We learn from the Venice Biennale website that Armenia’s national pavilion won the “Golden Lion” prize for best national participation. In this prestigious platform, Armenia represented with an exhibition called “Armenity” and 18 Diaspora artists. The Curated of the pavilion is Adelina Kyuberyan von Furstenberg.
Adelina Kyuberyan von Furstenberg photo from bbc.uk.com website.
Aravot.am asked the art critic Nazareth Karoyan what was Armenia’s glorious victory: with the participation of high-quality artists, the Pope’s speech or there was another reason. “I must record one fact, this is a historic rating, for which we could have dreamed of for decades together with artists and cultural workers in all sectors. This is something unprecedented in terms of the arts in all genres, and I am happy that it is a rating given to the fine Arts. Our fine arts has always been at the forefront position,” said Mr. Karoyan.
He sadly said that unlike the music, theater, film and other fields, the investments to the contemporary art sector are zero. “Contemporary art is something that our society does not yet understood well, therefore explanations are born that it was caused by the Pope’s mass, or other things. All of this comes from not understanding. Contemporary art is an education- and political-oriented art. Indeed, the magnifier does it job by the liturgy, but we must also try to be self-appraised. What was appraised actually is what we are unable to appraise in ourselves: our commitment, our warmth to the world and families, and the love. Today in the world, right now we would see the flights of human imagination in Venice, the sharp expressions of critical mind of humanity, high-tech achievements, imagination, all of this is abundant in the world. And what was rated in our pavilion was what the world is missing,” opines the art critic.
Nazareth Karoyan also proves, “The high rating which Armenia deserves to this high representation Committee, unfortunately, has nothing to do with the situation, in which our contemporary art is found in Armenia. Over 20 years, we developed out representational capacity by investments from the Diaspora, thanks to the Armenian Center For Contemporary Experimental Art (ACCEA), we were involved in raising the level of representation for years, and since 2011, the Ministry of Culture joined it… Unfortunately, what we have in Armenia’s contemporary art today are the crumbs of the achievements that continually existed in Armenia in the last 50-60 years. Practically, there are no investments made to the contemporary art, our art economy is in a deplorable condition. I hope that this Biennial will have a beneficial effect in this respect, a glance will be cast on the problems in our art industry, will help the few artists who are trying to resist the trends of dispersion and disappearance.”
Nazareth Karoyan does not accept the grumblings that the artists introduced to the Venice Biennale were not from Armenia, they say that they are Armenia’s art industry communicating vessels and is does not worth putting such a separation, it is the same thing as saying that Arshile Gorky or Kochar are not part of our culture.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
