03.06.2021

Opening of the Alteration Festival in Yerevan

Art & Music festival Alteration opened on May 30th in Yerevan, with world famous DJ Nina Kraviz performing on the stage of the legendary "Ayrarat" cinema hall, abandoned after the collapse of the USSR (lights and visual effects of the night were designed by SETUP transnational studio).

Alteration will last till June 18, and will have events both with local and international artists. "Ayrarat" will be the main venue, though some of the events will happen in the "Fermata" club. Organizers of the event, MOCT, say that "the festival will appear as a bridge uniting Armenian, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian and many more nations, with music being the universal language." One of the nights will be dedicated to the local rock bands (line up includes Lav Eli, Rozen Tal and Nemra), while one of the most intriguing events is called Classical Electro Fusion. The concert will feature 12 musicians playing different musical instruments: their partiture will be guided by algorithmic audio-visual structure built via a variety of pre-recorded urban sounds and map images... At the same time, each musician will be completely free while playing his/her own part. On the closing night of the festival, world famous DJ Ricardo Villalobos, one of the most significant figures of minimal techno, will play.

Although the festival officially ends on June 18th, "Ayrarat" may continue to operate as a center for contemporary art and electronic music.

LET THE WINE FLOW in the streets of Yerevan

Yerevan Wine Days is the most anticipated event of the year both for the locals and the tourists. Everyone awaits for the opening of the tourism season to take a glass of wine in their hand and enjoy the summer. In 2019, the event hosted 35,000 wine aesthetes within two days. The situation was significantly different in 2020 due to the Covid outbreak, however, the organizers found another way to keep the presence of the Yerevan Wine Days active and make the year-long quarantine gap less harmful for the winemakers in Armenia. Regional Post talked to Mary Badalyan, the co-founder of the Yerevan Wine Days, about the hardships of the previous year and the upcoming return of the wine celebration on the streets of Yerevan.

Controversial culture

In the aftermath of the World War II, 44 nations gathered in London to create an international body under the umbrella of the UN. The newly created body, UNESCO, would be responsible for educational, scientific and cultural cooperation, as well as for the post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation of the UN member states. Over the course of the 75 years, UNESCO has implemented numerous activities in the domains of education, science and culture globally. Its World Heritage Center has enumerated over 1000 sites and monuments all over the world, with an intention to preserve their cultural or natural significance and save those sites from destruction. But has UNESCO always been successful in its mission? Could it stick to the values and principles promoted by the UN? The status of an intergovernmental organization makes UNESCO extremely bureaucratic and dependent on political influence. At the same time, the labels that UNESCO gives to different cultural and natural treasures are being used as a powerful marketing tool that end up more harming those treasures, than actually preserving them.

ARTS & CULTURE

THE LATITUDE OF ART

On November 21st, the art space LATITUDE will open its doors in the Vahakni district of Yerevan, with a strong commitment to nurturing the presence of contemporary art in Armenia. Curated exhibitions, community outreach, special events and, most importantly, educational programs designed for art and professional development will be aimed at building bridges between local and international artists around the world.

URVAKAN FESTIVAL

In early May for the first time ever, Yerevan will host Urvakan, the international festival of contemporary culture and new musical forms.

Opening of the Alteration Festival in Yerevan

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