Catalogue > At random

Behind the sea, when the weather was clear, stood a city with a high skyline and big structures. It looked like cities in films. Actually, it looked like New York in American films and TV series. I believed it was America. Some cities have no sound, some have no name. In my lovely hometown Jbeil, I was called "the Armenian" by my neighbors and my friends. When my father was still a kid, his name changed from Hampartsoum Avakian to Antoun Al-Armani, Anton the Armenian. To save my name, I searched for the anonymity of urban life.

Vartan Avakian is a visual artist and researcher born in Byblos (Lebanon) in 1977. His work is inter-disciplinary employing video, installation, photography and pop media. He studied Communication Arts (film and theatre) at the Lebanese American University and worked professionally in media production and scenic design. He is currently pursuing graduate studies in Architecture and Urban Culture at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. He is a founding member of the art collective Atfal Ahdath.