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Our artists face an uphill battle


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#1 Guest__*

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Posted 22 November 2000 - 12:34 AM

I received a couple of emails today from the son of one of my friends, who is an artist. I will post excerpts from his email for your thoughts and good wishes.
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we are living in a free country and hye-forum people freely post their homophobic, sexist, racist thoughts because the constitution protects them. otherwise, what's the point of living here and paying the taxes. right?

i must get used to this idea and learn to be more tolerant of their ignorance. but i do not wish to argue with them or even try to educate them. i love and i am inspired by the Armenian culture and all my life's work revolves around the Armenian genocide and other Armenian issues but i find no support from the Armenian community. i think that the Armenian organizations are not interested in the arts and they don't think that the arts are important or slightly significant for our society. i personally gave them a try but they all shut their doors in my face. should i go knocking on their doors again?

so i moved very far from the Armenian community and the only few armenian people i interact with are my immediate family and my grocer who moved from Leninakan to the USA after the earthquake. i will be very happy to find people from hye forum who will be interested in collaborating with me, in an armenian project: a movie, maybe. so, if you have any ideas, let me know.

***

here's a little story and a quote from my mother: right around the time you met me, i didn't have any money but i really wanted to go to college and study art, so i sent letters to various organizations, including big and powerful Armenian ones, trying to raise some money or loans that i would pay back upon graduation. and guess what?

"I can't forget that you have been rejected a loan from the Armenian organizations, because
the profession you chose was not going to be profitable" or whatever else they wrote."

also, i noticed that in Armenian Forum there are people talking about the Armenian artists, painters, modern art: big words, intelligent comments, inspiration that they derived from looking at art by current (living) armenian artists. and i want to ask: how many people actually inquired about buying a painting or a print or a sculpture from a living armenian artist? how many people contributed to a non-profit armenian arts and film organizations?

personally, i am doing fine because i have a day job that pays my bills in the film and video field but in my opinion, MOST armenian artists that i know in California, can not support themselves and their families and i can honestly say that Armenian Modern Arts are neglected and because of lack of support, Armenian Artists do not exist in the larger realm. by this i mean because of lack of money, practice, recognition, support, and representation, the armenian artist are not invited to participate in important art bienales all over the world.

it's a shame in this time, age and economy... but you can argue that folk artists like Aram Asatrian are invited to lavish armenian weddings and do make money to support themselves and continue making their art. what do you think?

#2 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 01:12 PM

no comment

[This message has been edited by armenita (edited November 27, 2000).]

#3 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 02:02 PM

Thanks for the info on Diamanda Galas! I've heard her/known about her for years, but I never paid enough attention to realize her Greek roots and Armenian influences. The fact that she does an Udi Hrant song is wild.

I have an old video of her where midway through the song she rips her scalp open exposing brains and blood. It's an old performance art piece. I always thought her to be another Goth weirdo--now I wanna dig a little deeper.

[This message has been edited by Pilafhead (edited November 21, 2000).]

#4 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 02:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by armenita:
the moral of the story: art is as important as science and whatever major that Armenian Organization wanted your friend's son to study in order to get funded.



Dear Armenita, couldn't agree more with you on that. This is what we have been taught, while growing up in Armenia.

#5 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 02:50 PM

Art is a universal discipline, especially the modern art. We don’t classify Arshile Gorky, Shagal, or any other modern artist by their ethnic origin. So it’s somewhat irrelevant that the artwork does not interest ethnic Armenians. So MJ, I think the argument that Armenian community doesn’t support art is not a valid argument. The folk art, such as dancing group “Hayrenik”, has loyal followers. I hear a lot artists complaining about lack of financial resources and peoples inability to appreciate art. This argument is not confined to only Armenians. It’s a world of supply and demand, so if there is no demand for the given work of art, why should the community support it. It becomes a hobby for the artist who produces the work of art that’s not in demand.

#6 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 02:52 PM

no comment

[This message has been edited by armenita (edited November 27, 2000).]

#7 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 04:43 PM

Alpha, I suspect you haven't carefully read my posting.

#8 Guest__*

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Posted 21 November 2000 - 04:51 PM

Dear Armenita,

Some of the things that we were taught in Armenia was that Mozart has died of hunger. That Paganinnie has not only been not accepted while alive, but even hasn't been buried 25 years after his death. That it took about 100 years after Bach's death, to appreciate his music. Therefore, even if the supply and demand is not currently in equilibrium, the civilized societies finance few non-profitable segment of noble human endeavors.

If there has been any brutality associated with the Soviet existence, it has only served as an accelerator of the birth of free thinking, and among other things, has made Armenia a cradle of Abstract Expressionism, for example.

I have grown up in 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and still continue growing every day

#9 Guest__*

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Posted 22 November 2000 - 08:51 AM

no comment

[This message has been edited by armenita (edited November 27, 2000).]




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