Art allows us to express our emotions, share our thoughts, and communicate our culture. That’s why, over the years, the U.S. Embassy has been proud to send a number of artists and art community leaders to the United States on various exchange programs. Now alumni of those programs are banding together to highlight the vibrant art scene in Armenia through a new program, sponsored by the Embassy, called: Art Alive!
Through Art Alive!, Armenian masterpieces will be brought to life through site-specific performance and video art projects. The first-of-its kind event is being implemented by Vahan Badalyan, the artistic director of the NCA Small Theater and an alum of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). He traveled to the United States on a trip focused on exploring ways to use the performing arts to empower youth to action. He hopes the Art Alive! effort will help museum visitors see Armenian art in new and exciting ways.
“We would like to give a new breath to several museums of Yerevan, representing their most distinguished exhibits in an unexpected, challenging way — revealing to a wide audience the artistic merits of an already well-known exhibit as well as the grandeur of its artistic idea yet from another perspective and through other media,” Badalyan said.
Throughout the Art Alive! schedule of events, which runs June 14-19, six museums, mostly headed by U.S. exchange program alumni, will open their doors to a new way of experiencing their art. Some will feature live performances or body art that interpret the museums’ collections, while other museums will see their spaces transformed through commissioned video projections. Each installation will last between 3-7 minutes, and will be performed several times over the course of the Art Alive! experience.
“Art plays such an important role in Armenian culture, so we’re very excited to be working with artists and museum directors who traveled to the United States on exchange programs and returned to Armenia to help develop this important sector,” said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr. “I think this program, which is the first of its kind in Armenia, is indicative of the creative Armenian spirit and desire to build the type of vibrant arts community that tourists find attractive.”
Entry is free at participating museums during the Art Alive! week of events. The complete schedule is as follows:
June 14: Saryan House-Museum 19:00-20:00; (3 Martiros Saryan St.)
June 15: Yervand Kochar Museum 20:00-21:00; (39/12 Mesrop Mashtots Ave)
June 16: National Art Gallery of Armenia 15:00-17:00; (1 Aram Street)
June 17: Cafesjian Museum of Art 18:30-19:30; (10 Tamanyan St.)
June 18: Galents Museum 19:00-20:00; (18 Galentzi St.)
June 19: Arev Art Gallery 19:00-20:00; (19 Teryan St.)
