19 May 2009

The new repository of the Bulgarian National Gallery of Art was inaugurated on 19 May 2009.

The repository will store some 17 000 black and white drawings, 3020 sculptures and 2500 paintings. The building was previously housing the Technical University of Sofia. The works of art will be transferred from the storehouse of the National Gallery of Art currently located at the building of the National Assembly at “Alexander I" Square in Sofia. The Speaker of parliament compared the newly acquired repository to a treasury for Bulgarian art. He noted that the new location will ensure the preservation of the masterpieces, owned by the National Gallery for longer periods of time under the best possible conditions. He said that the transfer of the works of art from the National Assembly does not mean farewell to art in parliament, instead the emptied spaces will host future exhibitions of the transferred art objects as well as of contemporary painters and sculptures.

He added that in the last years the parliament has hosted often Bulgarian painters and expressed hope that this important connection between the National Assembly and the Bulgarian artists will be continued.

The Minister of Culture Stefan Danailov thanked the chairman of the National Assembly for his personal assistance for the construction of the art repository. The funds spent on the reconstruction amounted to close to BGN 2 M. The repository seats on 1076 square meters and houses workshops for art restoration, conservation and safekeeping.

The repository is supplied with sound and video control systems, with fire alarms and fire extinguishing systems and systems for temperature and humidity control so as to ensure the best conditions for art preservation.