HUMAN ART CULTURAL DIALOGUE

11 Jan - 24 May 2020

In her project Human Art Cultural Dialogue, Armenian photographer Tatev Mnatsakanyan has photographed older, perhaps today, somewhat forgotten artists. She has examined the thoughts and concerns of the artists that they express in their faces regardless of art or nationality. The portraits include older artists and scientists from, among others. Egypt, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland. The project also points out that artists who in their youth were pioneering often only gain recognition after their death. Tatev Mnatsakanyan is an internationally recognized photographer and she has participated in art festivals and held photo exhibitions in a wide range of countries.

Tatev Mnatsakanyan says about her project:

In Cultural Dialogues, I photographed older, forgotten artists, most of whom approached the sunset of their lives. I sought to delve into and reflect on what concerns and worries they may have and to spark dialogue between people of different generations and different ways of thinking. I wanted to question the norm that you forget respected artists who contributed new ideas and values in his or her particular field of art, and then pay tribute to them after their death.

The result of my photo project is a series of portraits that touch on ethical areas of human life. I did not try to hide signs of aging such as furrows or wrinkles, but instead focused on them - feeling what my models felt - in trying to see the traces from their past. Sometimes I saw loneliness, longing, untold secrets and pain, forgotten dramas, fears and even the panic of uncertainty. Sometimes, when talking to my models, they suddenly got tears in their eyes. In those cases, I stopped to photograph and felt their reaction instead.

The core of this project is humanistic; it is about love and compassion. In trying to understand my models and their lives, I wanted to help them find themselves. It is about lived life, the passing of time and the longing that is contained in the moment.

The artist will be present at the official opening on Saturday, 18 January.