NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS
CONTEMPORARY ART OF ARMENIA: SELECTED WORKS
Curator: EDWARD BALASSANIAN
Mikhail Mindlin
In the ex-soviet republics development of art takes place parallel with Russian contemporary art and integrates with the context of international art, often more intensively and organically than the Russian art itself. That is, it is more advanced.
I will not speak long on the context of this project. I think Leonid Bazhanov, who is long-time friend of the Armenian talented artists and curators, and one of the initiators of this project, will reflect upon this better.
Leonid Bazhanov
40 years ago, to search for examples of national contemporary art in the USSR, we would go to Armenia and Estonia. The first museum of contemporary art in the USSR was founded in Yerevan in 1972.
In present-day world cultural community of the arts is an entire entity; it is united and particularly contemporary. By its quality, this exhibition generally presents an artistic sphere to which Russia also belongs.
In the corner there is quite an expressive work called “Reliance”. The culture of our contemporary art is in such a state. This is a metaphor on our present state of being. If from the point of view of institutional self-structuring we have distanced from the experience of our Armenian colleagues, and are creating our own system in Russia, then artistic thinking, aesthetic realities of art and the artistic mentality remain hanging in the air to date.
Edward Balassanian
The exhibition contains video-art, video installations, documentary video as well as traditional installations. In these works the most important aspect
Thus we emphasize that every artist is bestowed by his inner world and the right to reflect upon it, in spite of prevailing circumstances and surroundings.
Enjoy the exhibition. I wish you success and I hope that there will be more opportunities to meet, either we will come to Moscow again, or Moscow will come to Yerevan.
Sonia Balassanian
I see wonderful large spaces for artists’ as well as for social interaction. I hope that together we will be able to move forward in the arts as well as in social relations.
I am very grateful for your attention. I thank you, and hope we will meet again.
08.08.-08.09.2013
Moscow.
