Art and Audience: Bridging the Distance


In order to fill the gaps in the field of cultural journalism and reduce the gap between the artist and society, the ARE Cultural Foundation, in partnership with the Institute of Contemporary Art, with a grant from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Armenia, has initiated a free journalism course for those covering culture and art. Marine Karoyan, Founding Director of the ARE Cultural Foundation, and Narine Safaryan, Head of the Educational Department of the Media Initiatives Center, spoke about the “Art and Audience: Bridging the Gap” project at “Artfocus”. The program was hosted by art critic Anahit Margaryan.

One shot


The changes in the culture and mindset of short film and short films in the last decade have in turn led to a society expecting short and concise things to say. However, the magic of cinema continues to remain in the hall with the lights turned off, in the deep silence. The most important and real feeling in the history of the creation of the documentary film “Hevq” by Gagik Ghazare, a participant in the 44 Days, is the Land. There is nothing more real than the Land.

The lost sounds of dying instruments


Armenian national musical instruments are diverse and have a history spanning thousands of years. However, today only the duduk is very popular, unlike other instruments, which are also called “dying instruments.” By rediscovering the lost sounds of dying instruments, perhaps we will be more complete and balanced.

The musical programs of the "Kayt Cultural Center"


"Kayt Cultural Hub" is an interdisciplinary ecosystem that unites several organizations, dozens of artists and musicians, as well as hundreds of students to ensure the life cycle of Armenian culture, from preservation to development. The acquired knowledge and experience are transformed into tangible results: books, recordings and albums, films and videos, as well as public performances, handicrafts. Tatevik Shakhkulyan, Senior Researcher of the Music Department of the Institute of Arts of the National Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Arts, Conservatory Lecturer, spoke at "Artfocus" about the musical programs of the "Kayt Cultural Hub".

National dance


National dance is the living environment where the character, value system, and historical experience of our people have been preserved. National dance reflects our spirit, our collective strength, and our inner discipline. Knowledge of national dance is not a technical skill, but a deep recognition and awareness of national identity. How did the Genocide, deportations, and repressions of the Soviet period against the Armenian people affect and what consequences did they have on national dance?

Contemporary Art


Contemporary art, as a restless thought of time, a questioning and intervention of the world, an attempt to formulate a way of life, to whom is it addressed and does it need to find an audience? John Cage's "4.33", the performances of Beuys, Marina Abramović, Catalani, as the most vivid manifestations and new meanings of contemporary art, suggest seeing new possibilities in this ever-changing world.

Activities of the Markos Grigoryan Foundation


His works are presented in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate British Gallery, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in Tehran. Painter, collector, gallerist, curator, actor, founder of the direction of earthen art in Armenian reality, whose works are sold for several hundred thousand dollars at the most popular art auctions. An artist who donated about 2,000 Iranian, Armenian, and European applied art samples to his homeland, Armenia. In "Artfocus", Anahit Margaryan talked with Michel Alaverdyan, director, curator, and art critic of the "Markos Grigoryan Foundation".

Justice


What are the differences in the perception of divine and human justice, what does the Holy Scripture say about justice? Father David Gishyan distinguishes justice from virtues.

Truthfulness


Why is lying destructive, what new sins can it give rise to, and how to get rid of it? Father Markos Mangasaryan presents truthfulness as one of the virtues.

Persian Sufi poetry


The two greatest figures of Persian Sufi poetry, Rumi and Hafez, lived and created a century apart. But both sought God in love and freedom. Rumi leads man on a spiritual path where the ego is burned to reveal the truth. And Hafez travels the same path with a smile, with irony, with a glass of wine.

The unfinished ending of Cascade


The Municipality has announced that the construction of the upper part of the Cascade is beginning according to the project they have proposed. Meanwhile, there is an original, founding, approved, unfortunately, incompletely implemented project, co-authored by Jim Torosyan, Sargis Gurzadyan, Aslan Mkhitaryan. In fact, the north-south axis of the capital's plan will be broken. The Municipality's talk about the Cascade is peppered with worrying quotes from architects, but the presented project indicates otherwise.

Vigen Galstyan


The exhibition “Currents of Modernism: Diaspora Armenian Art from the Iron Curtain to the Present” has opened at the National Gallery of Armenia. Presenting around 100 works by more than forty artists, the exhibition reveals the complex and often overlooked connections that formed in the mid-20th century between Soviet and Diaspora Armenian arts and artists. The exhibition’s curator, Vigen Galstyan, Head of the Exhibition Department of the National Gallery of Armenia, spoke at “Artfocus” about the exhibition and the important cultural events that took place at the National Gallery of Armenia in the past year.