Besides its extensive film programme, this edition of GAIFF is also accompanied by an ambitious and varied art exhibition program consisting of three exhibitions that are free to visit for the general public, putting a different frame around the festival activities. The Vigen Galstyan curated exhibition Black Sun: The Cold Spell of Melancholia, From Lav Diaz To Armenian Art already opened in the National Gallery of Armenia and sees Lav Diaz’ 2008 opus Melancholia presented in installation-form, alongside twenty works by artists from Armenia and the Diaspora that reflect on the diverse ways through which Armenian artists have addressed the idea of loss from the 19th century to current times.
The idea of connecting the past with the present is very much at the heart of Areg Kozmoyan's BACKandFORTH, Centennial Gifology, opening in Sasuntsi Davit Garden Gallery of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts on July 12. For this exhibition the cinematographer delved through one hundred years of Armenian cinema, extracting a meaningful shot from a hundred films, to project them as looping animated GIFs in installation form. By doing so, Kozmoyan connects the GIFs reputation as an internet phenomenon to the history of Armenian cinema, underpinning the networked nature of the Armenian filmic heritage.
A day later, on the 13th, Dalan Art Gallery launches BERLIN through the Eyes of a Cleaning Lady, showing photographs by documentary filmmaker Nune Hovhannisyan. This intimate exhibition tells about the twelve years Hovhannisyan spent in Berlin, unfolding her relations with the city, her reflections and somewhat unreal life she was living there. As such, these photos give a fascinating and personal insight into the emigré-experience, which is so personal and universal at the same time.
Hugo Emmerzael
The idea of connecting the past with the present is very much at the heart of Areg Kozmoyan's BACKandFORTH, Centennial Gifology, opening in Sasuntsi Davit Garden Gallery of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts on July 12. For this exhibition the cinematographer delved through one hundred years of Armenian cinema, extracting a meaningful shot from a hundred films, to project them as looping animated GIFs in installation form. By doing so, Kozmoyan connects the GIFs reputation as an internet phenomenon to the history of Armenian cinema, underpinning the networked nature of the Armenian filmic heritage.
A day later, on the 13th, Dalan Art Gallery launches BERLIN through the Eyes of a Cleaning Lady, showing photographs by documentary filmmaker Nune Hovhannisyan. This intimate exhibition tells about the twelve years Hovhannisyan spent in Berlin, unfolding her relations with the city, her reflections and somewhat unreal life she was living there. As such, these photos give a fascinating and personal insight into the emigré-experience, which is so personal and universal at the same time.
Hugo Emmerzael