Sunday night. Almost midnight. We have landed on Yerevan. The city has a familiar odour. It reminds me Istanbul. The trees are full of leaves. But leaves are lost their green colour by the summer heat. Waste-bins are orange. The taxi drivers are waiting customers, all in polo shirts and all having cigarrettes hanging on their lips.
We get on the minibus. All of us have sticked on the windows to be able to see Yerevan better in the middle of the night.
Monday morning. Early. We are going to the "Utopiana". It is a center for contemporary art, mostly run by women. We are going to meet with the local artists. On the way, I can see the people better than yesterday night. Their faces look like Iranians, Russians, Kurds and even like Turks. But somehow I can not correspond the people with the city. The city has another character. The buildings are massive. The buildings are so massive that I can hear them screaming : look at us, how mighty we are!
After a short meeting with the artists, we continue to explore the city. Almost each flat of an apartment has a different exterior. You can easily figure out whether the residents wealthy or not, by looking those exteriors.
Some had builded illegally balconys disregarding the original architectural plans. Some had afterwards builded a wall around those balconys to gain extra rooms.
There was any uniformity at the apartements. Total chaos. I admit to myself, I kinda like it. Because it reveals each resident's story. I can see their dreams and nightmares next to each other at the same time. There is a harmony, there is a certain esthetic in this disorder.
Monday evening. Our last visit of the day: the School of Fine Arts of the Mkhitar Sebastasi Educational Complex. A warm welcome party is perfectly organized for us. There are two huge dining tables. Nothing misses on them. And a live music by the one and only women punk group of Armenia (RIOT GIRRRL).
Tuesday. The dutch and the Utopiana artists are splitted into small mixed groups. We continue our voyage in Yerevan now more intimately. I can focus on details easier. I enjoy it more this way.
That is the routine. Every day we explore the city, we attend the debates. End of the day we hold meetings in Utopiana to evaluate the day. Then we talk, discuss and exchange. A worthwhile experience that helps us to grasp the politics, culture and people of Armenia.
I haven't expected that the first week would end so soon. It was an important week full of introductions, debates, city expeditions and meetings that prepared us to our second week.
In the second week we are going to hold group works. Now we are in charge!
I stop telling my Yerevan story. Not that it is over, because it goes on: My projects over Yerevan are not concluded yet!
ARTIS
Lusine Chergeshtian
Lusine Davidyan
Tina Bastajian
Seda manavoglu
Astgik Melkonyan
