Կարճ ասած այսօր ժամը 6-ին ՆՓԱԿ, Ադրինեհ Գրեգորյանի ցուցահանդեսն է
UNBREAKABLE Ties that Bind
The Exhibit
In 1915, at the age of nine Grigor Zarookian was left as the only remaining survivor of his family. His story is not an uncommon one for those who have survived the Armenian Genocide. Like most young children his age living in Anatolia at the time, he fled his ancestral home in the village of Giurun, and made the march to Syria where his life carried on in an orphanage run by French missionaries.
The missionaries at the time taught orphans crafts and skills that would be transferable career options upon leaving the orphanage, including photography. Grigor focused on photography and pursued a career in the field which led him to Beirut, Tehran, and eventually Los Angeles, California.
Throughout his career, Grigor took many photos of his family, leaving them with a collection of photos tracing the life of a typical Armenian family living in the Disapora: moving from city to city—moving forward from a tragic past.
Grigor was Adrineh Gregorian’s grandfather, one she has never met. His absence, however, was never felt due to the amount of his artwork that lives long past his life.
Adrineh’s series, “Unbreakable Ties that Bind: Art Transcending Three Generations in One Family,” represents one subject matter, her family, as seen through the eyes of two different generations that are bound by bloodline and art. The series is comprised of a collection of acrylic on canvas contemporary paintings reflecting Grigor’s photo-portraits and a collection of photographs of Adrineh’s family today taken with Grigor’s original Zeiss Ikon camera.
As an artist, Grigor has inspired Adrineh to reflect through the eye of his camera lens and relate through her unique artistic style. Her impressions of his portraits in a contemporary style represent the progression of time, generations, and geographic displacement. By using Grigor’s camera, photographer Arthur Sakhkalyan captures the family line today in present Armenia through the same lens that captured the family 50 years ago.
Grigor was an artist out of necessity. Art was a gift offered to him as a means of survival; whereas, for Adrineh art is a means of expression and a creative outlet. In this series, Adrineh attempts to use their commonality, art, to unite a family whose members have had contrasting destinies and to make a connection with the grandfather she’s never met.
Creating and exhibiting this series throughout Armenia allows the story of Grigor and Adrineh’s ancestral line to come full circle. (c) Adrineh Gregorian
We pleasantly look forward to seeing you there.
This event was supported by the U.S. Embassy in Armenia in support of Sose’s Women’s Issues NGO for women and the arts in the Syunik Region.