2015 » Armenia » Section of Countries and Regions

Curator:	Nelly Barseghyan
Authors of Theme:	Nelly Barseghyan , Lilit Stepanian
Designer / Architect of exhibition:	ScenoLab Scenography Laboratory (Eiva Arts Foundation)
Institution:	Eiva Arts Foundation

Red Hail... because it Never Ends

Armenian contemporary scenography has eliminated the idea that scenography is solely a part of a performance. Scenography has liberated itself from all kinds of bondage to become a completely new direction within contemporary art. The ScenoLab Scenography Laboratory focuses on discovering and developing Armenian contemporary scenography. Our project for PQ'15 fully emobides the idea of liberated scenography. We have chosen “Music Weather” (Music Weather Politics being the main themes for the Section of Countries and Regions), as this subject best reflects the core essence of our project. The Red Hail contemporary scenography installation results from the interaction of Bodil Biørn documentary series Some Little Armenian Girls with Their Dolls and the contemporary music of Tigran Hamasyan. The music is a metaphorical expression of the children’s never-ending games depicted in the photographs.

The weather resulting from the children’s games is diffused all around the space. Space where time has stopped and only infinite music flows. The music is heard only when the children’s games end. But the games will never end… The frozen memory of the children’s unfinished games is as unexpected as hail and as unchangeable as the color of the blood flowing in our veins.

Who are the children in the photographs? The photographs were taken in 1910 in the town of Mush in western Armenia by the Norwegian missionary worker Bodil Katharine Biørn (also known as Mother Katharine), who was doing humanitarian work there. They depict Armenian day-school children who, according to Biørn’s memoirs, received new Norwegian dolls as gifts. They look at the camera with their happy faces, impatient for the picture to be taken so they can continue playing with the dolls…

These children were among the victims of the Armenian Genocide organized by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

The exposition consists of nets full of toys hanging from the ceiling, resembling hail. The nets are static, except for one that is moving. A video dedicated to the children’s games is projected onto the moving net. Sometimes the toys, which are scattered all around, are set into motion as well, swinging and making noises. The music, which symbolizes the children’s unfinished games, is turned on and off unexpectedly. Visitors will notice certain movements and hear voices within the seemingly static and unmoving space. Through their movement, breathing and voices, all those entering the space become a part of the children’s unfinished games.

Other collaborators: Jussi Flemming Bioern