Spidermen workers begin unwrapping of Christo's Arc de Triomphe

Workers remove the silver-blue fabric that wrapped the Arc de Triomphe, a design by the late artist Christo, as part of the 38th European Heritage Days and the launch of the Cultural Olympiad in Paris, on October 4, 2021. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

Two weeks after silver and blue fabric was wrapped around Paris’s iconic Arc de Triomphe landmark – an artwork by late artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude – workers on Monday began the laborious task of dismantling the stunning installation.

The peeling away of 25,000m2 of fabric and 3,000 metres of rope will take a few days to complete – and in wet and gusty conditions much to the misfortune of the spidermen-like technicians abseiling down the monument’s grand façade.

For a fortnight, thousands of people came in droves to see the famous war memorial in its luminous 14 million euro frock, standing tall in the middle of the busy Place Charles de Gaule Etoile.

Christo's Arc de Triomphe, wrapped, was an impressive sight at dusk on Sunday, 26 September. © Amanda Morrow / RFI

Known for his massive, ephemeral public art displays, the Bulgarian-born Christo was working on the Paris project when he passed away in New York in May 2020, aged 84.

It was a dream 60 years in the making, with Christo and his French wife Jeanne-Claude – who have already wrapped Paris's Pont Neuf bridge – first conceiving the idea back in 1962.

Christo's nephew Vladimir Yavachev said the materials used in the installation would be given to NGO Parley for the Oceans to be recycled.