Epress.am News from Armenia
A new exhibit titled “Toy of the Idle Time” launched at the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art (ACCEA, or NPAK in Armenian) today. The exhibit, which featured more than 50 works by 39 artists, aimed to showcase civic initiatives in Armenia through art.
Exhibit curator Seda Shekoyan told Epress.am her expectation that the exhibit include participants from more professional circles was realized.
One participant, Aram Pachyan, displayed an excerpt from his story “Sad Boats,” which, according to him, has been subject to criticism.
“In my opinion, this is a creative piece of work which has no connection with politics, nor does it have deep cultural value for me specifically. It is one episode where the hero is waiting to be saved. For me, there was no political context while writing,” he said.
In artist Grigor Khachatryan’s opinion, art historians, art critics and curators create a connection between artists and society.
“Art historians, art critics, cultural critics, it’s like they translate what artists are trying to say,” he said, speaking to Epress.am.
Lusine Vayachyan, who exhibited a section from an online “chat” conversation, described the main idea behind her work this way: “I want that we announce the first step of ‘share’ becoming representative.”
“Civil society initiatives have developed in Armenia recently: [Moscow Cinema] summer hall, the student park, the Teghut issue. We placed an issue before the artists: how do they relate to these issues? The main issue is that one of the main levers of democracy is citizen participation and self-discipline to come out for or against certain issues. Artists had to show their attitude toward civic actions [engagement],” said ACCEA co-founder and Executive Director Edward Balassanian to Epress.am.
