Bulgarian-born Christo Postpones US Colorado River Project

Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude's vision for Over The River was conceived in 1992. Photo by www.christojeanneclaude.net

Famous Bulgarian-born artist Chirsto (Hristo Yavashev) announces that he is postponing for the summer of 2015 his Colorado "Over the River" project.

The project includes draping fabric canopies along a stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado and will now start in August 2015, instead of the initially scheduled August, 2014.

The delay will give more time to the public to find out how issues with safety and traffic will be resolved, the announcement reads.

Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude's vision for Over The River was conceived in 1992.

Once completed, the Over the River installation could be seen in the course of two weeks – a 68-km long segment of the river between Ca?on City and Salida in southern Colorado will be draped with silvery translucent fabric panels, each 10-km long. The stream of successive fabric panels will be interrupted by bridges, rocks, trees and bushes, and for esthetic and technical considerations. Steel wire cables, anchored on the upper part of the riverbanks, will cross the river and serve as attachment for the fabric panels, which will follow the configuration and width of the changing course of the river 2.4 to 7.6 meters above the water.

At the beginning of February, a lawsuit was filed by group of environmentalists, outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife advocates demanding to block Christo's project in Colorado.

According to the group, the US Bureau of Land Management in Denver has violated federal legislation and its own policies by approving the project.

The project will cost USD 50 M and is expected to draw 400,000 visitors, and is fully financed by the Bulgarian-born artist, but Rags Over the Arkansas River Inc. fear that it will get in the way of natural beauty.

Similar past works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude include the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin and the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris, the 24-mile-long artwork called Running Fence in Sonoma and Marin counties in California, and The Gates in New York City's Central Park.

Their projects have been opposed before – The Gates in the NYC Central Park was only permitted in 2005 by the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, even though it was first proposed by the artists in 1979.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!