Et Cetera

Amid Yerevan’s chaotic development, grassroots initiatives led by local and diasporan architects are reimagining Armenia’s architectural landscape. By fostering dialogue and hands-on learning, they aim to rethink building practices and promote responsible, sustainable approaches to architecture.

The 8th Festival Week-end à l’Est celebrates contemporary Armenian art through a multidisciplinary program across six venues in Paris. Featuring renowned and emerging artists, the event explores themes of identity, displacement and cultural dialogue, bridging Armenia’s vibrant artistic scene with global audiences.

How "sacred" can culture get before it ossifies into an irrelevant artifact and at what point do our interventions with the relics of the past turn from living culture into an act of sacrilege? The only way to answer this question is to be open to and actively engaged with what the artists and art workers are doing at the moment. And right now, in Armenia, they are doing a hell of a lot worth thinking about.

With a spotlight on Sean Baker’s film "Anora" that won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Sona Karapoghosyan examines how evolving yet often reductive depictions in American cinema shape perceptions and cultural narratives about Armenians.

The wounds from the horrific 44 Day War and Artsakh's ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan are still raw. But one thing is clear: to break the vicious cycle eroding our foundations for over a century, we must embrace a path of collective reflection, healing and renewal. Could art—contemporary and historical—possibly show us the way?

There is nothing like thoughts of war to make one appreciate the extraordinary privilege of getting out on a sunny October weekend and being presented with an infinite array of cultural events in a bustling town like Yerevan. If the past few years have taught us anything, it is not to take these vital pleasures for granted. Tomorrow we may easily be denied that opportunity.

Have you had your "I look so exalted" selfie with Anahit's head yet? No? Well, there is still plenty of time. And despite its lack of world-famous masterpieces, our local institutions and art spaces will continue to strive for more Instagram-worthy backdrops. However, there might also be the occasional show, or a lecture that may provoke you to momentarily forget your phone.

Blockbuster exhibitions are not a common sight in Armenia, where museums are yet to shake off the Soviet-era frame as "fort-keeps" or "temples" of national culture. However, the next two weeks on the ARTINERARY digest juxtapose the “traditional” with the “wildly provocative,” the “surreal” and also the “experimental” on Armenia’s art scene.

Blending the two worlds of theater and cinema, Atom Egoyan’s new film “Seven Veils”—named for the biblical character Salome whose seductive dancing earns her the severed head of John the Baptist—portrays Salome not as a cruel femme fatale but as a victim.

Each season has its "black holes" and the end of August is notorious for its atmosphere of melancholic ennui as we reluctantly bid goodbye to long summer days, holidays and sweaty armpits. However, this is just a minor breather before Yerevan and the rest of the country gear up for the fall season's cultural whirlwind.