Evolve Art in Gegharkunik

While many art students have dreams of being famous in New York, Paris or Rome after graduation, some young artists choose to express themselves in less known locations like Gegharkunik province of Armenia. During our meetings with locals, we met a girl who dreams of becoming an artist and exhibiting her works in her hometown, and her dream moved us to act. In the beginning, we decided to create an exhibition she had never visited before, like many other children and youth who live in these areas.

There are no drawing classes to attend; there are no museums to visit and show the artworks of locals. Therefore many artists go to Yerevan to offer or sell their works. Most of the areas of Gegharkunik province are almost isolated from culture and art.

 

With the current project, we want to make young artists a priority today as they have the power to shape the future of art. Our vision is to motivate young artists from rural areas ( this time, we focused on Gegharkunik province) to develop their skills, allow them to express themselves and be part of the networks with many other artists in Armenia.

 

The project includes an exhibition, art meetings and art evenings. The young artists will work together, giving each other a chance to discuss their ideas and feelings about their artwork. These benefits will help the young artists to earn recognition. Branching out in the artist community and connecting with other artists can immensely benefit their art business. It will allow them to see how other artists are strategizing for their careers, learn about the processes they use to save time and stress and network with influential people in the art industry. Platforms for further exchange could be set up to continue the joint work of networks and other interested stakeholders about arts and culture in rural development. The project will impact different layers of society. Firstly, unknown and talented artists will be found out and given a chance to perform their artworks, be connected with other artists of different parts of Armenia, develop their skills due to exchanging their experience in art meetings. Besides the artists, we‘ll also give the locals a chance to visit exhibitions in their hometown. We invest in sustainable development by activating art in rural areas, which we seek to achieve.

The initiative is designed by Elen Martirosyan who is not only a young artist but also an activists advocating rights and voice of artists based in Artsakh and Armenia. The core members of Centre for Sustainable Development: Tatev Gevorgyan , Masha Manukyan, Ani Sargsyan contributed to making the idea into action. The local stakeholders supported the project with the venue for art meetings however we still need some amount for renting an exhibition venue and other organizational expenses. After the project implementation , the outcomes  and budget will be available to check.

Your support is very important for us, every donation makes a difference and takes us one step closer to evolving art in Gegharkunik province of Armenia.