Educate. Motivate. Activate.
Maria Esayan (1916-1998), an agronomist in Dilijan, Armenia. (Photo: Dilijan Centralized Library System)
Dilijan Arts Observatory will culminate in exhibitions at the Hamburger Bahnhof and Pompidou Centre
DILIJAN (Art Newspaper)”” Unemployment and emigration may be on the rise in Armenia, but a new art initiative launching on August 22 aims to stem the brain drain and develop a road map for the cultural and economic development of the country.
The Dilijan Arts Observatory will see artists, designers, cultural historians and environmental scientists convene for three weeks in and around the ancient spa town of Dilijan, once a favorite with the composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten. The observatory will have its headquarters in the former Soviet Impuls electronics factory, which formerly employed 4,000 people.
Participants””a third of whom are Armenian””will present their research on local craft, astronomy and Soviet architecture, among a myriad of other subjects, in a public event on September 10 and 11, which will feature an all-night symphony, food tasting, performances and exhibitions. The line-up includes the Armenian curator Vigen Galstyan, the Lebanese artist Haig Aivazian and the Australian fashion designer Misha Hollenbach of Perks and Mini.
There are plans to hold a second think tank next year, which will culminate in exhibitions at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, in November 2017 and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in summer 2018.
“We didn’t want to create a biennial or put pressure on artists to produce works in three weeks, but we didn’t want it to be a purely discursive summit either,”
