Museums are different-state-run, private, thematic, and contemporary; there are museums that remind us of libraries or archives because the main function of museums is considered to be the preservation of art.
On the contrary, there are museums, which try to bring in the new ideas with modern technology and show works made out of materials. The variety of museums and exhibition halls and the different goals create the kind of atmosphere where artists communicate, where the artist and the audience come face-to-face and where the artist feels the desire to put his work on display.
There are many artists in Armenia; the number of members of the Artists’ Union of Armenia exceeds the thousand mark. Not only can the 1,300 member Artists Union of Armenia not get involved in selling the work of its artists, but also it can’t give every artist the chance to show his work. There are no principles for organizing exhibition halls. Private exhibition halls have those principles; the works of certain artists are presented here. The nine private art galleries of Armenia have a rather good, outlined strategy and work with artist-allies. They don’t try to get the whole image of contemporary art because that’s not one of their functions. The private exhibition hall needs guarantees because we’re talking about making your own money. Preparatory work is required to sell works of art and before preparing the catalogs, albums or advertisements of the given artist, the gallery directors must be convinced that the artists wants to work with them or not. The gallery owners advertise their galleries while advertising the artist. That’s normal market relations. Most of the owners of exhibition halls are certain that nine private museums are not enough for Armenia. Owner of the “Arame” private exhibition hall Aram Sargsyan says that the private museums work with 30-40 artists and there is simply no space for the other artists to show their works of art.
“I’m certain that there have to be more private exhibition halls and more auctions,” he says.
Owner of the “First Floor” exhibition hall Anahit Martirosyan also shares that opinion and says that Armenian artists have a lot to show.
“I will be happy if more exhibition halls open up in Armenia. We have many good artists, but we can’t work with everyone,” she says.
This year, 50 private museums were opened in China. No matter how subjective the eye and taste of the private exhibitions are, however they create the market, they work hard and create traditions for selling art by spreading the word.
Keeping it contemporary
The creation of the collection of actual art is risky because time will change everything and not all works of art will be valuable. Private exhibitions can’t do this. But it is necessary to come up with these kinds of collections and it’s not only because there will be some masterpieces in multi-style works of art and those masterpieces will be preserved for generations to come. Art is in its own time and time can’t be presented based on subjective standards; the total image of the stratum of creative art must be preserved. It will be impossible to bring that stratum back after a couple of decades because the good works of “successful” artists are sold and mainly leave Armenia leaving behind the impression, which could have been the next generation’s impression. This is how the atmosphere fades away.
After the declaration of Armenia’s independence, the National Art Gallery of Armenia hasn’t purchased any works by Armenian artists and the new paintings have usually entered the gallery as donations. Director of the National Art Gallery Paravon Mirzoyan is certain that the art gallery plays more of the role of a guardian and must take in the works of actual artists when they are of some value. All artists dream of seeing their canvases in the National Art Gallery of Armenia, in other words, having those paintings stay in the Homeland, before the day that they die. The National Art Gallery will always be around, while private exhibition halls work for the present. The artist needs a trampoline to jump from one level to the next. The museums and contemporary art centers must be those trampolines. The value of an artist’s work is not only determined by its equivalent. It can be noticed later in time but play an important role in tying the present and the future. The work of art must be preserved in the Homeland in order for it to be noticed. We Armenians often feel proud when we say that Armenia was the first country out of all the Soviet countries to open a contemporary art museum. We managed to open one, but we can’t preserve, much less develop that museum. The current museum under the ownership of art critic Henrik Igityan had to be the site to show the work of actual artists, but it has been going along with the principle of subjectivity for a long time now and accepts new works of art taking into consideration the likes and dislikes of the museum director.
Rector of the State Academy of Art Aram Isabekyan says that this museum shows the paintings picked by the taste of one person. That’s why no Armenian can consider that a contemporary museum. It is antediluvian and narrow-minded. The only difference between that museum and the private exhibition hall is that the paintings shown at the contemporary art museum are not sold out in the open and there are no price tags on them.
On December 7-8, the most high-ranking Armenian organizations took the initiative and organized a conference in Tsakhkadzor with the purpose of discussing issues concerning state-run and private museums of Armenia. Many issues concerning the present and future of the contemporary art museum were discussed during the conference. This is how the art-exhibition hall or art-state relations must be fortified because each museum is like a living organism which, besides preserving itself, it must also be able to evolve. Whereas the private exhibition hall owners have their “hands tied” with financial issues, the state museum must first show everything contemporary and everything art, leaving it up to the viewers, art critics and agents selling art to give ratings. Parallel to time, each work of art becomes a historical value. In order for the museum to be called Contemporary, the museum owner must not waste time; rather, he must seize the moment and hang the contemporary paintings on the walls of the museum, even if that contemporary painting doesn’t correspond to the likes and dislikes of the owner.