The exhibition from Gaudenz B. Ruf’s donation includes contemporary works of art from Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegrо – painting, photography, objects and video — created between 1987 and 2019.

As the Ambassador of Switzerland to the country, and founder of the Gaudenz B. Ruf Award for New Bulgarian Art (2007–2019), Ruf has a long-standing bond with the Bulgarian art scene. The collection reflects his abiding interest in artists from different generations, selected for their sensitiveness to the social and political context in which they worked—from Kosta Bogdanović, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Mihael Milunović and Sasho Stoitzov to Leda Ekimova, Kosta Tonev and Nestor Kovachev.

The exhibition exemplifies not only the collector’s taste, but also a regional and long-term commitment to the cultural scene on the Balkans. This donation to the National Gallery is an important gesture for Bulgaria, transforming one person’s attitude towards contemporary art into part of the cultural memory.