Armenia to present "Independent Landscape” at Venice Biennale

The official opening of the Armenian pavilion of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia will be held on May 26 at Holy Cross Armenian Church of Mechitarist Order in Venice.

The curator of the pavilion Sarhat Petrosyan presented the concept and the details of the pavilion at Yeghishe Qochar Museum on May 18.

“The Armenian pavilion which is called “Independent Landscape” is a unique example of landscape mapping of Armenia’s post-independence period. It will present spatial transformations of Armenia from 1991 till today. During the Biennale five research groups from Armenia are going to interpret different layers of the Armenian landscape through texts, photographs and other visual forms,” he said.
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“Armenia’s participation in the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia coincides with the 25th anniversary of our country. We’ve tried to sum up Armenia’s post-independence journey without focusing only on architecture. We are trying to reevaluate the path we have made and, why not, think about the future. The main works will start with the opening of the pavilion. In the coming days and months people who will be visiting the Armenian pavilion will see completely different images,” the curator of the pavilion said.

The participants of one of the research groups are the students of Gyumri branch of TUMO Center for Creative Technologies. They will map and present the city of Gyumri in the post-earthquake period.

“This is a project that is being implemented parallel to studies. The participants are the citizens of the city who have a clear-cut attitude towards the living environment. This is an attempt to get rid of existing stereotypes and understand in what kind of city they live. The children have already begun working,” TUMO Deputy Director Aram Gyumishyan told Mediamax.

The Armenian pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia was created with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, “Bogossian” Foundation, “Renco” company and Vahe Gabrash in cooperation with TUMO Center for Creative Technologies and “UrbanlabYerevan”.

The results of the research will be available at www.independentlandscape.am and www.venice2016.am.

Lena Gevorgyan
Photos by Mariam Loretsyan