Public lecture

From 3rd Floor Group to Bunker: The Complex History of Abstraction in Late Soviet Armenia, through the Sergei Djavadian Collection | Dr Choghakate Kazarian

Co-organised by the Armenian Institute and Dr Klara Kemp-Welch, Reader in 20th Century Modernism, The Courtauld.

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11 mars 2025 5:00 PM

Courtauld Vernon Square Campus
Research Forum Seminar Room (WC1X 9EW)

London - United Kingdom

Co-Curator of the exhibition “New Matter: Sergei Djavadian’s Collection of Armenian Abstraction,” with Vigen Galstyan at the National Gallery of Armenia (31 July – 15 December 2024), Choghakate Kazarian joins us to discuss the early years of the art collection of Sergei Djavadian, focused on abstract and conceptual works by Achot Achot, Kiki, Offenbach, Martin Petrosyan, Armén Rotch, and Sev, who were key members of the famous 3rd Floor group (1987–1994), considered the first movement of contemporary art in Armenia. The collection, formed primarily during the early 1990s, and thus synchronous with the movements it represents, reflects the important ideological conflicts within the 3rd Floor group, starting with the “plus minus” exhibition in 1990, and the consequent formation of the Bunker group. The presentation will also be an opportunity to bring up methodological issues regarding historicising contemporary art in Armenia.

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