The Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art project in accordance with contract № 24-10-МП-1/23.04.2015 with beneficiary the National Gallery, is implemented under the BG08 Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Arts Programme, financed through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2009 - 2014 and includes the completion of the second stage of the construction of the new museum.
The successful completion of the first stage of the project was marked at a special ceremony held on June 11th, 2011. It included the major renovation of the building of the Sofia Arsenal and its transformation into a modern art museum. The exhibition space on the first floor has been fully remodeled using the design created by the Kadinovi Bros. Architecture studio.
The second stage involves the reconstruction of the second storey of the building and the attic. It includes the construction of storage in compliance with all the up-to-date museum requirements, as well as a separate building to host visiting exhibitions.
The museum's building is an architectural heritage site of local importance, part of the Sofia Arsenal historical complex.
During the reconstruction process all its characteristics were preserved and its architectural grandeur has been acknowledged and enhanced.
Located in Sofia South Park on 2 Cherni Vruh Blvd., the Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art is fully compliant with the “green design” contemporary trends.
The Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Artist a branch of the National Gallery and since 2011 the museum’s calendar has included almost one hundred events.
In 2015 and 2016 the museum initiated several new projects.
The “Space – Audience” exhibition presents spatial imagery related to the museum’s building, its history, transformation and visitors.
The “Autobiography” project expands the museum’s idea to document modern art. Without being retrospective in character, the objective of the project is to identify and note the names of the artists and the works of art that transformed our art since the 90s of the 20th century.
The “Theater in the Museum” programme supports theatrical performances in the museum’s halls, enriching them with new ideas, meaning and vivacity.
Every Wednesday at 13:00 h. the museum’s visitors can meet the artists and the curators of the current exhibitions.
The “Interactive Contemporary Techniques and Inter-disciplinary Approaches” workshop is intended for students and children from various ethnic minority and with special educational needs or socially disadvantaged.
The Sofia Arsenal - Museum for Contemporary Art is part of the Assembly of Arsenals museum network. In 2015 in Nizhny Novgorod representatives of seven European cultural institutions from Amsterdam, Berlin, Sofia, Copenhagen, Metz, Lisbon and Tallinn founded the Assembly and shared their experience in the cultural transformation of former military facilities and infusing them with new purpose and significance.
