AUA Provost Curates Art Booth and Moderates Round Table Discussion During Inaugural Armenia Art Fair

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YEREVAN, Armenia ‒ The first annual Armenia Art Fair was held in Yerevan from May 11 to 14, 2018, at Yerevan Expo, during which Dr. Randall Rhodes, the Provost of the American University of Armenia (AUA), curated an art booth themed “Presence/Absence,” which featured works by Aram Isabekyan, the Rector of Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts (YSAFA), Arthur Hovhannisyan, a YSAFA faculty member, Gia Gugushvili, the Rector of Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts, and Mariam Gugushvili, a graphic designer at LIVE Branding, Tbilisi.

“The exhibition presented two Armenian and Georgian artists who employ their painterly surfaces as a portal into a metaphorical realm, an other world, where magic and symbols predominate,” noted Dr. Rhodes.

The Armenia Art Fair aims to revive the art world in the region bringing together international participants from Europe, Eurasia, and the Black Sea region. With the help of this event the organizers want to increase the influence of Armenia on the international art scene. Besides the artwork exhibition, the fair featured a special cultural program with a musical performance by art performer, soloist, and director Christian Zehnder, a performance lecture by an art collective “Slavs and Tatars,” a fashion performance by HAYP Pop Up Gallery, as well as a round table discussion which addressed such issues as artistic globalization, art in academia, and the ever-changing art market among others.

The Night Owl Round Table discussion, themed “Shifting Perspectives on Art from Local to Global: The Contemporary Image Maker,” was moderated by Dr. Rhodes. The panelists of the discussion were Susanna Gyulamiryan, an art critic and director of the Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory, Georg Schoellhammer, a visiting curator and writer from Vienna, and Nazareth Karoyan, an art critic and curator, the director of the Institute for Contemporary Art. Dr. Rhodes remarked, “the panel discussion focused on the topic of local vs. global marketplaces within the art world. There will be additional conversations throughout the year to help local artists and gallery owners maximize the potential of Armenia’s artistic community.”

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.

 

Media Coverage:

 [Armenia TV] Armenia Art Fair-ը ներկայացնում է ժամանակակից արվեստի գործեր