The Armenian Weekly. Born and raised in Stepanakert, Artsakh, Ani Shahverdyan first touched clay in 2018 during a ceramics symposium in Shushi. At this point, she was already in the process of applying to the State Academy of Fine Arts in Yerevan, Armenia, and knew instantly that she had made the right decision in her choice of major. Less than a decade later, she founded her own ceramics studio, Studio Kerani, in Yerevan.
As a student at the State Academy, Shahverdyan immersed herself in ceramics, taking classes in the department. After graduating, she was forced to stay in Yerevan due to Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh, culminating in the forced displacement of its entire Armenian population. “The blockade hindered my overall plans for the future. I was planning to move back to Stepanakert after graduation, open a ceramic studio, start activating the art community and do street art,” Shahverdyan told the Weekly. “My perception of my life after graduation crumbled because of it and I faced a complete uncertainty after the displacement. I started learning UI/UX design and quitting art to be able to earn money and help my family financially, because, let’s be fair, art doesn’t pay the bills.”
Yet, ultimately, this didn’t satisfy her. Determined to have a career as a ceramist, she set to work to establish her own studio. Following participation in the Artbox Incubator program with Creative Armenia and AGBU, she launched Studio Kerani last year. “I am very grateful to have applied to Artbox, winning a grant that helped me open a studio,” she said. “My future is still uncertain, but I am at least starting to understand which direction to take.”
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Shahverdyan’s father worked in the cultural preservation field in Artsakh and often took her on archeological expeditions. Her love for ceramics and history stems from childhood, when she would help him restore ancient ceramics. “Artsakh is a power that forces me to talk about it, share its hidden gems, heritage and history. I believe that every work should solve a problem,” she said. “Right now, we have a problem of losing the Artsakh heritage because of the occupation, and my brand is trying to solve it by promoting it on dishware to tourists, the diaspora and foreigners. If we talk about my art—I am also trying to talk about and solve Artsakh and Armenia’s sociopolitical problems,” she explained.
Studio Kerani’s first collection is called “Dance,” inspired by the traditional “Ververi” dance and ancient Armenian tombstones
