Title: Republic of Armenia, Manuals, Subjects of New Universality

Artists: Mher Azatyan, Grigor Khachatryan, Astghik Melkonyan

Curators: Ruben Arevshatyan, Vardan Azatyan, Nazareth Karoyan

Venue: Collegio Armeno Moorat Raphael, Ca’Zenobio, Dorsoduro 2596

Manuals: Subjects of New Universality declares itself concerned with the Republic of Armenia’s warring desires: a demand for modernisation and globalisation, but also the necessity of retaining an ‘identity’. Not an unfamiliar subject at this year’s biennale, which itself is a reflection of the globalised art world - yet Armenia’s approach is a little different. While each of the artists deal with concerns related to those outlined above, the exhibition also posits itself as a ‘manual’, for the successful conciliation of such issues. Indeed, the exhibition handout is laid out like a blueprint, with symbols and markings guiding the viewer as to its use.

There are three artists represented here, the first being Grigor Khachatryan. His Official Meetings series describes the conjunction of real and staged via political encounters with the public – a smiling official shakes hands with the ordinary man – a familiar enough image in contemporary society. Yet by producing multiple encounters, enlarged and hung ceremoniously on the wall, Khachatryan draws attention to these constructed political personas, providing a useful warning that relates well to the exhibition’s theme.

Mher Azatyan’s work on the other hand deals with a separation from context, where photographs and the captions related to them are divided between rooms. Photographs cover the walls of a small room, at times intriguing but seemingly incoherent and unrelated. Yet beyond, questions and thoughts are pasted onto the walls, reflecting back on the decontextualised photographs through the suggestive power of text.

Finally, Astghik Melkonyan’s How-to Manual A Monthly Salary transforms its setting into a visual representation of the practical economies of regular Armenians. These statements, both harsh truths or comedic commentary, are presented in an eye-catching and almost corporate manner, forming an at-times jarring image of financial systems. Of all the exhibits, this appears closest to the Manuals theme – but at the same time this work is not a simplistic How-To, instead being a more transparent, layered vision of economy and above all debt.

In the end, this exhibition makes it clear that there is no singular way to provide a ‘manual’ for successful globalisation and modernity – though the artists here have been kind enough to elaborate upon some of the more important pitfalls.

Jennifer Owen