By Anna K. Gargarian
Some of you may have been hearing the buzz about FLOW, HAYP’s summer project by lake Sevan. Although it was originally planned for 2015, the project will take place next summer of 2016. Why? We’ve received so many interesting proposals for collaboration by artists and musicians alike that the project has grown from a one-day event to a three-day festival. Instead of rushing things and doing a watered-down version of the project, we decided to dedicate the proper amount of time to plan and budget the FLOW we really want to see take place. What, you may ask, is this FLOW we envision?
The Project
FLOW is a three day cultural festival that includes: a temporary site-specific installation, three days of performance (dance, theater and experimental shows), and two evenings of concerts featuring local and international musicians. The unique location, Port Ayas, is a coastal campsite on Lake Sevan near Shorja village. It offers a stunning landscape for artists to work with, and an amazing experience for guests to explore art, grab a bite, take a swim, and even spend the night camping. What’s more, docked at Port Ayas is Cilicia, the legendary wooden sailboat that traveled across Europe (it took two years), and that is modeled after the historic 13th century merchant ship from the Cilicia Kingdom. The vessel measures 20m long, weighs 50 tons, and was entirely constructed from shipbuilding techniques found in medieval manuscripts.
Exhibition Concept
The theme, FLOW, is inspired by water: it’s movement, sound, and symbolism. Water has long-been a source of creative inspiration. We invite artists to explore this theme through various media: painting, photography, installation, sculpture, video, sound…. whatever floats your boat (pun intended).
Here are some examples of works we like from around the world that have served as inspiration for this project:
We’ve been working hard these past two months securing the location and figuring out logistics. We’ve brainstormed with beloved local band (gone international) BAMBIR, as well as emerging musical and visual artist Raffi Semerdjian and his band Palm of Granite.
We’ve been Skyping with internationally renowned Armenian artist, Kevork Mourad (Syrian-born, New York-based painter, film-maker, and performer), and sketching and engineering large-scale sculptural works with local artists and chemists (yes, that’s right…chemists…you wait and see!).
If you’re interested in getting involved, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will put up a call to projects this month with more information on how to be a part of FLOW- LAKE SEVAN 2016.
In the mean time…
Stay tuned for what’s happening this month with HAYP! We’re combining forces with a new local Pop-up Restaurant lead by Victoria Aleksanyan and Arine Aghazarian to bring food and art together for a full experience of the senses. More information coming next week.
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