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relocation
(objects in mirror are further than they appear)
2011, 23'20", video 16:9, color, stereo, HDV
WITH THE SUPPORT OF - Province of West Flanders / Be-Part Platform for Contemporary Art, SPES Foundation, European Cultural Foundation / Step Beyond, Open Society Institute, Flemish Community, Akos Cultural NGO
THANK YOU - Levon Abrahamian, Meline Aslanyan, Michael Murtaugh, Nersisyan family, Leyla Neyzi, Arshaluys Papoyan, Patrick Ronse, Syuzanna Siradeghyan, Femke Snelting, Mkrtich Tonoyan, Tonoyan family, Peter Westenberg
DISTRIBUTION & PRESERVATION - ARGOS Centre for Art and Media
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Situated at the point where four countries meet (Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Armenia), mount Ararat is Armenia's most important national symbol, full of mythological meaning and allegedly the place where Noah's Ark stranded. Since the Armenian genocide of 1915 the Ararat is no longer part of Greater Armenia. Today mount Ararat is located right behind the closed border with Turkey, still dominating the Armenian landscape. But now Armenians can only gaze at it with longing.
In 'relocation' the sun rises over the Ararat valley, with the monumental Ararat twin mountains in the back. Starting from a nearly pitch black image the landscape exposes slowly, revealing human life around the military controlled no man's land, buffering both nations. It is the landscape as seen from Armenia, at the closest accessible point to the border with Turkey.
Only, the image is mirrored. Left and right are reversed, which implies the impossible view for Armenians of the western side of the mountain. This way it refers to an era long gone, when historical Armenia still was one, an era Armenians strongly long for.
A text appearing on screen as dialoguing subtitles comments on the landscape, as if both mountains are in dialogue with each other. In fact this text is based on testimonies from both sides of the mountain and can be interpreted as a dialogue between two nations, with historical, political, biblical and utopical connotations. It goes back to the early 20th century and refers to a turbulent era and the tense relations between Turkey and Armenia.
'relocation' reflects on identity in general, and the Armenian identity in particular. How and to what extent does Mount Ararat (still) define Armenian identity? What is its iconologic value, and how does it play part in Armenian collective memory? In this video the mountains are relocated, as have been the Armenian people.
Les Confessions - Lieux-Communs Platform for Contemporary Art, Saint-Loup church, Namur (BE), 2012
Market Screening: ARGOS - International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen (DE), 2012
Pieter Geenen - Winner Art'Contest 2011 - Museum of Ixelles, Brussels (BE), 2012
From the Other Side - European Media Art Festival (EMAF), Osnabrück (DE), 2012
Experiment 6 - Experiments in Cinema v7.9, Albuquerque (US), 2012
DINAMO Press & Industry Screenings 4 - Spectrum Shorts, International Film Festival, Rotterdam (NL), 2012
Isfth Outlines - Streaming Festival, The Hague (NL), 2011
International Selection - Independent Category - Bandits-Mages Festival, Bourges (FR), 2011
European Competition - dokumentArt European Film Festival for Documentaries, Neubrandenburg (DE) / Szczecin (PL), 2011
Art/Experimental - Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York (UK), 2011
Art'Contest 2011 - Espace Black Box, Brussels (BE), 2011
EX-Now 4 - EXiS Experimental Film and Video Festival, Seoul (KR), 2011
Memory - Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival, Pärnu (EE), 2011
Expositions - FIDMarseille International Documentary Film Festival, Galerie Montgrand/Ecole Supérieures des Beaux-Arts, Marseille (FR), 2011
FLUXUS Gallery - FLUXUS International Film Festival on the Internet, SESC Pompeia, São Paulo (BR), 2011
Shorts Program 6 - Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago (US), 2011
International Program 1 - Media City Film Festival, Windsor (CA), 2011
The Other Side - Courtisane Festival, Ghent (BE), 2011
Distant Montage - Ecole régionale des beaux-arts, Valence (FR), 2011, curator Vincent Meessen
Mekhitar Garabedian - Pieter Geenen - Slavs and Tatars: Le Mont Analogue - Be-Part Platform for Contemporary Art, Waregem (BE), 2011, curator Bram Van Damme
*** honourable mention dokumentART Festival 2011 ***
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