With the Golden Apricot Film Festival behind us, many in Yerevan might have a case of a cultural overdose. It’s not every week one gets to have a cocktail made up of Kevin Spacey, Parajanov, Atom Egoyan, Alexander Payne and Jafar Panahi (on his first visit out of Iran after years of house arrest) in parallel to dozens of cool films (like all the films in my own Twisted Apricot sidebar program). But the capital’s art pulse shows no sign of slowing down and the next two weeks are absolutely packed with events to either calm or rattle your jaded senses. 

EXHIBITIONS

It’s always reassuring to have something classical and weighty to lean back on, when your mind and eyes cannot take any more confusion and chaos. Last month the National Gallery of Armenia opened an exhibition presenting a selection of 14th-19th century Italian art from its permanent collections – a kind of “bridging” show, until the Gallery’s permanent exposition of Western art reopens later this year. While it’s fantastic to see the beautiful masterworks by Bassano, Guercino, Strozi, Guardi, Canova and the (questionable, but still splendid) Donatello relief, the highlight of this presentation is the inclusion of stunning prints and drawings by masters like Farinati and Piranesi, which have rarely been exhibited previously. 

Exhibition: “Fragments of Italian Art in Armenia”
Where: National Gallery of Armenia
1 Aram St., Yerevan
Dates: Open from June 1

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What is really and truly exciting, however, is that the National Gallery has finally begun to actively showcase the historical phases of contemporary Armenian art. Opening on July 31, the exhibition “New Matter: Sergei Djavadian’s Collection of Armenian Abstraction” will present a major gift of 42 artworks, which showcase six of the most important Armenian abstractionists of the 1980s-1990s – Kiki, Sev, Armen Rotch, Martin Petrosyan, Offenbach and Ashot Ashot. It’s a monumental display of the great heights achieved by the local contemporary art scene toward the end of the Soviet Union and will completely transform not only the Gallery’s collection, but also our understanding of what constitutes “Armenian” art. 

Exhibition: “New Matter: Sergei Djavadian’s Collection of Armenian Abstraction”
Where: National Gallery of Armenia
1 Aram St., Yerevan
Dates: July 31-August 31

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Contemporary art aficionados can look forward to a fresh surge of creativity with two new exhibitions of young artists organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Yerevan. Held at the alternative art space :DDD Kunst House, the first one is appropriately titled Sensitive Context and features six emerging practitioners who contemplate how to create an environment “where mutual trust allows sensitivity to be accepted as a potential for compassion, connection, and positive change, rather than vulnerability.” Well, let’s be hopeful that the youth truly manage to think of others, instead of obsessively focusing on themselves. 

Exhibition: “Sensitive Context”
Where: :DDD Kunst House
51 Mashtots Ave., 3rd entrance, suite 19, Yerevan
Dates: July 19 & 29, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

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In tandem with sensitive contexts, there is also Self Contemplation – the third exhibition organised by ICA in the frameworks of the “How to Survive as an Emerging Artist” workshop. The six participants – some of whom are still students – are, in this instance, in search of themselves. To discover and face oneself may seem like the most rudimentary task of any artist, yet a large number of them in Armenia often miserably fail to break through personal fears and social barriers to produce truly honest and revealing work. Fortunately, the post-Facebook generation seems a lot more confident, brave and hungry for change, which is reason enough to go and see what they have to offer. 

Exhibition: “Self Contemplation”
Where: Giotto Museum
45a Mesrop Mashtots Ave., Yerevan
Dates: July 20-27

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Not every young artist, however, is intent on exploring the critical questions of existence. Photographer Lusine Azizyan works in traditional portraiture, landscape and food photography and that’s essentially what she’ll be showing in her solo exhibition at Dalan Gallery. Similar to one of those slick, “Beautiful Armenia” Instagram feeds, her photographs exude a classical, postcard-perfect charm. Which suggests that “view” photography has maintained its stronghold since the medium’s inception, despite efforts from irate academics and critics like myself to try and cancel it.

Exhibition: “Personal Exhibition” Lusine Azizyan  
Where: Dalan Art Gallery
12 Abovyan St., Yerevan
Dates: July 22-24

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But if you’d like to see what photography can do beyond capturing beautiful “reflections”, then you must head out of Yerevan to Gyumri, where veteran photo-documentarian Nazik Armenakyan will be presenting her latest project addressing Armenian women over 45. For Armenakyan the investigation of society’s margins has long been her primary creative and political goal and this latest show is no exception. By simply making an emphasis on women “of a certain age”, she raises a long-sidelined issue in our society – the fact that a significant part of Armenia’s female population gradually become socially invisible after they have fulfilled their reproductive and motherly duties. Judging from the photographer’s previous, critically revealing and urgent work, we can safely assume that this series will be sharply provocative and profoundly moving in equal measure.

Exhibition: “Where Are You Standing?” Nazik Armenakyan
Where: The Aslamazyan Sisters Gallery
232 Abovyan St., Gyumri
Dates: July 19-September 19

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The truth is that traditions in Armenia (good, or bad) die hard, or they come back like the return of the repressed. And as if to prove it, the Yerevan Modern Art Museum (!) is hosting Vachagan Poghosyan’s solo exhibition called Symphony of Colors. It’s been ages since post-modernism turned the concept of harmony—musical or otherwise—into a parodic joke. So now, when I hear the phrase “symphony of colors”, my mind conjures up the interior decor section of Ideal stores and those incessant Instagram reels where some random influencer is telling you which shade of white will best match the pastel-blue curtains in the living room. But one has to give credit to the Gyumri-based painter for sticking to that age-old human yearning for an aesthetically unified vision of the world. And in his earnest attempt, the painter does manage to conjure some… strikingly unusual visual symphonies indeed.

Exhibition: “Symphony of Colors”
Where: Modern Art Museum of Yerevan
7 Mashtots Ave., Yerevan
Dates: July 13-August 10 

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If there are any symphonies to be found in the work of up and coming Vanadzor-based painter Vahrad Melikjanyan, then it is the sounds of chaos, disruption and screeching metal, which the artist will unleash in his first solo exhibition in Yerevan. Clearly inspired by street graffiti and Basquiat, Melikjanyan’s paintings and digital drawings are an ode to the noise and strife of contemporary urban life. Though at times disturbing, these dark images of the near future somehow manage to avoid a dystopian vibe through the artist’s use of humor and irony. The ease with which Melikjanyan melds mass culture and contemporary art in these paintings is surprisingly refreshing, making him a name to watch.

Exhibition: “Solo Exhibition” Vahrand Melikjanyan
Where: Pyunik Development Center 
3/1 Byuzand St., Yerevan
Dates: August 3-9 

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Retrospective exhibitions of established, living artists are always a fascinating sight, because they allow one to see the flow of time and history in condensed and tangible form. The painter Haghtanak Shahumyan has regularly shown his work since the mid-1970s and his retrospective exhibition at the Artists’ Union of Armenia offers valuable insights into a very specific trajectory that emerged during that decade. Closely acquainted with Western contemporary art, it was a generation that rejected socialist-realism, but remained firmly committed to the idealistic principles of high modernism. A restless experimenter, Shahumyan has skillfully interpolated a vast array of formalist devices to come up with his own, distinctive manner of painting that eventually came to address timeless narratives and axiomatic concepts. Which perfectly illustrates Walter Benjamin’s argument, that every modernism eventually seeks to become its own brand of classicism.

Exhibition: “Retrospective Exhibition” Haghtanak Shahumyan
Where: Artists’ Union of Armenia
16 Abovyan St., Yerevan
Dates: July 18-28

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The newly-opened art space Esquisse Gallery will present another, smaller retrospective exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of sculptor Mkrtich Mazmanian. The author of those abstract, futuristic sculptures on the facade of the old Zvartnots airport, Mazmanian is now primarily known for his strangely truncated public statues depicting various noted cultural figures. He also specializes in truncating slick, impossibly curvy female torsos that appear to be ascending into space like rolls of cigarette smoke. Luckily, the sculptor “captures” these sinuous fantasies in solid bronze, which I’m sure would look amazing between a marble-clad double staircase if you happen to have one.

Exhibition: “80th anniversary exhibition of sculptor Mkrtich Mazmanian”
Where: Esquisse Gallery/ Mazmanian Gallery
Grand Hotel Yerevan, 14 Abovyan St., Yerevan
Dates: July 28-August 4

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Another veteran sculptor getting a belated spotlight this month is David Bejanyan, best known for his notorious statue of composer Arno Babajanyan next to Swan Lake in downtown Yerevan. The show is organized by the private gallery Two Arcs, which now occupies the space that was once Bejanyan’s studio. Featuring previously unseen pieces and archival materials, this small-scale retrospective will hopefully provide more insight into the career of one of the more idiosyncratic and daring monumental sculptors of the late Soviet period, who deserves to be known far beyond his endearingly exaggerated statue of Babajanyan.

Exhibition: “Bejanyan, Studio Works and Archives”
Where: Two Arcs
5 Sayat-Nova St., Yerevan
Dates: July 19-August 2

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WORKSHOPS

I’m sure many of you have (even if briefly) thought of trying your skills in drawing or painting after a visit to a museum or exhibition. After all, making images with one’s own hands is still one of the most emotionally gratifying things one can do. Well, now there is an excellent opportunity to act on that impulse by taking part in the excellent workshops offered by the Visual Gap Gallery, located at the former Yerevan Clock Factory. Run by highly-experienced artists, these informal training sessions can help you rapidly gain skills in figure drawing, linocut and silkscreen printing, sculpture and even animation. There is also a considerable bonus in that the workshops take place in an exciting creative milieu where you can meet, mingle and network with many talented artists whose studios are located around the Factory building.

Workshop: Series of workshops in the following disciplines: silkscreen printing, linocut, sculpting, animation, nude drawing
Where: Visual Gap Gallery at the former Yerevan Clock Factory
13 Sose St., Yerevan
Dates: Every Thursday

*Fee for each workshop is 8000 AMD

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Another place to get familiar with great people is the independent art space Open Platform, which is holding a series of workshops with some notable creatives – the avant-garde painter Arman Grigoryan, animator Narara Muradyan and writer Hrach Saribekyan. Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Parajanov, this project aims to instill the Parajanovian ethos of creative and personal freedom among the workshop’s participants, which can only be a good thing.

Workshops: “Freedom Is Where I Am”, workshops with notable creatives
Where: OPEN Platform
1 Kajaznuni St., Yerevan
Dates: Visit page for dates

*Free entrance

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SCREENINGS

An epoch-defying masterpiece that must be seen by absolutely everyone at least once in their lifetime is coming to Moscow Cinema in all its restored glory. Yes, we’re talking about Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, a film so iconic that it has become an inextricable part of global popular culture and everyday language. Though made nearly 60 years ago, Scorsese’s feverish poem of urban alienation remains an epitome of cinematic perfection that has only grown in its resonance over the years. Featuring Robert DeNiro’s astonishing performance as the unhinged New York taxi driver, it’s a cinematic experience that will sear your soul.

Screening: “Taxi Driver”
Where: Cinema Moscow 
18 Abovyan St., Yerevan
Dates: July 24, 7:30 p.m.

*English with Russian subtitles. Tickets at 3000 AMD 

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