Armenia (Republic of) 2026

Title: “The Studio”
Commissioner: Svetlana Sahakyan, Head of the Department of Contemporary Art and Publishing of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia
Curators: Tony Shafrazi, Tina Chakarian
Exhibitor: Zadik Zadikian

“The Studio” is a solo project that reimagines the exhibition space as an active site of production and renewal. Operating as a fully functioning studio, the installation features the formation, casting, and assembly of plaster bricks in varying scales and pigments. These composite forms are built by stacking individual bricks that remain separate and movable, allowing the arrangements to evolve throughout the duration of the exhibition.

The project centers on the brick as a conceptual anchor, reflecting a sustained engagement with repetition, labour, and the transformation of basic forms into complex structures. This focus on physical presence and modularity places the work in dialogue with post-Minimalist sculpture and early modernism. By making the manufacturing process visible, the installation challenges the private conventions of the artist’s workspace, reframing it as a site of openness and collective labour reminiscent of historical art factories.

Located within the Arsenale Militare, the pavilion will house hundreds of plaster bricks that are continuously cast, stacked, and reassembled. This approach ensures the installation remains in a state of constant flux, where the act of making is neither theatricalised nor concealed. The presentation also reflects a commitment to international dialogue and the positioning of contemporary Armenian art within a transnational discourse.