The Armenian Pavilion at the 49th International Venice Biennale started November 2000 in Yerevan, Armenia. In May 2001, it will be “transported” to Venice, where it will continue until the end of 49th Biennale—November 4, 2001. The Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art, which is the organizer of the pavilion, hopes to carry the spirit of dynamism and continuity beyond the closing of 49th Venice Biennale. As a consequence, the number of works and their nature are, and will remain flexible. Video-art has been selected as the medium, to include as large number of works as possible.
Presentations in this catalogue are graphic compositions based on works of 15 artists, who were “on the stage”, at the deadline of submission of entries for the general catalogue of the 49th Venice Biennale. This is a “snap-shot” of the Armenian Pavilion at 49th Venice Biennale, taken in Yerevan, Capital of the Republic of Armenia, on 6:00 PM of March 3, 2001. The pavilion will continue to evolve. Dynamic in nature, it will present work-in-progress by selected artists. To the extent possible, the exhibition will be in continuous state of transformation.
Artists will take turn in Venice, to work on their pieces. In a dynamic spirit, they will interact with each other and the visitors, and will try to reflect this interaction in their works by action, performance, installation… Trends, styles, and directions in the arts are many and diverse. A feeling of drifting, of absence of focus—or sense of too many foci!—is starting to dominate the creative environment. The unprecedented variety ironically is creating a haunting state of uncertainty. The issue, therefore, is to achieve relative clarity and focus in a diverse surrounding, by search, discourse and interaction, in an environment of exploration and discovery. We start with the premise that we do not know. That there are more questions than answers… The quest for new frontiers continues…
Edward Balassanian Commissioner and Curator
