“AND THE BORDERS BECOME BRIDGES”
Curators : Alain Berland and Varduhi Kirakosyan
GALERIE D’ART DU CROUS DE PARIS: Open every day from 2 pm to 7 pm
" GHOST CITY "
Photography
The work of Vahram Aghasian captures the haunting desolation of Mush, an unfinished residential area. Intended to house those displaced by the 1988 earthquake, Mush has remained a ghost town. Its modernist architecture serves as a troubling reminder of the unfulfilled ambitions of the Soviet era and a silent testimony to those utopian dreams.
" AFACTUM "
Painting
Through the neologism Afactum, Achot Achot places his creation beyond sociocultural contexts. The concept applies to all his works: painting, photography, installation, video, and performance. His pictorial practice revolves around the repetition of an original form as a practice of meditation. The intuitive composition flows like water, between frequency and variation.
" IN QUEST OF THE ABSENT "
Painting-Sculpture
For "In Quest of the Absent," dedicated to the 44-day war, multidisciplinary visual artist Edik Boghosian uses metal objects found in Nagorno-Karabakh. This series raises questions about sensitivity to the tragic and lingering post-war reality.
" EIGHT THOUGHTS "
Sculpture-Object
Arevik Arevshatyan creates objects that she transforms with phrases and epithets, which become metaphors for her concerns but also an enigma to decipher. "Eight Thoughts" (2015) is a black box. It features inscriptions in Greek that link ancient philosophy to the beginnings of Christianity.
" BOLD KHNDZORESK "
Carpets
The Bold Khndzoresk collection by Davit Kochunts, consisting of unique contemporary carpet pieces, was produced in collaboration with the AHA Collective studio, led by Nairi Khatchadourian. These carpets are territorial portraits of the artist’s ancestral village, Old Khndzoresk, a significant center of Armenian carpet weaving. A blend of ancient and modern mediums, they aim to revive and celebrate traditional craftsmanship.
" WEST & EAST"
Installation
Deeply affected by the recent history of conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Meri Karapetyan deconstructs the notion of borders to "disarm" them and reveal their primary function: defining the indefinable. Her work experiments with space using various materials such as ropes, earth, copper, plaster, and tar.
"UNTITLED"
Video
Hamlet Hovsepian was one of the most important figures in the contemporary Armenian art scene and a pioneer of video art in the Caucasus. Influenced by the Moscow avant-garde of the 1970s, in his native village and artistic laboratory, Ashnak, he created conceptual cinematic works characterized by absurd simplicity, abstract space, and long duration.
"INACCESSIBLE DEPTHS"
Video
Using archival footage and technological processes, Gohar Martirosyan’s video installations provide alternative access to inaccessible places. Challenging conventional art spaces, she revisits historical locations like Mount Aragats and the Mush district. "Inaccessible Depths" explores the formation of identity through our relationships with territories, blurring the lines between biography and geography.
" OBJET #1 "
Painting
The hyperrealist painter Ruben Grigorian draws inspiration from the surrealist spirit. He stages body fragments in situations directly taken from his dreams. "Objet #1" (1999) is an oil painting on canvas, part of his "surreal explorations of mimicry and image transformation."