Historical Bulgarian of the Week - Christo Vladimirov Javacheff
Saturday, May 10, 2008

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, better known simply as "Christo", was born on June 13th in the year 1935 in the town of Gabrovo. In the mid-1950s he studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia and in 1957 he spent a semester at the Vienna Fine Arts Academy.

Moving to Paris in 1958 he meet his future wife and constant work-assossiate Jeanne-Claude, who was born Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon on June 13, 1935, in Casablanca. Together they would create many pieces of art ranging many dealing with environmental projects that involve "elements of architecture, sculpture, painting and urban planning".

Samples of their work are the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin, the Pont Neuf Bridge in Paris, the Gates in Central Park, Ney York City, the Surrounded Islands in Miami, Florida, and the Running Fence in Marin and Sonoma Counties, California.

On May 11th of 1960 they had a son named Cyril, May 11. He went on to study at Cornell University and Columbia University in 1982. Publishing five books of poetry.

Here are a few of his early peices. Feel free to "right click" and "open in a new window" or "new tab" on any of the blue text to find out more information on a paticular project.
Stacked Oil Barrels, Dockside Packages at Cologne Harbor.,
Iron Curtain-Wall of Oil Barrels, Rue Visconti, Paris, 1961-62 The family packed up and moved to New York City in 1964. There they began working on many incredible and interesting pieces in America, such as; Wrapped Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago., Wrapped Floor and Stairway. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.,

The Umbrellas, Japan-U.S.A., 1984-91., Over The River, Project for The Arkansas River, Colorado.

As well as continuing many international projects as well such as Wrapped Fountain and Wrapped Medieval Tower, Spoleto, Italy, Wrapping of a Public Building "Wrapped Kunsthalle Berne 1967-1968", 5,600 Cubicmeter Package, Documenta 4, Kassel, Germany 1967-68
Wrapped Coast, Little Bay,, Wrapped Monuments, Milano: Monument to Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza del Duomo, Milano, Italy., Monument to Leonardo da Vinci, Piazza della Scala, Milano, Italy., Valley Curtain, Grand Hogback, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72,, The Wall, Wrapped Roman Wall, Via V. Veneto and Villa, Borghese, Rome, Italy.
The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-85.
Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95.
Wrapped Trees, Fondation Beyeler and Berower Park, Riehen-Basel, Switzerland 1997-98. The Wall,13,000 Oil Barrels, Gasometer, Oberhausen, Germany,1998-99. One of, if not their most, famous pieces of works is The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005. Which consists of "7,503 vinyl gates, with free-flowing nylon fabric panels, anchored to 15,006 steel bases on 37 kilometers", or 23 miles for those folks in America, of walkways.
Feel free to check out his web-site by CLICKING HERE. It is full of information and in English, which is a definate plus. If your appitite for Christo has not been satisfied feel free to read more information HERE.

I hope you all enjoyed this weeks edition and that you all had a fantastic Europe Day yesterday!

Take care and until next time this is Kashkaval Pane.

4ao 4ao.

Posted byPavel at 1:26 PM 0 comments  

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Bulgarian Transportation of the Week: The Sleeping Car!
Friday, May 9, 2008

The Sleeping Car! (спален вагон)
These cars are attached to night trains, giving passengers added comfort on their travels. You can buy these tickets on board (like this PCV did) or at the ticket counter of large stations. You must buy a separate ticket for the sleeping car. A trip to say, Varna from Chirpan, a ticket costs about 7 leva (with a discount card). A bed in the car costs roughly 8 leva. There were three beds in the compartment and since there was only two of us, we had to buy the third bed. It was worth it. Although I didn't get the best night sleep in the world (whenever the train would pull into a station, I would roll into the wall) but it was much better than sleeping in a closed compartment.

As you can see in the photo to the right, BDZ provides the blankets, pillows and sheets. They also, however, provide with complimentary items. We were given tissues, shoe shine, face wash and a toilet seat cover. It was a pleasant surprise getting this and we were the envy of all the PCVs in Varna that weekend who didn't take the sleeping car.

The lay out of the car was like this: on right side was a three tier bunk bed. On the left side was a closet with coat hangers behind a ladder to a shelf with more blankets. Against the far wall on the right was a mirror and a table. The table top lifted up to reveal a sink with running water (!).

All in all, travelling by sleeping car is the way to go! Lots of room, privacy, and a bed. Just remember to follow the sign-

J-Dub "the Duke" Paperstax

Posted byJimmy at 9:55 AM 0 comments  

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Bulgarian Graffiti and Architecture of the Week: Earth Day
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

This may be a bit late in the game but just a couple of weeks ago (April 22, 2008) was Earth Day. This was a celebration all over the world to raise awareness about our Earth, the impact humans make and how we can be more environmental. In Karlovo, I organized two days of activities. The first was painting over the graffiti on our Tourism Information Center and planting trees, and the second day included 10 children from the local mahala creating bird feeders and seedling planters. On the second day, local High School students also came to help me paint a little Earth Day related graffiti on the side of the Information Center.

We came together to paint two pictures !.)Edelvise ( this is one symbol of the info center) and 2.) A tree with youth and a banner that says to celebrate the environment. The projects and the artwork turned out to be a great success and a wonderful experience to get the local youth involved in community beautification.

Take a look!


Posted byCindy Lou at 10:17 PM 0 comments  

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