Workwear as art brings creators from six European cities to Gabrovo

The exhibition “Metamorphoses of Workwear” opens on May 16 at the “Christo and Jeanne-Claude” Centre in Gabrovo, BTA reported.

The exhibition will be among the highlights of Gabrovo’s annual carnival weekend in May. The city, known for its humour and carnival traditions, is also the birthplace of internationally renowned artist Christo.

The exhibition brings together 18 contemporary interpretations of workwear created by artists and designers from six European cities: Gabrovo (Bulgaria); Chemnitz (Germany); Mulhouse (France); Manchester (Britain); Tampere (Finland); and Łódź (Poland). Developed under the Creative Europe programme, the project explores Europe’s industrial heritage through fashion, contemporary art, and collective memory.

As part of six artist residencies held between January and June 2025, participants immersed themselves in the textile history of each city by meeting former factory workers, experts, and local residents, and by visiting working and abandoned industrial sites. The result is a collection of works that reimagines industrial history through contemporary artistic expression.

The Bulgarian participants in the project are designers Nikolay Bozhilov, Mariela Gemisheva and Nevena Ekimova.

The two-year initiative culminates in a joint exhibition bringing together all 18 works alongside the stories and research behind their creation. The installation is housed in the former textile technical school in Gabrovo, now home to the “Christo and Jeanne-Claude” Centre.

Text by Elena Karkalanova
Edited by Desislava Semkovska