In 2025, international festivals titled “Art Without Borders 2025” began operating in various countries. Their purpose is to demonstrate the spiritual power of art and its language, which is understood by people all over the world and unites them despite linguistic, geopolitical, religious, ethnic, and cultural differences.
In the same spirit, the “Սահմաններ/Borders / Gränser /” international festival project has been launched at the Art Education Center of the Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex. Among the participants are Martin Alund, Malin Bengtsson, Heidi Edström, and Narek Aghajanyan from Sweden, while Gevorg Ayvazyan joins us from France. From our own Art Center, participants include Gagik Charchyan, Karine Matsakyan, Susan Amujanyan, Narek Hakobyan, and Knarik Nersisyan.
I would particularly like to present the works of the Swedish participants, who have been living for over two weeks in the educational exchange residence of the Northern School-Kindergarten.
Martin Alund
Martin Alund invited me to the spacious studio on the second floor of the Art School, where he has completed his large-scale landscape in two parts, titled “Mother.”
This is a winter landscape from a northern country, unfamiliar to our eyes. Beyond the forest trees lies a scene typical of northern lands — the crimson sun that never rises above the horizon gradually fading into the gray sky clouds.
But where is Martin’s mother in this painting?
Since the semi-darkness is typical of northern winters, it’s difficult to notice the figure facing away from us, dressed in dark clothing and clearing their path with a long wooden stick.
In my mind, I had already titled the painting “The Unreachable Sun in the North.” I was about to share my invented title when Martin, with a special filial tenderness, softly said just one word: “Mother.”
He had named the painting “Mother.”
I didn’t ask him why. I felt he had already answered the question when he said that word.
In Armenian, we say “Fatherland”, but in English and Swedish, there are two versions:
- English: Fatherland and Motherland
- Swedish: Fadernesland and Modersland
In both languages, the official usage tends to favor the Father/Fader root, but the emotional and poetic usage tends to use the Mother/Moder root.
Artists are usually not very talkative. They rarely explain in detail what they meant in their artworks.
I can only assume that Martin Alund identified his mother with his homeland — Sweden.
Through this, he may be expressing that both his mother and his homeland are worthy of the deepest love and tenderness.
Martin Alund’s art is highly valued in Sweden. A vivid example is the fact that, on the recommendation of the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, he was granted a creative studio residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
He wrote about this in the introduction to his book “Martin Alund: Otherworld.”
Heidi Edström
Heidi is participating in the festival with her self-created and original musical instrument.
It consists of long stretched wires, radiating from a single point, about 10 meters in length.
She explains that the sound becomes audible when a sensitive microphone and amplifier are placed near the wires.
Malin Arnedotter Bengtsson
Malin presents a unique and original work — a life-size human doll, which she has titled “Babyface”
Narek Aghajanyan (from Sweden)
His painting, titled “Mother Earth,” is also noteworthy.
From my conversation with him, I learned that the canvas depicts a “beloved home,” “tree of life,” and “mother earth of our homeland”—without concretely portraying any specific object.
Still, I insisted on asking him to explain how he visualized “mother earth.”
He revealed that he made the color by grinding a stone from the Noravank region and mixing it with linseed oil.
So, the dominant color of the painting is literally the color of our soil.
After this explanation, I no longer searched for any specific images in the painting—I saw our mother earth.
This interpretation aligns with the festival’s spirit: the deeply national merges with the universal, becoming accessible and meaningful across the globe.
For Armenians, “Mother Earth” is associated with Armenia, our homeland.
But in English, “Mother Earth” refers to the entire planet.
Gagik Charchyan
Gagik’s message was unusual in both content and form.
He presented 31 photographs.
In our daily lives, on our way to work or while working, we constantly encounter the same familiar visuals—scenes that, in their entirety, have become dull and routine.
But when a poet or artist passes through the same space, they may single out the fragile stem of a flower growing between a curb and asphalt, or a crumpled cigarette pack tossed by a careless passerby.
The poet or artist breaks through the boundaries of everyday mundanity.
Karine Matsakyan
Karine describes her work as a visual collage of urban and social life, consisting of seven pieces (30x30x40 cm each).
Each object is a fragment of reality.
The materials emphasize the ephemerality and transparency of modern existence, where scenes quickly shift, remaining only in memory, news streams, or camera recordings.
The goal is not only to show, but to make the viewer feel how these invisible, everyday images inevitably infiltrate us.
The title of Gevorg Ayvazyan’s installation, who has arrived from Paris, is “If I Must Die, You Must Live.” This work is a tribute to Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed along with his family in Gaza as a result of an Israeli airstrike.
Refaat Alareer wrote a poem titled “If I Must Die, You Must Live.” In this poem, he seems to leave a message to his friend: after his death, to sell his belongings and buy a very light, sun-glinting, strong fabric from which to make a wonderful kite that would capture the attention of children. A kite that would soar high into the sky, carrying with it the gazes of children who will no longer see the daily horror surrounding them. Instead, they will see an angel appear in the sky, returning hope and love to the children of Gaza.
Knarik Nersisyan
Knarik presents a video performance titled “Cleansing,” which is a unique reflection on a woman’s personal experience.
According to her, for a woman, healing from emotional pain and spiritual purification are deeply personal journeys.
The symbolic woman in the video leaves behind what caused her emotional pain and departs.
The suitcase represents departure, and water symbolizes purification.
Her cleansing is beautifully portrayed in the crystal-clear, rocky waters of a fast-flowing mountain stream.
This was my first time watching such a genre of video.
I believe it is a highly valuable work of art.
Conclusion
With quiet pride, we can affirm that the “Borders / Gränser / Սահմաններ” international art festival, initiated by the Art Education Center of Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex, was a delightful and impactful event in the cultural life of art-loving Yerevan.
Sources
Rafaat Alareer, a poem “If I must die, you must die” https://inthesetimes.com/article/refaat-alareer-israeli-occupation-palestine, 2023
Martin Alund, Otherworld, Balto Print, Vilnius 2022