Epress.am News from Armenia
“Every individual has open and hidden layers of identity. Some are hidden and closed by personal choice, some because of social taboos, and others forced by socio-political pressures,” is how the beginning of the artists’ statement on a new exhibit at the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art (ACCEA, or “NPAK” in Armenian) called “Multi-Layered Identity and Social Structure” reads.
As told to Epress.am by the curator of this exhibit, Sonia Balassanian, works by Armenian and Iranian artists are featured in the exhibit, which is assistant coordinated by Iranian-born Yerevan-resident Ali Ansari.
“For example, Ali Ansari speaks of his state, about women’s rights. His compatriot Sepide, with his work, says that in Iran they are in jail, they want to fly, but they can’t; the mirrors present in his work show the viewer that he too is in prison, he sees his reflection imprisoned behind bars. Angela likewise has expressed a political nuance in her work: she says that people continually want to rise, but at some moment, they fall unexpectedly. And Tatul Saroyan says I want freedom, I’m tired of academic ways, I just want to scribble. This guy worked on the wall for a month,” explained Balassanian.
As for upcoming exhibits at ACCEA, art curator Seda Shekoyan told Epress.am that in November–December, ACCEA is planning an exhibit by local activists and artists, who will be focusing on public initiatives in Armenia that had their start in the virtual arena.
“They are the issue of foreign language schools, the Student Park, the incidents in the army, which isn’t developed as an initiative, but received public response [which was generated] through activity. From the artists, Garik Yengibaryan and Edgar Mnoyan have created a piece on the issues in the army, which is called killed soldier. This work was done in the public sphere [graffiti art in the streets of Yerevan], and, as it is known, it has been erased, and so it seems that the killed soldier is being killed also through the form of the image. Artists will be focusing on such public-political themes during the November exhibit,” said Shekoyan.