Vartan Avakian: All That is Seen and Unseen

Free admission

Vartan Avakian’s work is based on the idea that all data exist in sculptural form and only appear as “fossils.” Consequently, memory too is seen as an activity of excavating and deciphering data from traces and remains. In order to explore practices of cultural production and commemoration, the artist employs different media such as video, installation, sculpture, and photography.

In his current project All That is Seen and Unseen at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Avakian examines printed books as sculptural objects which preserve information. These symbols of history, imbued with the weight of culture and authority, are both unique and reproducible. Avakian devises a series of protocols, procedures, and rituals to extract and bring to light their many hidden layers of incidental inscriptions and markings reminiscent of a palimpsest. Not only does he reveal these layers, but in his installations he separates them from their previous form and converts them into new sculptural fossils.

Vartan Avakian, born 1977 in Byblos, Lebanon, lives and works in Beirut. He studied Architecture and Urban Culture in Spain at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, as well as Communication Arts at the American University of Beirut. His work has been exhibited in Beirut, and in numerous international solo and group shows. Vartan Avakian currently holds a grant of KfW Stiftung for the International Studio Programme at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin.

Promoting cultural diversity is one of the primary goals of KfW Stiftung. Together with the art center Künstlerhaus Bethanien, it has set up an artist-in-residence program that seeks to stimulate intercultural dialogue by providing up-and-coming artists from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia with the opportunity to spend one year in Berlin. Encouraging artistic production and critical reflection, the program also facilitates encounters between professionals working in arts and culture. The infrastructure and the international environment of Künstlerhaus Bethanien offer a suitable setting, allowing participants to try out new ideas, engage in debates, and carry out projects.


For more information, please contact:
Nicola Müllerschön, Arts and Culture, KfW Stiftung, Frankfurt: nicola.muellerschoen [​at​] kfw-stiftung.de
Valeria Schulte-Fischedick, International Studio Programme, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin: schultef [​at​] bethanien.de