Armenian embassy to stage first art exhibition

The new Armenian embassy will hold an art exhibition at the Cultural Foundation from March 24 to 29. The exhibition, entitled "Colours of Armenia", will be the first official art exhibition to be staged by the 11-month-old embassy, Charge d'Affaires Arshak Poladian said. Armenian art has been exhibited in the UAE before, but this is the first show to get official support. Nearly 70 paintings portraying Armenia's culture and outlook will be displayed. Carpets and ceramic works will also be exhibited.

The works are by 12 artists led by Spartak Gharabaghtsyan, director of the Armenian culture department in the Ministry of Culture. Others, most of whom are internationally known, include Hambartsum Bagdasarian and Garnik Vardanian, members of Armenia's Painters' Union. "The purpose of this exhibition will be to introduce Armenian art and culture to the UAE and to emphasise the friendly relations enjoyed by both countries since Armenia's independence in 1991.

"During this period, no political conflicts have occurred between the Arab world and Armenia. We have more than five embassies in the Arab world, with our main consul in Syria," Poladian said. Armenian art dates back nearly 5,000 years, but at the beginning of the 20th century it reached a turning point as it tried to adopt new means of expression of modern nationalism, Poladian said.
A galaxy of artists emerged under a foreign ruler around 1915 to project their desolation and the diaspora on canvas. After World War II there was a widespread tendency towards realism as artists expressed their longing and depression.

The diaspora, however, figures largely in the work of these artists. The Armenian people have contributed significantly to every period of world art and the works represented at the exhibition are those of modern artists. Among them, five are women.