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| Wrapped Reichstag | |
|---|---|
| Title | Wrapped Reichstag |
| Artist | Christo and Jeanne-Claude |
| Year | 1995 |
| Medium | Fabric installation, steel cables |
| Dimensions | Facade and cupola of Reichstag building, Berlin |
| Location | Reichstag Building, Berlin, Germany (temporary) |
| Movement | Land art, Installation art |
Wrapped Reichstag
Wrapped Reichstag was a temporary environmental artwork by Christo and Jeanne-Claude executed in 1995 that enveloped the Reichstag building in silver fabric and blue rope, transforming the historic Palace of the Reichstag into a monumental sculpture for fourteen days. The project intersected with debates in Berlin about German reunification, the role of parliamentary buildings in public life, and debates among curators at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, and Tate Modern. It drew thousands of visitors and involved coordination with bodies including the Deutscher Bundestag, the Berlin Senate, the Federal Republic of Germany, and conservation teams from the Bundesregierung.
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon developed large-scale works such as Wrapped Coast, The Gates, and Surrounded Islands that engaged with landscapes and architecture. Their practice connected to movements represented by figures like Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, Richard Serra, and Nancy Holt. Christo’s earlier fabric projects in Paris and New York City—including interventions near Pont Neuf and sites adjacent to the Hudson River—established procedural precedents involving municipal approvals and public consultations with institutions such as the City of New York and agencies like the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Reichstag proposal invoked the fraught history of the Weimar Republic, the Reichstag fire, the Nazi Party, and the postwar seat of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, drawing parallels to installations at symbolic sites like Trafalgar Square and the Lincoln Memorial.
Planning spanned more than two decades and required negotiation with political actors including members of the Bundestag, the German Chancellor, and officials from the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Legal frameworks such as the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany and heritage protections overseen by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation influenced permits. The team worked with engineering firms familiar with projects at locations like the Olympiastadion, and consulted architects including Norman Foster—whose redesign of the Reichstag cupola set technical parameters for the wrapping. Funding followed the Christo tradition of private financing through the sale of preparatory drawings and maquettes in venues such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and exhibitions at institutions like the Centre Pompidou.
The installation used polypropylene fabric and carbon and steel cables made to specifications often discussed alongside engineering practices at the Technical University of Berlin and tested in workshops linked to firms such as Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. The team included riggers from companies that had worked on projects at venues like the Royal Albert Hall and sports structures like the Allianz Arena. Conservation scientists and material specialists compared methods from conservation at the Louvre and the British Museum. Logistics resembled operations by event planners at Berlin Brandenburg Airport and large-scale exhibitions previously staged at the National Gallery and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Public reaction ranged from enthusiasm among visitors drawn from East Berlin and West Berlin neighborhoods to criticism voiced by some members of the Green Party and conservative factions in the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. Critics in publications such as Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, The New York Times, and The Guardian debated aesthetics alongside commentators from BBC Radio and Deutschlandfunk. Art historians referencing scholars like Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, and Yve-Alain Bois situated the work within discourses shaped by exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Stedelijk Museum. The installation produced comparisons to public art controversies around projects by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, and Ai Weiwei.
The wrapping catalyzed conversations about the Reichstag building as a symbol of sovereignty and memory connected to sites such as the Holocaust Memorial and Brandenburg Gate. Debates engaged with institutions like the German Historical Museum and the Topography of Terror documentation center, as well as legal scholars from universities such as Humboldt University of Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin. International response involved cultural ministries from countries including France, United Kingdom, and the United States Department of State, while commentators from the European Parliament reflected on symbolic gestures in transnational memory politics. The project influenced municipal policies in cities like Paris, Madrid, and Tokyo regarding temporary works on heritage architecture.
Wrapped Reichstag remains a reference point in studies at centers such as the Centre for Contemporary Art, programmes at the University of Oxford, and curatorial curricula at the Columbia University School of the Arts. Archives held by institutions including the German National Library and the Getty Research Institute preserve preparatory drawings, contracts, and photographs by photographers like Ernesto Bazan and Wolfgang Volz. Conservation debates about ephemeral art later informed policies at the International Council of Museums and practice at restoration sites like the Pergamon Museum. The project’s legacy appears in retrospectives at the Serpentine Galleries and the Fondation Beyeler and continues to shape negotiations between artists and political institutions in cities such as Rome and Vienna.
Category:Installation art Category:Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude Category:1995 works of art