Description:

Beyond Data is an exhibition I co-curated with Anna Gargarian at the Center for Contemporary Experimental Art (NPAK) in Yerevan, Armenia. The exhibition invited eight Armenian artists and art collectives to interpret our newly published research on the state of Armenia’s creative economy. Visitors could walk through, listen to, touch, feel, and interact with parts of the research.

The featured artworks explore central issues hindering the economic development of the arts in Armenian like the vulnerable working conditions of artists, impractical cultural policy, and a limited local market for culture. While the artworks are metaphoric, they are based on scientifically gathered findings through a national survey, focus groups, interviews, and analysis of data from the Armenian Statistical Committee (ArmStat) that attempt to gauge the economic contribution of arts and culture to the country.

By using art as a medium, the exhibition seeks to transcend the limitations of traditional data research to capture the subtleties, nuances, contradictions, and fluid nature of the realities they seek to define.