of time—unburdened by the need to be liked, to be correct, or to imitate—driven solely by the necessity to shape a metaphysical experience of the sublime. Their sculpture is filtered through a deeply personal psychological expressionism, acquiring density like a volcanic formation or a manifestation of spiritualized matter.
What they propose is a renewed understanding of life within art—an act of creation that transforms tradition through individual experience.
Is it possible today, in a time of vanishing time, when everything changes the instant it appears, for sculpture to remain truly relevant while sustaining both its material reality and our contemporary sensibilities? The answer is clearly yes. This is possible when artists distance themselves from the doctrines of the moment and remain alone with time, with creation, and with themselves—on the ISLAND OF SCULPTURE—reflecting on our relationship with the world and believing in the act of making.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Genadi Gatev
Media Partner: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency

The Palace Curated by Dr. Eliana Urbano Raimondi, Professor Dominique Lora, and Dr. Micol di Veroli.
Guillermo Lorca. Beyond the Wonder heralds the entry of the talented Chilean artist Guillermo Lorca (b.1984) into the European institutional art system, presenting for the first time in a European public museum a body of work that explores his surreal, seductive, and at times disturbing psycho-pictorial universe.
A series of large-scale paintings projects the visitors into a dimension “other”, by exploring themes such as faith, death, tradition, identity, and family, drawing inspiration from the world of dreams, fairy tales, and folklore. In his compositions, human figures—often children or young girls—coexist with wild or exotic animals such as wolves, bears, birds, tigers, and panthers, creating a contrast between innocence and ferocity. This dreamlike universe evokes a sense of wonder, but also of latent danger. These images also recall Baroque aesthetics, thanks to a masterful use of chiaroscuro and theatrical compositional techniques…
This original exhibition is based on a common thread that has always run through the Chilean master’s work, including works ranging from his earliest works from 2012 to his latest unpublished works from 2025, thus establishing a poetic and stylistic coherence. The exhibition features 17 large canvases from prestigious international collections.
Media partner: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency.

Mirena Zlateva’s exhibition, ‘Shift in Focus’, continues the tradition of presenting contemporary artists in the cosy apartment of the Vera Nedkova House Museum. Launched in 2019, the programme titled ‘In the Home of Vera Nedkova’ brings together, and acquaints the public with artists inspired by the atmosphere of the place and by Vera Nedkova’s oeuvre.
Mirena Zlateva presents a selected collection of bijoux and carvings, where the boundary between sculpture and jewellery gradually blurs and melts away. In her works, the artist explores, analyses and makes parts and volumes cohere through the prism of her personal lens and sensitivity. And, as she said: ‘I am inspired by the material itself. I love shifting the focal plane.’
In the exhibition, we discover more of a narrative about the impact of construction and form fashioned as an original sculpture on the human body. Displayed in this way, the works are not simply bijoux or visual accents, but sculptural forms, deliberately and outstandingly voluminous (rings, necklaces, brooches), which, from a functional point of view, arouse a sense of discomfort, but at the same time, a desire to feel and touch them.
The exhibited items include jewellery from the ‘Arrangement’ series, Ag925 (2023) and the latest collection, ‘White’, Ag925 (2025–26), as well as the ‘Grass’ sculpture (2014), and the ‘Home’ installation (2025–26).
Media partner: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency
Diana Draganova-Stier, exhibition curator

Curators: Martina Yordanova and Vasil Vladimirov
The National Gallery presents the solo exhibition by Driant Zeneli ‘If I Don’t Know What Will Happen Tomorrow, It Could Be Wonderful’, a video installation that approaches uncertainty not as a lack or failure, but as an active position and a space for imagination.
The exhibition brings together four video works produced between 2011 and 2023, each originating from a different trilogy in the artist’s practice. Rather than forming a retrospective, the selection traces a consistent artistic method in which attempts are undertaken with full awareness of their likely failure. Preparation, anticipation and collective projection occupy more space than resolution, while meaning emerges through sustained engagement with limits.
Zeneli’s films unfold within industrial ruins, modernist architecture and sites marked by interrupted utopias and historical weight. Presented in Hall 19 of the National Gallery – Kvadrat 500, defined by monumental stone clad architecture and an excavated Roman tomb from the fourth century, the exhibition enters into an active dialogue with the space, considering history not as a completed past, but as an ongoing condition.
Throughout the exhibition, flight appears not as a solution, but as a gesture, a temporary suspension of certainty and a way of thinking from within gravity rather than against it.
About Driant Zeneli:
Driant Zeneli (b. 1983, Shkoder, Albania) lives and works between Turin and Tirana. He represented Albania at the Venice Biennale of Art in 2011 as part of the group exhibition of the 54th International Art Exhibition and in 2019 with a solo presentation at the 58th edition.
His work has been presented at major international institutions and biennials, including: MSU – Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb; EMST – National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens; Sharjah Biennial; Bienal de La Habana; MAXXI, Rome; Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt; Manifesta 14, Prishtina; Centre Pompidou, Paris; MuCEM, Marseille; and ZKM, Karlsruhe, among others. Media partner: BTA / Bulgarian News Agency.

Conductor
Rossen Milanov
Solоist/s
Maxim Lando
Ensemble
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra
Program
Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No.2
Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring

Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – version adapted for children
Runnig time: 01:00
Chamber hall
Performed in Bulgarian.

Opera by Richard Wagner – adapted for children
Chamber hall