We started our trip through Caucasus with a visit to Armenia. We only had four days there and it was Easter Holiday so some galleries and museums were closed, also lots of people we wanted to meet were to busy with t family engagements. More reason to go back there I guess.
We stayed at the Institute for Contemporary Art. They offer residencies and the location is very central. ICA Yerevan is an open hub for cultural and contemporary art projects and development. ICA is involved in most of the art activities in Yerevan, from developing and implementing art collections, exhibitions, through archives and research projects, they also organize teaching programs in the field of curatorial practices, theory, and art education.
Structured as an open cross-functional network of people and ideas/concepts, the ICA School, Project and Research Labs provide a comprehensive set of resources, facilities and tools for understanding and operating in the contemporary art scene in Armenia and in the wider global art context.
The idea of the ICA Yerevan emerged through the educational and research projects of the National Association of Art Critics – Armenia. They have held a Summer School for Art Curators since 2006, which later transformed into a seminar format. This expanded into four semester long study programs. The structural-functional cohesion of Research and Project Labs, as well as the experience in the educational program, eventually led to the establishment of the Institute for Contemporary Art in 2012.
Re-Lab is the research center of the Institute for Contemporary Art. The studies carried out within this framework address the economic, legal, cultural-political, sociological, socio-psychological and other aspects of the Armenian and international context of contemporary art.
Identifying issues that arise in front of public and local governing bodies, as well as between them both, pursue one goal: identify the tasks and create conditions for the development and implementation of projects contributing to the contextual development of art.
Pro-Lab – (Project laboratory) aims at developing mechanisms (collection, maintenance, display, publication and dissemination) and practices (curatorship, criticism, cultural mediation etc.) to promote art production. It is also oriented towards developing an institutional sphere of art, as well as a market in Armenia.
The laboratory also serves as a platform for curator training and practices. Simple projects of art publicity and outreach (exhibitions, publishing, seminar, etc.) and complex projects of development of regional, territorial and segmental art economy (museum economy, galleries and art centers, the art market and private sector, governing bodies and legislative environment) both are designed and implemented in the laboratory.
Karoyan Gallery and Nest artist’s residency are also part of ICA Yerevan.
Featuring contemporary art by emerging and established regional, national and international artists, Karoyan Gallery exhibits works in a variety of mediums and is often at the forefront of challenging gallery norms.
The gallery was founded on the principle of putting on exhibitions, performances, and events with an emphasis on borrowed space and a nomadic lifestyle while fostering relationships with collectors and institutions.
We were welcomed by Nazareth Karoyan, and had several meetings with him. Talking about his work at ICA, as well as organising meeting with local artists and art professionals. He and Marine Karoyan (who is responsible for Nest residencies) helped us to navigate through Yerevan’s art scene.
Another interesting organisation we come across in Armenia was ArtLab Yerevan. An artist collective and political art group. We had a presentation followed by discussion which turned into a rather lovely party in their new studio. (more details here: https://www.artlabyerevan.org/en/1523097675) Hovhannes Margaryan, Vardan Jaloyan, Olya Azatyan, Artur Petrosyan and Ara Petrosyan are the artists involved. They mention on their website the group was created after the split of an earlier incarnation “Art laboratory”.
I think the best way to describe their activities is to quote their own words:
“Our goal is to continue activist art practice, support activist groups, organize seminars and discussions about political contemporary art, participate in the social and political movement, innovative social and cultural initiatives, develop strategies with political-social groups to find a way out of the current situation.
“Artlabyerevan” aims to combine political and art research, explore and discover the hidden mechanisms that contribute to the formation of authoritarian, exploitative and corrupt systems.
In art practices our group is oriented towards relational and participatory aesthetics denying the illusive function of art.
We are for the Event considering it a creative action of the multitudes. We are ready to collaborate with all the people and non-governmental organizations whose activities don’t contradict with the principles mentioned above”.
I talked about my recent and older paintings. I also introduced “Inland Project” – my collaboration with artist Flora Bradwell. I’m hoping to engage a few artists I’ve met there in future incarnations of it.
I would like to mention couple of artists from Armenia – painter Edgar Amroyan (one of the founders of Art Laboratory). He raises the topics of isolation and alienation, through rethinking of the Soviet and post-Soviet era often manifested through abandoned and forgotten objects. I especially love his series “Vikings” – small, oil paintings https://www.instagram.com/p/BfXu-6cA7PR/ This series was part of exhibition “Power Nap” in the Museum of Modern Art in Yerevan earlier this year, curated by Sona Stepanyan whom we also meet. Sona is also involved in Armenia Art Foundation ((AAF) an independent non-profit organization aiming to support the development of contemporary art in Armenia, established in 2016.
The mission of the Foundation is to support professionals working in Armenia in the field of contemporary art, and to unlock their creative potential both in the country and abroad.)
Another artist who’s studio we visited was Vahram Aghasyan. Visual artist, theorist and curator. A member of “Komuna” social-cultural platform. His website is definitely worth looking through: https://www.vahramaghasyan.net/en
That’s all for today. I will follow tomorrow with introductions to more people involved in Armenian art scene. I will also need to mention few places we visited that made a mark on me.
