National Pavilion of Armenia at the 56th La Biennale di Venezia was Presented at CCA

July 14, 2015

On July 12 the Cafesjian Center for the Arts (CCA) presented a special event dedicated to the National Pavilion of the Republic of Armenia at the 56th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia – 2015, where the Armenian Pavilion curated by an internationally acclaimed curator Adelina Cüberyan v. Fürstenberg was awarded the Golden Lion for the Best National Participation.

The public presentation of the National Pavilion of the Republic of Armenia included the documentary about the Armenian Pavilion, Armenity,  and its premiere screening in the Special Events Auditorium of the Center.

This event was organized in collaboration with the National Pavilion of the Republic of Armenia at the 56th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia. As part of the event co-commissioner Vartan Karapetian delivered a short message on behalf of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia, the principal Commissioner of the Pavilion. Adelina Cüberyan v. Fürstenberg presented the concept of the National Pavilion and introduced the film. Aram Jibilian, one of the artists representing the Armenian Pavilion, also took part in the presentation and shared his experience.

The National Pavilion of the Republic of Armenia at the 56th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia – 2015

In this symbolic year 2015, on the occasion of the one hundredth commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia has dedicated its pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia to the artists of the Armenian Diaspora.  The Pavilion is located at the Mekhitarist Monastery on the island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni.

The Pavilion curated by Adelina Cüberyan v. Fürstenberg was represented by contemporary artists from the Armenian Diaspora: Haig Aivazian, Lebanon; Nigol Bezjian, Syria/USA; Anna Boghiguian Egypt/Canada; Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Turkey; Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Argentina/Germany; Rene Gabri & Ayreen Anastas, Iran/Palestine/USA; Mekhitar Garabedian, Belgium; Aikaterini Gegisian, Greece; Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Italy; Aram Jibilian, USA; Nina Katchadourian, USA/Finland; Melik Ohanian, France; Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Armenia/Italy; Rosana Palazyan, Brasil; Sarkis, Turkey/France; Hrair Sarkissian, Syria/UK.

The curatorial concept of Armenity implies the notion of displacement and territory, justice and reconciliation, ethos and resilience. Regardless of their place of birth, the selected artists carry within their identity the memory of their origins.  Whether they were born in Beirut, Los Angeles, or Yerevan and wherever they may reside, these global citizens constantly question and reinvent their armenity.

www.armenity.net

Adelina Cüberyan v. Fürstenberg, Armenian, born in Istanbul and leaving and working in Switzerland, Italy, France and Brazil, is renowned international art curator and independent film producer.  A pioneer in the field, she is known for broadening contemporary art to include a multicultural approach.

Founder and the first Director of the Centre d’Art Contemporain of Geneva and Director of Le Magasin at the Centre National d’Art Contemporain of Grenoble, she founded in 1995 ART for The World – an NGO associated to UNDPI (the UN Department of Public Information) and partner of SESC Regional Direction Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The NGO was created in the context of the 50th anniversary of the UN and the art exhibition Dialogues of Peace. Its goals are the dissemination of projects and links between contemporary culture and Human Rights.

In 2008 she was appointed by UNHCR and the European Commission to produce «Stories on Human Rights», 22 short fiction films for the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, followed by in 2010 with the series of seven  other short films «Then And Now, Beyond Borders and Differences»,  commissioned by the UN Alliance of the Civilizations and the Council of Europe. Some of her most recent short film productions are «No darkness will make us forget», 2011  by the Kurdish filmmaker Hüseyin Karabey on Hrant Dink's public funerals in Istanbul, and the recent short film  “... A story I never forgot...”, 2013-2015 by the Brazilian-Armenian artist Rosana Palazyan.

In 2013 she was appointed Chief Curator of the 4th Thessaloniki Biennale. Among her most recent concepts and curatorship, FOOD Mother Earth, Agriculture and Nutrition, 2013-2015), at the Ariana Museum, Geneva; SESC Pinheiros, Sao Paulo; MUCEM (Musée des Civilisations européennes et méditerranéennes), Marseille; and Here Africa, Contemporary Africa through the Eyes of its Artists, 2014-2015 at the Château de Penthes, Geneva, and at the SESC Belenzhino, Sao Paulo.

In 2014 she was appointed Curator and Commissioner of the Pavilion of the Republic of Armenia at the 56. Biennale of Venice, May - November, 2015, where her exhibition Armenity/Hayoutioun received the Golden Lion for the best National Pavilion.

National Pavilion of Armenia at the 56th La Biennale di Venezia was Presented at CCA

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