ARMEN
Performance by Andrius Arutiunian (@andrius_arutiunian)
30.10 – 02.11.2025
Artissima Fiera — Associazione Barriera
ARMEN is a performance by Armenian-Lithuanian artist Andrius Arutiunian, who invites the audience on a car journey through Turin while listening to a cassette composed by the artist, featuring samples of disco music from the Armenian diaspora.
Arutiunian reimagines personal and cultural memory through his collection of popular Armenian diasporic music on cassettes, vinyl, and VHS from the 1970s to the 1990s.
ARMEN unfolds during a 42-minute cab ride (the full runtime of the cassette) played through the vehicle’s sound system. The experience draws directly from Arutiunian’s childhood memories of arriving at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport to the sound of music blasting from taxi speakers.
The performance is presented as a collateral event to the group exhibition Stories we carry — curated by Sergey Kantsedal and Agnieszka Faferek and featuring Andrius Arutiunian, Nikita Kadan (@nikita.kadan), Aziza Kadyri (@aziza.kadyri), Mila Panić (@panic_mila), Ala Savashevich ( @ala_savashevich), Slavs and Tatars (@slavsandtatars), and Anastasia Sosunova (@anastasia.sosunova) — at Associazione Barriera (02/11–02/12/2025). It also complements Arutiunian’s solo presentation with eastcontemporary at Artissima.
This will be the first iteration of the work in Italy, following presentations at the Kadist Foundation in Paris (2024) and the 15th Baltic Triennial (2025).
ARMEN is part of the Lithuanian Culture in Italy 2025–2026 program.
The Lithuanian Culture in Italy (@cultura_lituana_in_italia) 2025–2026 program is implemented by the Lithuanian Culture Institute and the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Italian Republic.
Barriera’s program is supported by Fondazione CRT (@fondazionecrt)
Graphic design by Siliqoon (@siliqoon)
Find more about the performance ➡️ https://www.east-contemporary.org/4-1-exhibition-single-page/armen